By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Google, it seems, has made a Sophie's Choice and given preference to its ChromeOS over the more popular Android OS to run its upcoming tablet products like the recently launched Acer Chromebook Tab 10. This really comes as no surprise since Google's recent forays into the tablet space with Nexus and Pixel devices have been lacklustre, to say the least. The last tablet Google released that made any sense was the Nexus 7, that was around five years ago. It seems developers didn't have much incentive to develop apps for the tablet form factor, which resulted in stagnant apps that felt like half-measures.
ChromeOS is the platform Google is going with for Chromebooks and tablets and all of a sudden, we're seeing Google in a different light as a computing platform competitor. Why is this a power move by Google, because it already has a foothold in the education market and has a variety of cloud connected apps and solutions that fit most schools and universities like a glove. By adding tablets to the mix, Google is giving students a more portable, personal and tactile medium that has similar benefits to Chromebooks.
The move towards tablets in education is actually a result of requests from schools. “Schools choose Chromebooks because they are fast, easy-to-use and manage, shareable, secure and affordable,” Google’s Cyrus Mistry explains. “We’ve listened carefully to feedback from educators around the world, and one common theme is that they want all the benefits of Chromebooks in a tablet form.”