ARM based Chromebook. Then flash the BIOS and install Linux

Take the Google AI that beat the world's Go master, feed it the Linux kernel and the GNU code tree and ask it to make it secure, smaller, faster or build a new application that does XYZZY. So much for software coding. Until the last year or so, I thought the plumbers and electricians would be safe jobs. I now doubt that someone starting in either of these fields will be able to find/keep a job for the next 40 years. YMMV

Or Google could provide and interface Drive such that the end user or their company could install their own trusted encryption module so that anything stored on Drive is encrypted on the way up using the end user or their company's keys, and decrypted on the return trip.

Actually, IMOSHO, the Desktop is already irrelevant: reference Cloud devices like the Chrome book/box/base

Celeron processor, 2 Gb Ram upgradable, 16Gb SSD upgradable. HDMI and DVI ports, Ethernet and Wifi, 4 USB ports, SD card reader all in a box that is Versi-Mountable. I use an Asus which costs $165 when I bought it a year ago and are now cheaper. Spend more and get an i3 or better processor.

I was add a user configurable plug-in security module that would encrypt all documents before they are stored/synced to Googles cloud.

If Google did merge Chrome OS into Android, it would open the market place for someone to build a Chromebook Mark II. An Internet appliance computer is now an established computing genre. ...and I also think of Chrome:box/book/base/bit as Network Computers done right. Sun's John Gage was correct with his quote "The network is the computer"

How does 'The Go Programming Language' compare to 'The C Programming Language'?

There are many books available at my local library that will never be available via Kindle.