Google Chrome OS laptops to get a monthly subscription?

We all know that the Google Chrome OS is about to make its debut as a stable operating system sometime in the new future, and that the netbooks are on their way. All that’s left to figure out is how much they will cost. According to an exclusive report from the folks at Neowin, it looks like Google will have an interesting pricing strategy for their Chrome OS netbooks.

In the report, they state than a reliable source has mentioned Google will be selling the devices as part of a subscription based model with Gmail to customers. The netbooks will be sold for a monthly subscription that costs $10-20. Benefits to the subscription are that users will get hardware refreshes (according to the package) and faulty hardware will be replaced as long as users are subscribed. But for those who don’t want to pay a monthly fee, there will be Chrome OS netbooks that have a one-time payment fee, but they won’t be coming from Google. Instead, the netbooks will be produced by other manufacturers like how the Android  operating system is distributed right now.

Is the world ready to take advantage of a cloud-based Chrome OS? We’ve mentioned in our Cr-48 review that Chrome OS still has got some way to go before it works as well as intended and it’s going to take consumers even longer to work with a cloud-based operating system. And while we know that cloud-computing is going to be the future, is it the right time now? Would you pay a monthly subscription for a Chrome OS netbook?

George Wong
Categories: Computers, Web
Tags: Google, google chrome, Netbook, price, subscription