back to article DOH! Google’s internet of things vision is powered by… Mac OS

Few companies have as all encompassing a vision as our friends at Google. From handsets and cloud apps, to airships via, ad sales and Chromebooks, this is the company that reckons anything you can do, it can do better. Or at least do with an ad on it. No, there’s nothing fruity about our vision of the future Is that a …

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  1. Neil Alexander

    It's a well known fact that a huge number of Google employees use Macs. Why is this news?

    1. Thecowking

      In fact that last I looked, mac is the default platform at Google.

      When you're out and about trying to tempt students to become interns, you often see Google stands about and they always have a macbook on.

    2. Jason Hindle

      Well might think they'd want to promote their own platform

      And produce a knock-out presentation, in Google Slides. Oh, hang on a minute....

    3. Daniel B.

      It actually makes sense

      If you need to use commercial software, you basically need either Windows or OSX. If you want to use a laptop and not pay the MS tax, you're better off buying a Mac. Ok, you can buy a Chromebook as well but again, no commercial software.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: It actually makes sense

        Is the Apple fee better than the MS tax? Also it means a single HW supplier... also you do expect Google using ChromeBooks, don't you? Or they are so useless but to steal user data Google people have no use for them?

  2. cashxx

    Google switched to Mac

    A few years ago when Windows got slammed by a virus Google made the switch to the Mac platform. I forget what virus it was, but in order to use Linux or Windows you have to make a good claim on why you must use those. Mac is about the only choice at Google to my understanding unless you make your case!

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: Google switched to Mac

      They have their own OS, and they don't use it by default internally? That's the absolute best way to make sure it is in good shape!

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge
        Thumb Down

        Re: Google switched to Mac

        They have their own OS, and they don't use it by default internally?

        Which OS would that be exactly? Android, Chrome OS or one of their server versions?

        I applaud the undogmatic use of the Mac: the hardware is good to develop on and works well with external AV. One of Google's strengths is its promiscuity - making its services available to all and sundry. In this Android is only a means to an end.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Google switched to Mac

      Not quite. The default laptops are Mac or Linux, with more people choosing Macs than Linux. The default desktops are Linux.

      The lack of Windows option is partly security, partly middle finger.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Google switched to Mac

      I'm an ex-Googler. The truth is that Google employees can use Macs (and most do) OR Linux for their laptops. I used Linux for everything. The only thing that has to be justified is windows, which is a vanishingly rare thing inside Google, fortunately.

    4. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      Re: Google switched to Mac

      And for presentation work MacOS video drivers are more reliable than Linux ones. I've seen a number of crashes when plugging Linux laptops into projectors.

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Google switched to Mac

      They could use any Linux distro on any hardware of their choice - but it looks they don't like Linux but to sell you a cheap OS aimed at stealing your data...

  3. James12345
    FAIL

    AV company kit

    Having been one of the speakers to have stood on that platform in the first picture, I'm pretty sure that the laptop belonged to the firm providing the AV service (which may or may not have been Olympia's in-house crew).

    1. AMBxx Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: AV company kit

      This forum isn't about anything as boring as the truth - now you've gone and spoilt the whole story ;)

  4. James Boag

    Chromebooks are for consumption

    Chromebooks are for consuming the web, Facebook, Netflix, Spotify , Youtube etc

    Not for actually doing anything productive on !

    Oh and they are bloody good for consuming the web too !

    1. Fred Flintstone Gold badge

      Re: Chromebooks are for consumption

      Oh and they are bloody good for consuming the web too !

      Oh? I thought that was Suarez?

      :)

    2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: Chromebooks are for consumption

      Since when was showing a powerpoint presentation "being productive" ?

  5. ItsNotMe
    Mushroom

    NFW Google...and every other IT firm.

    There isn't a snow-ball's chance in Hell I will EVER have my home, appliances...and especially my car...connected to any Internet organization. Not Apple...not Google...not Microsoft...not anyone.

    The only items that are...and will still be...connected to the Internet are my computer and Smartphone. Everything else is off limits to all of these creeps.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: NFW Google...and every other IT firm.

      Everything else is off limits to all of these creeps.

      That's you and me both. But it's not like they don't keep trying - one of the issues is that you may be able to control your own gear, but any mobile device wandering in from outside has the potential to act as a gateway you do not control. And personally, I could really do with code that could nuke every attempt to hook me up to some sharing or "cloud" setup, I'm getting really, really fed up with that.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: NFW Google...and every other IT firm.

      If you think your car isn't connected to the internet, it is either from the 80s or you're ignorant to reality.

  6. Andrew Jones 2

    Chromebooks can't be used for development, this was in fact a question that was asked at the Android Fireside Chat session yesterday - someone asked when you would be able to write Android applications using the Chromebook and the answer given was - it wasn't likely in the near future, as development would apparently have to be in some sort of Cloud IDE.

