Chrome OS may push Google CEO off of Apple's board
Apple and Google have had a warm relationship for years, but the unveiling of Chrome OS on Wednesday may leave Apple with no choice but to oust Google chief Eric Schmidt from its board due to a conflict of interest.
Veteran journalist Tom Krazit warns that the two Silicon Valley companies will face an inevitable collision once the new web-based operating system is released and it has to compete against Mac OS X, rendering it more and more unreasonable for Schmidt to help oversee Apple's broader strategy.
The CEO is already in hot water with regulators as he frequently has to recuse himself from board meetings that involve iPhone plans, many of which would clash with Google's own attempts to promote its Android mobile operating system. Even though he makes this exception and has been adamant that the two companies don't occupy the same markets, the FTC has been investigating the Apple-Google link for a possible violation of antitrust laws through unfair collaboration. The companies are already known to be finding common ground as they both offer web browsers and, more recently, video services that involve commercially-produced, downloadable content.
With Chrome OS in place, Schmidt would not only have the obvious problem of conflicts in specific apps but with the original cornerstone of Apple's business and two out of three of the pillars that keep it running. Only board meetings discussing the iPod would be safe for him to attend, Krazit comments through CNET.
Apple and Google haven't yet discussed any of the implications for the new platform strategy. Unofficially, the software isn't thought to spark any near-term trouble: with the netbook as a primary target for Chrome OS and Apple deriding the category as unsuitable for the Mac name, few if any systems are liable to run one operating system and offer similar features as a computer running the other. Still, the similarity is close enough that calls are already being made for Schmidt to voluntarily resign from the Apple board to avoid butting heads with the US government any more than necessary.
"If Apple's board doesn't ask you do to so, please submit your resignation so both companies can free themselves of this obvious conflict of interest, and continue to develop the amazing products and services you have been separately creating," Krazit says.
Veteran journalist Tom Krazit warns that the two Silicon Valley companies will face an inevitable collision once the new web-based operating system is released and it has to compete against Mac OS X, rendering it more and more unreasonable for Schmidt to help oversee Apple's broader strategy.
The CEO is already in hot water with regulators as he frequently has to recuse himself from board meetings that involve iPhone plans, many of which would clash with Google's own attempts to promote its Android mobile operating system. Even though he makes this exception and has been adamant that the two companies don't occupy the same markets, the FTC has been investigating the Apple-Google link for a possible violation of antitrust laws through unfair collaboration. The companies are already known to be finding common ground as they both offer web browsers and, more recently, video services that involve commercially-produced, downloadable content.
With Chrome OS in place, Schmidt would not only have the obvious problem of conflicts in specific apps but with the original cornerstone of Apple's business and two out of three of the pillars that keep it running. Only board meetings discussing the iPod would be safe for him to attend, Krazit comments through CNET.
Apple and Google haven't yet discussed any of the implications for the new platform strategy. Unofficially, the software isn't thought to spark any near-term trouble: with the netbook as a primary target for Chrome OS and Apple deriding the category as unsuitable for the Mac name, few if any systems are liable to run one operating system and offer similar features as a computer running the other. Still, the similarity is close enough that calls are already being made for Schmidt to voluntarily resign from the Apple board to avoid butting heads with the US government any more than necessary.
"If Apple's board doesn't ask you do to so, please submit your resignation so both companies can free themselves of this obvious conflict of interest, and continue to develop the amazing products and services you have been separately creating," Krazit says.
Comments
"unfair collaboration"
Huh?...
Huh?...
Thank you so much for the useful post.
Huh?...
against Microsoft. Not consumers.
"Consumers can go hang, but nobody had better hurt poor Microsoft." <-- government viewpoint, after some Microsoft lobbying
Thank you so much for the useful post.
huh!!
OS Chrome, sure it will beat Vista/Windows 7
No, really it won't.
