For some, that future could be in four months. That's when the first Chromebooks release; notebooks running Google's new Chrome operating system. It promises to revolutionise computing because every single application, everything it does and everything you do on it is done through the internet.
The advantage is that Chrome has no programs other than its built-in internet explorer. Nothing is running in the background, and it can't install anything, either. That means no viruses, and no bulky, slow anti-virus software, no hard drive, nothing. It can do pretty much whatever a normal notebook can - but it does it all via the web. It's proper 'cloud' computing.
As long as you're on Wi-fi, you can create a Google text document (no Microsoft Word here) then save it online, while playing your music collection on an internet-based music player using files from your online storage.
Here's Google's video, summing up exactly what the new OS offers:
Google's slogan is 'Ready when you are'. Thing is, when on earth will that be?
While most of America and Asia enjoys speeds of between 10MB/s and 100MB/s, much of the UK still runs at very poor broadband speeds - think 1-4MB. Imagine trying to stream a film, work on several word documents and browse the internet while Twitter is open in the background. Normally, a bad internet connection would struggle with that. But when the computer's every thought has to be piped down the internet and back every second, the wireless router will just explode at anything under 5MB/s. Unluckily for us, that's what most of the UK has.
Even if you have a good internet connetion, there's the problem of being out of Wi-fi range - and it's not just a problem for us Brits. Most computers are badly hindered by not having an internet connection, but at least you can work on documents and access your own music, video and photo collections. With a Chromebook, if you're offline, you've got nothing but an expensive paperweight.
Wi-fi hotspot coverage is improving all the time, of course. But it's still nowhere near what it needs to be to make a Chromebook anything approaching convenient.
Chromebook is undoubtedly a brilliant idea. It takes just eight seconds to start up, because it has no programs to load. If you lose it, or break it, well, all your files are online. Just buy another and you won't even notice the transition.
And buying another won't be so painful, either. Prices haven't been announced yet, but because a Chromebook is essentially an internet explorer with a Wi-fi card and a screen, they are going to be much, much cheaper than normal notebooks.
That means Chromebook could eat into Windows' marketshare quickly. If it's half the price, twice as fast and does everything a normal laptop can do, why wouldn't it take off?
Yup, it’s internet speed. It's a shame - and shameful - that the UK has such poor internet speeds. It lags far, far behind the rest of the world. But even in America, fast internet is nowhere near universal, and even if it was, Wi-fi hotspots aren't. And Chromebook's 100% dependence on them outside of the house makes it awkward, at best, to take on the road in 2011.
Chromebook is the future. Years down the line, it will be probably be how computing works, not just on notebooks but on phones, games consoles and TVs. But not yet. Not until internet companies and governments – especially in the UK- catch up with Google's ambition.
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