In the November 24th New York Times article, “For Google, the Browser Does it All,” leaders at Google offer some insights into how Android and the forthcoming Google OS (operating system) may change the computing landscape dramatically. Linus Upson, the Google VP in charge of engineering for Chrome, sees Google operating systems as major threats to current environments sold by Microsoft and Apple.

Mr. Upson says that 60 percent of businesses could immediately replace their Windows machines with computers running Chrome OS. He also says he hopes it will put corporate systems administrators out of work because software updates will be made automatically over the Web. But the vast majority of businesses still use desktop Microsoft Office products and cannot imagine moving entirely to Web-based software or storing sensitive documents online — at least not yet.

The key phrase here is, “not yet.” Baby duck syndrome has a powerful influence on users as well as IT personnel. As Steve Ballmer observed recently in an interview for Arstechnica, the experiences of consumers at home lead to changing demands at work.

Remember the importance of respectfully and persistently asking for changes you want to see with your organization’s content filter and other IT policies.

Free Google Chrome Sticker Icon

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

If you enjoyed this post and found it useful, subscribe to Wes' free newsletter. Check out Wes' video tutorial library, "Playing with Media." Information about more ways to learn with Dr. Wesley Fryer are available on wesfryer.com/after.

On this day..

Share →

One Response to Google OS Could Reduce IT Department Demands

  1. Brett Dickerson says:

    I teach in a large school district, and the reality that hits me in the face constantly is just how complex our network really is due to the complexity of the Microsoft-based software. From top to bottom, side to side, our IT department is made up of intelligent, earnest, dedicated folks. Still, I observe them having to work very hard from time to time to overcome certain mysteries of MS network software configuration. Thanks for pointing us to a future where we will see less and less of this. Until then, keep reading that documentation…

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Sharing from Matthews, North Carolina! Connect with Wes on Mastodon.