Google's "OS" is actually just a web browser. It's the Linux kernel with the Chrome browser on top; that's it. Any application you want to run will have to be web-based.
You know why the return rate of Linux-based netbooks was so high? It was because people found they couldn't run the software they wanted to run. So now, Windows owns the netbook market. Chrome is not going to change that. Unless Chrome undergoes a major alteration to its philosophy, it will flop.
I think this is a non-issue, as a web-based OS cannot possibly compete with OS X. To even suggest that they are in the same league is completely retarded. End of story.
It's a non-issue today yes but you have to look towards the future. There will be a day where you can have Internet access everywhere and the bandwidth will be enough to operate apps like Photoshop and Final Cut through the web. Look at how far we've come in just ten years. We were at 28.8 Kbps modems and today we can stream HD. This isn't a plan for 2010 or 2011 for Google. This is for 15 or 20 years from now.
That being said right now there is little or anything that Chrome OS will have over OSX and what Apple can't adopt. It'll be funny if Schmidt is on the board as being a board member who would be absent from almost every single meeting.
...
Google's "OS" is actually just a web browser. It's the Linux kernel with the Chrome browser on top; that's it. Any application you want to run will have to be web-based.
You know why the return rate of Linux-based netbooks was so high? It was because people found they couldn't run the software they wanted to run. So now, Windows owns the netbook market. .. ..
You would think Google realize this but maybe they don't.
I suspect that Google will add a twist to make it different than just another Linux distro because that's unlikely to succeed. But what they do to distinguish Google OS from say Ubuntu, I don't know.
Chrome will fail
Agreed.
like Android failed or is failing
I think it's too early to pass judgement on Android.
like so many other Google "eternal beta" products.
Didn't you hear the news? Many of Google's apps are no longer in beta!
Oh, did I say PhotoShop? I meant GIMP, because it's free and works so much better!
And thank goodness no one use Exchange anymore what with all the other stuff out there.
Is that why Windows has dropped below 40% of the marketshare in the last year?
http://fakesteve.blogspot.com/2009/0...-get-some.html
You would think Google realize this but maybe they don't.
I suspect that Google will add a twist to make it different than just another Linux distro because that's unlikely to succeed. But what they do to distinguish Google OS from say Ubuntu, I don't know.
But that's the point. It's even worse than just another Linux distro. At least Linux has some applications. Chrome "OS", to the user, really is just a web browser and that's it. If you want to develop apps, they have to be web apps.
It's a non-issue today yes but you have to look towards the future. There will be a day where you can have Internet access everywhere and the bandwidth will be enough to operate apps like Photoshop and Final Cut through the web. Look at how far we've come in just ten years. We were at 28.8 Kbps modems and today we can stream HD. This isn't a plan for 2010 or 2011 for Google. This is for 15 or 20 years from now.
That being said right now there is little or anything that Chrome OS will have over OSX and what Apple can't adopt. It'll be funny if Schmidt is on the board as being a board member who would be absent from almost every single meeting.
You think Apple isn't considering the future? And let me just say that no company on the face of the Earth plans for 15-20 years down the road, especially the IT Industries.
But that's the point. It's even worse than just another Linux distro. At least Linux has some applications. Chrome "OS", to the user, really is just a web browser and that's it. If you want to develop apps, they have to be web apps.
I hear you.
I have to believe that Google has some twist up their sleeve. I can't believe they're that dumb but time will tell.
It was because people found they couldn't run the software they wanted to run.
i have a feeling that in the real world this is down to the fact that, after 15 years of market monopolisation, M$ have the world believing that its software is indispensable. remember when IE came with an icon named "The Internet"? a lot of casual computer users do not know about alternatives to microsoft options and (after torturous experiences with M$ software, i would argue!) are even less willing to try. i think that breaking the microsoft domination of the industry requires a concerted effort to educate the population. removing microsoft software from schools would be a good first step. google have a chance of making inroads since they are a well-known and trusted brand