Caught in Google's web
Asked about desktop applications not yet available on the web, Pichai admitted he expected "most of our users to have a second machine at home." "If you're a lawyer spending your entire day on contracts, etc, this is not the machine for you," he said but he added that the Internet boasted "hundreds of millions of applications," and that it was Google's job "to make people aware of them."
Also, because there were so many applications so readily available online, Google has no immediate plans for an app store.
"We're very excited by things like Photoshop on the Web and we're working hard to make that possible," said Pichai who also said Google was working away at ensuring keyboards, cameras, phones and printers would also work with the OS.
Also, since Chrome is open source, Pichai said he reckons "people will do many interesting things with it," even maybe building their own variations. "We're working very closely with the W3C to standardize as much as we can," he continued, noting that in general, Google wanted "to see everything standardised across multiple browsers."
The biggest problem for many people, however, seems to be that without Internet connection, the device is rendered somewhat useless. "What about if I want to use it on a plane and I don't want to pay $10 for Wi-Fi?" was a common question at the press conference.
Pichai answered that while Chrome devices were "primarily intended to be Internet connected," they did also have "some caching abilities so, for example, you could play a game offline, or watch a movie or listen to music."
