Jeff Nelson (inventor)


Jeff Nelson

Jeff Nelson
Born Jeffrey James Nelson
August 18, 1971
Arizona, U.S.
Education University of Arizona (B.S., M.S.)
Occupation Software engineer and businessman
Years active 1990–present
Parent(s) Robert and Ardy Nelson
Website
jeff-nelson.com

Jeff Nelson [1] claims to be the inventor of the Google Chrome OS,[2] but this has been disputed.[3]

He is an author of two books on Internet technology, Programming Mobile Objects with Java[4] and Java Class Libraries: Special Edition. He was an early engineer at eBay and the lead engineer for eBay Search.

Patents

Google was granted a patent for "Network Based Operating System Across Devices"[2] on August 7, 2012 and a second patent for "Network File Association"[5] on November 26, 2013 with inventor Jeffrey Nelson.[1]

US Patent#8,595,182 Figure 3
US Patent#8,595,182 Figure 3

Media has criticized the first patent as too broad, covering all cloud operating systems. Wolfgang Gruener writes, "The patent is entitled "Network based operating system across devices" and was filed in March 2009, about two months before Chrome OS was officially announced. What makes this patent special is the fact that it covers virtual all aspects of "providing an operating system over a network to a local device" in a manner that would apply to any cloud OS".[6] A contributor to ConceivablyTech also notes "Chrome OS has a different target and several different approaches than JavaStation did. The main difference is that it is very broad, and all-encompassing, It covers all previous versions of cloud operating systems as well as all future operating systems that are based on Internet-based core distribution."[7] Alfonso Maruccia writing for Neowin expressed his own doubts about the patent, "The patent clearly describes what Mountain View has already marketed as Chrome OS, the tiny client-based operating system that hasn’t really been a big deal thus far as for sales and popularity."[8]

Despite the web centric OS approach to the operating system, Nelson writes on his blog, "The main priority of Chromebook - originally - was not to write a webapp-only operating system. In fact, the main priority when I started constructing the operating system was the need for speed - to create a super-fast operating system."[9]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jeff Nelson
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Network Based Operating System Across Devices" US8239662 "Network Based Operating System Across Devices"<span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Apatent&rft.number="Network Based Operating System Across Devices"&rft.cc=US8239662&rft.title=">
  3. Chrome OS Origins
  4. ["http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Mobile-Objects-Java-Nelson/dp/0471254061" Programming Mobile Objects with Java]
  5. "Network File Association" US8595182 "Network File Association"<span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Apatent&rft.number="Network File Association"&rft.cc=US8595182&rft.title=">
  6. "Google Gets Umbrella Patent For Cloud Operating Systems".
  7. "Google Patents the Cloud OS".
  8. "Google Granted Patent for Its Cloud OS".
  9. "In The Clouds: Inventing Chromebook".