HoboBook

Is there a way to filter out all of the Reblogs on Tumblr and just look at original posts? The Reblog culture is kind of obnoxious.

If the current crop of Nexus devices is any indication, Google isn’t in the hardware game to make money. When the Nexus 7 came out last July, it was priced well below any other comparable tablet in its class — and when the Nexus 4 debuted last November, it was priced at HALF the cost of any comparable smartphone.

You could make an even stronger case that Google isn’t writing software to make money — after all, Android is completely free and open-source. Why does Google do this? Look at the bigger picture. Citing a survey from W3Techs of the top million websites on the Internet, which probably includes every website you visit, 74.3% of them use Google AdSense. In other words, if you use the Internet, Google makes money.

Back in December of 2010, Google announced a new software project called Chrome OS: an Linux based operating system that only runs the Chrome web browser. In Google’s world, this makes perfect sense. Google makes money on web ads, so in their ideal world, users do all of their computing on the web.

However, the idea never took off. The earliest Chrome OS notebooks, dubbed Chromebooks, used underpowered netbook processors, so they were extremely slow. The ones I tested couldn’t even play a 480p YouTube video without dropping frames. The later models were more competent, but they also cost far more. Given the option between a $500 Windows notebook and a $500 Chromebook, users opted for the one that had much more functionality — after all, Chrome also runs on Windows.

There was simply no selling point for Chrome OS, and Google has finally come to realize this. The company hasn’t produced its own computer since the Cr-48, a Chromebook that was only for beta testers and developers, but with Chrome OS waning, Google had to think of a way to make Chromebooks appealing. Enter Chromebook Pixel: a Google designed Chromebook with a 2560 x 1700 resolution display. That’s over 4 million pixels! — more than Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

While Apple’s product retails for a blistering $1700, Google’s will be a fraction of the price. Why? Google doesn’t produce hardware to make money — the hardware only exists to generate more web traffic. It’s a completely unique business model that no other company can compete with right now. If Apple did the same thing, they would be out of business. Once Google leverages their position in the market to build compelling hardware, the computer business will never be the same. 

I’m minding my own business in a Peet’s Coffee. Without warning, a hurricane of children run through the door — screaming, whining, bumping into people, knocking over things, and stealing mint tins to use as tiny maracas. This goes on for an excruciatingly unbearable 10 minutes. I’m about to stick coffee stirrers through my eardrums until… someone hands them an iPod Touch. All of the moths are hypnotized by the flame.

You have a new essay to write for school. It’s due tomorrow. You shouldn’t have waited this long to start. You’ll never do this again. You double-click on Microsoft Word and create a new document. There is nothing on the page. Nothing but that stupid blinking cursor. That blinking line. It’s maddening. It’s 10:05 PM. That’s no time to start an essay. You should start at a proper time — the beginning of a new hour. Take a 55 minute break. It’s 11:00 PM. Stop watching TV on your laptop. Oh, there’s only 15 more minutes left in this episode? Only 15 minutes! You can finish this episode. It’s 11:15 PM. That’s no time to start an essay…

Five years pass.

You’ve dropped out of community college. You “couldn’t” find a job to support yourself. You tried to live with your parents again, but it was unbearable.

You have no where to go. You are an Internet Hobo.