Google provided journalists (and the world at large via a live video feed online) with a sneak peak at the Google Chrome OS on Thursday, November 19, 2009. During the almost 2 hour press conference they made several key announcements. The comments were not only contained to just the Google OS, but also outlined critical aspects of Google’s product arc – essentially, how their diverse array of products, services and infrastructure will all blend within their offering. As I’d predicted in my earlier post, “Google Chrome OS: the future of law firm computing?” the Chrome OS truly has the potential to revolutionize how we use our computers. Litigation support, e-discovery and IT professionals who service the legal industry will especially want to take note – although the Chrome OS is yet to launch, when it does it will be a game changer and could quickly gain market share. Even though this is Round 1 of a very long fight, Google’s demo was a left hook that landed squarely on the jaw of Microsoft Windows’ future.
While we should expect to wait a full year for a public version of the Chrome OS, Google has elected to publish the working code online as open source. While many of the pillars of the operating system are rooted in Linux, for a company such as Google to a) get in the operating system business and b) elect for 100% transparency, will probably push every operating system competitor against the ropes, if not partially out of the ring. Even though I am confident there are many IT professionals who might deeply argue with the Windows foothold in the market, since Google is planning on launching Chrome as an operating system centered on your “companion device” (a.k.a. netbook), adoption will begin with the most prevalent demand and expand from there. Almost all professionals exposed to them want a netbook, plan to purchase one or already have. For the most part, they’re faster and lighter than a laptop with online access. Since Windows XP is most often regarded as the best operating system for a netbook, and it lacks many of the features found within new architecture and interface, there is a wide field for a competitor to strike. Linux has been trying but lacks Google’s supporting product line, mass market appeal and lest we forget, significant cash reserves that could run a medium size country.
The demo provided enough of an overview, and the existing build offers us several pro’s and cons. As the developers stated, the demo version still had many features that were largely unfinished so the presentation was geared more toward firm concepts than concrete features. From what we’ve seen, essentially the view from 40,000 feet this early in the project, a few positive, negative and significant issues for legal professionals can be gleaned.
If you’re totally foreign to the concept of Google Chrome OS, be sure to view their 3 minute product overview on YouTube.
Pro:
- Direct quote from Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management at Google: “The question we asked with Chrome was: Is there a better model of personal computing that we can give our users?” The recognition of true improvement within the currently marketed operating systems is relatively non-existent – the major commercial operating systems market their product as a heralded gift from the programming Gods. While Windows 7 and Snow Leopard offer new features, they don’t offer a new method of computing. Either way you’re still waiting for the PC to boot and work locally. Evolving the Chrome OS directly from how the concept of personal computing can be changed in lieu of just the product itself (the operating system) is a fundamental shift in thinking and a smart approach to developing the strongest possible product.
- Chrome OS is built on Linux and Google has focused the crux of the project on 3 core principles: speed, simplicity and security. Ironically, these are probably the top 3 complaints of most current computer users.
- The operating system and software work totally on the “cloud” – you could pick up anyone’s netbook running Chrome OS, log in with your Gmail account and the computer will connect to the web (assuming you have an Internet connection) and customize itself to your preferences as if you were on your own computer.
- Chrome OS is centered around Google’s Chrome browser – already a fairly mature product with a strong user base.
- The project is now completely open sourced – this means any developer can sit at a keyboard with a build of the code and start creating applications. For litigation support providers and firms, this can prove to be a huge opportunity to hire their own developers and create custom solutions for products that can integrate within Chrome.
- The demo version on an EEE PC booted to the login within 7 seconds. The reason why is because the computer is working on a solid state drive (meaning no moving plates that are typically found on hard drives). This is essentially the same idea as if you were booting an operating system from your mp3 player. When the developers stated that this was “still too long” I fell off my chair a little bit – even my computers, which are all optimized, take at least a full minute. Aside from purchasing one of the InstantOn PC’s, I can’t imagine grabbing an off the shelf netbook and having it boot to login in less than 7 seconds.
- Since data and applications are managed on the cloud, security will probably be more efficient and easily managed. For example, if you open an infected attachment from an email, the cloud will probably catch it well before you do. Local access is still available via USB drives and media cards, so when you need to work locally or access something you will still be able to. As revolutionary as Chrome OS will be, users will still be able to have the option to work locally(i.e. obtaining photos from a digital camera) when they need or want to.
