Google plans to lease computers for $20 a month, including hardware and software upgrades. I/O 2011. From Mashable:
The program, called Chromebooks for Business & Education allows businesses and educational institutions to pay Google a monthly fee in exchange for a supported, updated Chromebook. Business users will pay $28 a month for each Chromebook and educational institutions will pay $20 a month per unit.
Here are the details of the subscription plan as we know them now:
- Schools and businesses will order their Chromebook units directly from Google at google.com/chromebook, beginning June 15, 2011.
- Google will cover phone, email and hardware replacement for Chromebook Business & Education users.
- IT managers can use virtualization platforms like Citrix to offer access to non-web apps, essentially making the Chromebook a thin client on steroids.
- Administrators have various management options for configuring and monitoring lots of different units.