Google to Sell $20/Month Laptops

Google will begin renting laptop computers for $20 per month, a senior Google executive told Forbes. The laptops will run Google's Chrome OS, a computer operating system that does away with local storage and applications in favor of a Web browser...and only a Web browser. The browser, of course, is Google Chrome. Initially, the $20/month laptop package will only be offered to students, the report states, but it is surely a precursor to Google's greater ambitions, in both educational institutions and the enterprise.

The laptops' price includes both the hardware and the accompanying online services, the Forbes article states. These services include Google's Web-based alternatives to Microsoft's desktop offerings: Gmail instead of Outlook, Google Docs instead of Microsoft Office, and so on. It will also include things like online calendaring, collaboration tools, instant messaging and more, although the article doesn't go into detail on the exact services bundled with the deal.
At present, Google offers schools and universities a free and ad-free version of its Google Apps software to educational institutions directly, which can be then used by students and faculty alike. While a number of schools have signed up for these services, as evidenced by the numerous case studies featured on Google's website, many still have chosen Microsoft's Live@Edu solution instead, or something else entirely.
The $20/month program for student laptops gives Google a backdoor into schools, and also in the mass adoption of its services. Working the disruptive, flying under-I.T.'s-radar angle comes naturally to Google, which has, for years, pushed employees to use its products and services without I.T.'s knowledge or consent.
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