Quote:Google is unveiling early-stage designs, software code, and documentation of a project whose goal is to let users of the company's Chrome OS print documents to any printer from any application.

Called Google Cloud Print, the technology would dispense with the need to install printer drivers by routing print jobs from Web, desktop, and mobile applications via a Chrome OS Web-hosted broker.

"Rather than rely on the local operating system -- or drivers -- to print, apps can use Google Cloud Print to submit and manage print jobs. Google Cloud Print will then be responsible for sending the print job to the appropriate printer with the particular options the user selected, and returning the job status to the app," wrote Google Product Manager Mike Jazayeri in an official blog post.

While Google Cloud Print is still in its "early days," the company wants to engage interested developers and vendors in the process of developing this technology, according to Jazayeri.

Carl Howe, a Yankee Group analyst, said that it's smart of Google to envision printing as a cloud service instead of as a device.

"That's particularly key for netbooks and tablets that don't have printer ports or room for printer connectors," Howe said via e-mail. "It's just another example of how the new world of 'anywhere' computing is rapidly jettisoning our PC-conceived notions of how to do things."

- Source: [Infoworld]

Google story: http://blog.chromium.org/2010/04/new-app...nting.html

So sending your files to the cloud to have them sent back to you (after being scanned and having contextual ads inserted :P) is obviously the new way to print.
On the other hand, it could have a number of uses, such as the mentioned lack of printer ports on netbooks.  Can also be easier to set people up, as it can allow printing without much configuration on client computers (eg students with laptops at school/Uni).  May also offer a solution to the iPad's lack of print support, although these guys already came up with a solution for that.

Privacy?

I work in a Bank, which still won't let me e-mail loan documents to my clients; wonder what they'd think about all this...

Would be nice to use to have macs print to ricoh and unsupported ho printers.  I hate macs in a busiess environment!