The in all of Internet-land is Netflix’s streaming movie service. And while there is a “Netflix app” in the Chrome Web Store, the system doesn’t support Netflix video at this time. So there’s that.

It’s when you move too far beyond mere Web-browsing, in fact, that the limitations of a cloud-based Chrome OS computer stand in starker relief. Want to download MP3s and then transfer them to your phone or iPod? No dice. You can, however, purchase a subscription for $10 a month and stream music on your computer or iPod touch, but that’s an unsatisfying solution if (like me) you have a penchant for obscure Kansas punk-bluegrass bands that haven’t made it onto that service’s radar.

Name your multimedia, and similar problems appear: Want to store your photos? You’ll have to upload them to , , or —and upload them from some other device: the machine wouldn’t pull photos from my iPhone when I connected it via USB. (The port is there mainly for attaching peripherals like a keyboard, mouse, headset, microphone, and so on.) While there is an SD card slot, I had no luck getting it to access my camera’s memory card either.

It’s the same story for video: You have to upload your footage from some other device, although YouTube does have a . Recording and editing podcasts? There’s no obvious solution for the Chrome OS.

If you want to , in other words, the cloud isn’t quite ready for you—and that means Chrome OS isn’t quite ready for you, either. Will it be when (and if) Chrome OS netbooks actually hit the market next year? That’s tougher to say.