Google ‘student package’ to offer Chrome laptops for $20 per month

The company announced on May 11th that  a “student package” plan, offering a Chrome laptop — presumably the Cr-48 or something similar — as part of a $20-per-month purchase plan.

The report comes from no less a reliable source than Forbes, which cites an unnamed “senior Google executive.” It is believed that this deal, which will presumably be revealed at today’s Google I/O keynote, is the test run for a more full-featured business offering. Forbes speculates that a package could be sold to professionals which sweetens the purchase of Google Apps, the company’s Microsoft Office-like suite of productivity tools that currently sells for $50 per year, with a Chrome OS laptop. Google Apps offers the advantage of cloud-based storage.

“Small and medium-sized businesses are banging on our doors to get something like this,” Forbes’ source said, further suggesting that the rumored (for now) “student package” is a test run. You have to respect the forethought here; give students access to a cheap, Internet-connected laptop and then, when they enter the professional world, they’ll already be well-versed in using Chrome OS for work purposes. The problem with anything cloud-related, of course, is the inability to work with saved content when no Internet connection is available. The Google source tells Forbes that a solution is very close to being cracked.

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