[OT] My first impressions of Chromebook

[Richard Gaskin]

Chipp Walters wrote:
> For those of you interested in Google's new, and fascinating Chromebook,
> here's my first thoughts after spending the weekend with one:
>
> http://blog.chipp.com/chromebook-first-impressions/

Good read, Chipp.  Thanks for posting that.

On this item from your post:

    There is no Netflix. Yet. For those of you hooked on Netflix,
    it’s rumored to be in the works, but currently there is no
    way to play Netflix. I suspect this is because the OS is
    based on Linux and for some reason, Netflix has some specific
    requirements which only run on MacOS and Windows and iOS.

There are a number of threads in the Ubuntu forums about this.  Turns 
out it's because NetFlix' content providers require DRM systems like 
Microsoft Silverlight, which aren't currently supported on Linux and 
Linux derivatives like Android and Chrome OS.  Given how much money MS 
spends keeping Linux at bay, I doubt we'll ever see a Silverlight 
implementation for those platforms.

Rumor has it that Netflix is in negotiations with their content 
providers to find alternative DRM methods which are more universally 
supported across platforms.  Apparently Netflix wants this to happen, 
but their providers are moving slowly.

So with any luck we'll see Netflix available for Chrome OS and Linux in 
the coming months.

Finger crossed.  I'm building a MythTV system for my home and the DRM 
issue is the only thing holding back our subscription to Netflix.

--
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World
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