- One can log in to access their content from any Chrome OS system. This means users will be able to share computers while easily gaining access to their personal content, settings and information (even down to the background image on the computer)
- If it’s on the web already, Chrome shouldn’t have a problem with it. Chrome will feature out of the box support for Flash, Java and HTML 5. Silverlight will be a work in progress.
- Upgrades probably won’t end up costing users a dime. In light of the base $100 price tag to make the leap to upgrades such as Windows 7, this can be an added value for long term usage.
- At the end of the demo they cited their many thanks to developers on several large contributing projects, namely Linux, Ubuntu and Moblin. If Chrome OS can stand on the shoulders of these products it will inevitably be a strong offering. From the sound of it, it seemed as if Chrome OS would be the perfect marriage between all three products.
Cons:
- Driver support will be a significant challenge, especially when attempting to connect to older, unsupported hardware.
- Chrome OS will only be initially available on select hardware that must be purchased. In the early years, Chrome will be sold from products created by specific OEM’s (HP, etc.) on hardware guaranteed to maximize efficiency and compatibility with Chrome. This means if you just bought a netbook and hope to put Chrome on it next year, you may not be able to if the OEM’s hardware isn’t up to Chrome’s standards.
- The Chrome developers only want to work with OEM’s who can integrate solid state drives into their machines. This will be a significant price barrier for the manufacturers and potentially the end users – these types of drives are expensive. Hopefully, Chrome will be able to run on computers with hard drives that will also easily run on cheaper computers that use small amounts of flash based memory (i.e. such as a 4 GB SD card or the smaller hard drive components found on the Asus EEE PC).
- Chrome OS is focused on being a strong “companion device,” meaning this is really focused on users who also have another computer for more processor intensive tasks such as video editing or working with demanding software. Personally, since I believe the vast majority of applications will find their way online at some point soon, this limitation will probably only be for a few more years.
- Many users will have to adjust to living exclusively on the cloud – while they are in some respects, the differences between their existing methods within Windows and how Chrome will operate will be somewhat unique.
- You really will be giving Google everything you have – for privacy experts and enthusiasts, this is a lot of keys to hand over at once. If you’re already uncomfortable with how much Google Search already knows about you, while your private content will still be private, you’re nonetheless moving a lot of personal information under one roof.
Issues to consider for legal professionals:
E-discovery – at this point, way more questions than answers:
- How will we gain access to custodian data when the custodian isn’t storing it? Subpoena Google? This would be a nightmare in paperwork. Can you imagine requesting to image user data and Google tells you it’s spread across 32 servers all over the world? How would single site image and backup retrievals based on information from multiple sources be defended in court?
- If there is no drive to be imaged, will we need to develop tools to image the Chrome OS cloud and the cache on the actual machine?
- Since the user isn’t in total control of the data’s chain of custody, could potential claims be made regarding accuracy and authenticity?
- How will Google handle the multiplicity of selves factor? Meaning, for folks who use Google services for both work and personal reasons, how will the data be separated during a collection?
- Will Google be maintaining an active index of all user data for searching?
- How will user data be backed-up and stored on their cloud?
- 51 minutes into the presentation, Sundar Pinchai stated that, “If you’re a lawyer editing contracts back and forth, this is not the right machine for you…not what we will come out with next year.” I would probably disagree with this concept, as I already know many attorneys who work with Google Docs, and even though countless firms have their own macros or toolbars for certain actions within Word, for most attorneys this would be a great platform to sketch out ideas, edit existing documents or review correspondence. I think Sundar’s comment was focused more on how this device is more of an accessory than a primary device, however for drafting a contract or correspondence how would Google Docs (which has most of the stock features of Microsoft Word) not suffice?
- For smaller firms that lack a dedicated IT department or extensive resources, relying on a Google platform with Chrome OS could potentially be the most cost effective solution, especially in light of their $50 per user per year plan of services.
- While we won’t be indexing databases on the cloud, for those firms that have implemented solutions such as a LexisNexis FYI server or rely on external web-based review applications, Chrome OS could evolve as the best operating system to perform an online document review or legal research.
