Virgin America to offer Google Chromebooks on select flights

[Emil]

Virgin America has announced that it is teaming up with Google to offer its customers the opportunity to "test-fly" a Google Chromebook for free. From July 1, 2011 to September 30, 2011, Virgin America flyers will be able to check out a Chromebook at their departure airport gate and take the new notebook computer out for a spin onboard select Virgin America flights.

In addition, flyers who check out a Chromebook will receive a free WiFi session onboard Virgin America via the Gogo network so users can open their browser and surf the web at 35,000 feet. Google is letting Virgin American advertise that Chromebooks have an eight-second boot time, which the two companies claim is perfect for "today's connected traveler."

I'm a little surprised that the companies are not using "the cloud" to market this deal. Think about it: Virgin American and Google let you use a cloud computer in the clouds!

"Our goal has always been to use the best in technology to reinvent the travel experience – and help bring some fun back to flying," said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America. "As another California company known for connecting people in new ways, Google has been a key partner with us from our very first flights in 2007 – powering the interactive Google maps onboard our Red entertainment platform. We're delighted to team up with Google yet again in a way that keeps our guests entertained and connected – in both the physical and virtual clouds."

Google's Chromebooks went on sale last month in the following seven countries: the US, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands. Two months ago, Google unveiled Chromebook and Chromebox devices. The first Chromebooks are made by Acer and Samsung.

Google has confirmed it would keep the focus of Chrome OS on notebooks and that there were no plans to merge it with Android. These Chromebooks are the first test for Chrome OS. Google is really hoping its idea of an operating system that is essentially a browser takes off. The company's broader strategy is to have everything on the Web, so it can index it and monetize it with ads.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/44498-virgin-america-to-offer-google-chromebooks-on-select-flights.html

 

[captaincranky]

"Our goal has always been to use the best in technology to reinvent the travel experience – and help bring some fun back to flying," said Porter Gale, Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America.

Oddly, I thought the "fun in flying", should be the flying, not having your head shoved in some Google "Spyware Book". You can do that anywhere, on the ground, taking a c***, instead of sleeping with your partner, instead of doing your job....ad naseum....

 

[Guest]

Seems a little unfair to unleash such bitter hatred to just Google. If you don't think your ISP knows more than Google does about your online activity you're ignoring a much more incidious problem. If you have a cell phone your telco has all your location info -- a smart phone only amplifies this issue. If you use any web browser and don't lock it down to the point where it's almost unusable the whole web cookie matter is just trivial, diversionary fluff because items like web trackers, LSOs (aka Flash Cookies), and the now cancerous and ever-present Facebook Like link can and are being used to profile not just your web habits but your character traits. So yeah, dump on Google since it's becoming superficially trendy to do so but your anger is ignoring the bigger issue about being a 'digital citizen'.

 

[Guest]

There is nothing fun in flying imo. I think it's a good idea, you get some entertainment, and they get to advertise their new laptop.

 

[captaincranky]

Seems a little unfair to unleash such bitter hatred to just Google.

well whether it "seems" that way to you or not, the fact of the matter is, the thread is about Google "Chrome Books". So, if I unleashed my equivalent hatred of Apple in this thread, I would be off topic, but still correct.

If you don't think your ISP knows more than Google does about your online activity you're ignoring a much more incidious problem. If you have a cell phone your telco has all your location info -- a smart phone only amplifies this issue. If you use any web browser and don't lock it down to the point where it's almost unusable the whole web cookie matter is just trivial, diversionary fluff because items like web trackers, LSOs (aka Flash Cookies), and the now cancerous and ever-present Facebook

This is well thought out, entertaining, and informative but; I don't have a "smart phone", avoid Facebook" like nuclear waste, (or bubonic plague),, and my ISP is probably sick of porn by now.

....[ ]...So yeah, dump on Google since it's becoming superficially trendy to do so but your anger is ignoring the bigger issue about being a 'digital citizen'.

Is "digital citizen" wun o' dem thar fools that text, talk, and drive so that it isn't save to share the roards with them? Is a digital citizen someone that thinks that playing video games stimulates the economy? 'Cause if that's what a "digital citizen" is, then I hope they close all the fast food restaurants, and forget to refill the worlds candy machines, and they all die the f*** out.

(BTW, is "digital citizen" a euphemism for "superficially trendy"? Because that about sums it up).

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

I prefer Jetblue's TV's tho!