Laptops on the Cheap

By Brad

Google has announced it will begin renting laptops for $20 a month. Via Sarah Perez of Read Write Web:

The laptops will run Google’s Chrome OS, a computer operating system that does away with local storage and applications in favor of a Web browser…and only a Web browser. The browser, of course, is Google Chrome. Initially, the $20/month laptop package will only be offered to students, the report states, but it is surely a precursor to Google’s greater ambitions, in both educational institutions and the enterprise.

While Google’s service isn’t entirely altruistic — Perez describes it as a “backdoor” for the company into schools — it’s still a pretty cool move, and if it expands could be a big step toward closing the digital divide. Assuming everyone has access to broadband, that is.