    1. Tachikoma

      development would apparently have to be in some sort of Cloud IDE.

      Google had that a few years ago, was one of their "20% projects" that they eventually open sourced.

  7. anttix

    I always thought it was about access to the command line, which is pure unix (please correct me if I'm wrong) All the programmers I know use macs - I assume for this reason.

  8. regadpellagru

    Normal stuff

    If you're giving a pres, you surely don't want a bsod like that poor Gates fella ...

    Hence OS X

    /fanboy

  9. Greencat

    And at their science museum exhibit...

    ...I think I remember seeing a ton of Mac Minis running it all. Certainly some Apple flavoured machine.

  10. Daniel B.
    Boffin

    Makes sense

    The Chromebook is more of a consumer device and thus isn't yet ready for development stuff. Then there's the need for commercial software, which is usually only available for Windows or OSX. And lastly, if your options are Linux or OSX and you don't want to pay the MS tax, you really, really want to buy a Mac. Because buying a regular laptop then installing Linux means that you paid the MS tax anyway.

    1. Scroticus Canis
      Happy

      Re: Makes sense

      "Linux means that you paid the MS tax anyway."

      Not strictly true, do believe the story was actually here on the dear old Reg - Bloke (or blokesse) brought laptop at PC World (IIRC) then started the set-up and declined the MS Windows terms and conditions and got the MS prompt to return to the seller and get a refund for the Windoze software. Don't think PC Wank was to impressed but had to oblige as it is part of the legal contract of sale. Job done (well assuming you have a bootable Linux image).

    2. Nuke
      Holmes

      @ Daniel B - Re: Makes sense

      Wrote :- "buying a regular laptop then installing Linux means that you paid the MS tax anyway"

      You can buy laptops in the UK with nothing installed. I did recently. As you would expect from devices aimed at techies, they tend to be of superior spec to the high street/PC World stuff (and more expensive).

  11. Joe Loughry

    It's right there on a poster:

    <i>ne jamais travailler avec nouvelle technologie sur scene</i>

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    At Google you have the choice of OSX or Linux. This was due to the IE toolbar hack that hit Goole.

    It's pretty obvious that a developer or technical person isn't going to use a shitty toy OS like Chrome OS.

    1. GraemeD

      ChroomBook

      Hi a professional LAMP dev and my main home device is a Samsung Chromebook. its light enough to be in my rucksack at all times and cheap enough to not cry if it goes missing. I Chrooted it to run Ubuntu , so got the best of both worlds.

      1. Nuke
        Linux

        @GraemeD - Re: ChroomBook

        Wrote :- "my main home device is a Samsung Chromebook. ... I Chrooted it to run Ubuntu"

        I was wondering when someone was going to point that out. There is even a distro for it - Chrubuntu

  13. Stretch

    You see, I would rather die than ever touch anything made by fucking crapple. So the "thou must use crapos" seems ridiculous to me. But then google make you use fucking git, which has no windows support at all, and is an atrocious pile of wank. So what do google know? Knock out barely supported free app after free app then pull out the rug after a few months when next flavour comes along.

    fucking idiots the lot of them. a pox on them all.

    1. envmod

      calm down dear.

  14. This post has been deleted by its author

  15. m0nkf1sh

    What a non-story. Reg Hack, please try harder.

    I was an employee at Google at the time when the Aurora attack went public. The immediate reaction of the IT team was to get as many employees migrated away from Windows as quickly as possible. Consequently, Macs have been a large part of the laptop fleet ever since. There's no story here and its no secret that Googles employees use Macs.

  16. ElReg!comments!Pierre
    Coat

    Look at the display!

    the on-stage display reads "ne jamais travailler avec nouvelle technologie sur scene" which translates to "never work with new technology on stage"*

    So the guy chooses to use a boring old MacBook instead of a new exciting ChromeBook. Makes perfect sense!

    Coat, door, cab

    *(grammar error faithfully reproduced in the translation, btw)

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Goobuntu

    Do they still develop and use Goobuntu internally? Quite a big contributor to the Linux source code aren't they ?

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Whenever I've seen a Google-bot on the telly or in a photo, they're always using Apple machines so no news there, in fact, the same applies for Channel 4 News (anyone else noticed that everyone they interview or visit, even hard up homeowners, use Apple machines?)

    But this post does raise an interesting question; Microsoft employees are expected to use Windows in demos and Apple employees are expected to use OS X or iOS, so one would expect that if Google does have an OS that runs on a laptop, why aren't they using it?

    Maybe they wanted to be able to use it while not connected to the internet? I don't know.

    Good catch.

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