The iPad and Chrome OS Netbooks Are on a Collision Course

Good observation from MG Siegler: the iPad and Google’s forthcoming Chrome OS netbooks are aimed at the same space — that between smartphones and PCs.

One major difference: Apple’s iPhone and iPad are clearly on the same page technology-wise and concept-wise, whereas Android and Chrome OS are not. The iPad’s popularity (obviously, at this point, measured in terms of interest rather than sales) is propelled by the success of the iPhone and the UIKit App Store. Let’s say Android has a banner year — that the Droid and Nexus One and whatever other handsets are coming in the next few months sell like hotcakes. How does that help sell Chrome OS netbooks, which are neither conceptually nor technically compatible with Android?

That doesn’t mean Android and Chrome OS can’t both succeed. But they exemplify how Google seems like a federated company.

★ Saturday, 30 January 2010