- As the offering evolves, law students will probably begin using it and taking it to class. After they graduate, they’ll look to integrate Chrome within their professional life as well, thus further embedding the product within the legal community. Firms and IT departments will want to familiarize themselves with the product now, and begin testing it within their infrastructure within the next two years.
- Chrome won’t attack the legal profession as an overnight success, but it will quickly develop as a talking point in various circles. Since this product is seeking to change the way in which we work with our computers, it will also change the way in which clients and corporations work with their data too. Once it launches next year, be sure to talk to clients who are routinely engaged in e-discovery requests and ask if they’ve implemented it as a solution.
My overall impressions, comments & observations:
- When it launches to the consumer market, Google Chrome OS will be highly successful within the netbook community of products, specifically focusing on users who already rely on Google’s products (Gmail, YouTube, etc.)
- Google is very passionate about this product and how it will unify their various product offerings and family of services. If you have a netbook with instant on, <7 second boot times, a browser that is reportedly 39x faster than Internet Explorer, the ability to install applications via the cloud, online storage/back-up, local access to files and installations when necessary, preserved user cache (meaning you can log in to any Google Chrome OS machine and pick up as if you were on your own), Google Voice for placing free phone calls, Chat, Docs, Spreadsheets, Maps, Search, Gmail, YouTube, Android integration, built on a secure Linux kernel with the replacement value and size of a netbook, and you’ve got…one exceptional offering for probably 1 out of every 2 Internet users.
- Chrome OS will then move on to tackle full-size notebooks and then the desktop experience. A self-managed Google Chrome OS personal cloud edition will probably exist in 2011-2013, enabling corporate environments to create and manage their own personal “cloud.” This will be particularly important for niche industries such as law firm IT as our needs rely on unique application platforms and litigation specific software.
- The image of Linux as a solution will be revisited in many corporate environments as Chrome OS will rely heavily on the Linux kernel. Given the various flavors of free Linux platforms and the ever expanding capability of open source solutions, this can provide incentive to review potential transition(s).
- In my opinion, the greatest benefactor of a Google Chrome OS solution (or at least this type of solution) would be the U.S. government. Their litigation support and IT budgets are already tightly controlled (and one could easily argue significantly restrained) and a Google Chrome OS environment can reduce IT expenses and eliminate many of the existing platforms they currently spend millions of dollars on each year. For example, document management and retention systems would be legacy products in an environment that used Google Docs. While there are a bevvy of legal issues surrounding the management of data on the “cloud” by a 3rd party provider such as Google, one should not discredit the concept as a method for reducing expenses and improving the end-user experience. It will take several years for IT administrators and litigation support professionals to be comfortable with this in theory let alone in actual practice, however the trend will gradually move toward case specific data being housed on a cloud. The advent of Citrix and desktop virtualization, along with the growing dependence on this as a requirement for efficiency, have already solidified this in the marketplace.
- Online providers who offer a product similar to what Google already has (i.e. online storage) will have to either develop their platform to integrate further with the browser or create a separate solution as an application that can be installed from the Chrome OS cloud. Failure to do so will probably diminish or greatly decrease their opportunities to gain or maintain users.
- Although this concept is probably 10-12 years away, Google Chrome OS will pose a serious threat to many aspects of IT as a profession. If everything “just works” on a computer and the end user isn’t responsible for maintaining any software updates, addressing problems, or needs separate administrators for email/file/Blackberry servers, the only sector that will probably go unscathed are software trainers.
- In order to stay competitive with Google , Microsoft will need to evolve a web-based iteration of Windows that integrates with their Live and Office online platform. While many will argue that the transition to cloud based platforms is very far off, the adoption of Chrome OS will add extra fuel to the operating system war.
- In its initial infancy, litigation support and law firm IT will not be significantly impacted by Google Chrome OS. It is still years away from solid integration and probably a decade away from serious market saturation within our niche profession. With bandwidth speeds being what they are now and the existing capabilities of the software we all rely on, I can’t imagine having to create a production set of a 250 GB image base through the Chrome OS for awhile. This product can serve as an excellent companion to the many aspects of our jobs (i.e. responding to email, working with documents, project management, etc), yet will be very far off in terms of providing itself as a total solution for all needs.
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