Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

theverge.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 256 posts

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#41

Post by bluedino »

SwellJoe wrote: post #16

That's hard to believe (I believe it, but it struck me as incredible at first). I don't know anyone with a Chromebook, and it's such a different way of computing that it's hard to believe it's taken off so much in such a short time. I think it is reflective of a new generation whose first computing experience was with phones and tablets. The idea that nothing of importance lives on the device is a huge paradigm shift…

>> A Chromebook is so much more empowering than an iPad or tablet

>> A keyboard opens up the door to really building and creating, USB ports allow expansion

>> and Chrome OS is hackable in ways tablets are not.

And a PC or Mac laptop is all of things, and so much more.

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#42

Post by jrcii »

adpirz wrote: post #23

As someone who works in a K-12 setting, I'm not surprised. 1:1 chromebook initiatives are exploding across the country, and with it, a flurry of new edtech apps for K-12. At the end of the day, Chromebooks win over both iPads and Macbooks on price and functionality -- 21st century skills include being able to type and work your way around a computer. On top of that, Google's provisioning and management systems are so…

>Google's provisioning and management systems are so far the best

So far my experience with that is trying to get an Active Directory server to sync with Google Apps for Education, for which they provide this tool:

https://support.google.com/a/answer/6027781?hl=en

It's beyond buggy, it's plain broken. It clearly hasn't been touched in years. I'm going to have to write the glue code myself.

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#43

Post by oblio »

grillvogel wrote: post #10
mamurphy wrote: post #5

Reddit[0] attributes this largely to Chromebooks snatching up most of the K-12 education market from iPads, with Google vaulting ahead while Apple was under-prioritizing that market. Motivations school districts might have for switching: (1) Cheaper, (2) Keyboards are nice for typing, (3), More resilient over time due to easy software updates, and (4) Easier to debug (similar to prior point; nothing is stored locally…

reddit comments are a source now?

Some subreddits are better than Wikipedia.

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#44

Post by ekun »

geofft wrote: post #15
grillvogel wrote: post #4

I wonder how much cheaper macs would be if their primary purpose was tracking users to deliver ads

I gather that you're implying the primary purpose of Chromebooks is tracking users to deliver ads? Are users tracked any more on a Chromebook than a) a MacBook Air running Chrome b) a MacBook Air running Safari?

It's like the comment is saying I use OSX but not a broswer or the Internet so I'm not being tracked.

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#46

Post by xenihn »

criddell wrote: post #27
vox_mollis wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a developer you'd still be a fool (or just loaded with elbow grease) to attempt developing with a chrome book The Chromebook Pixel running Fedora is a lovely development platform.

If you remove ChromeOS, it isn't really a Chromebook anymore.

I haven't looked into it, but I would be tempted to try a Chromebook with Linux on it for my next personal laptop... if I wasn't bolted down by Xcode.

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#47

Post by blazespin »

SwellJoe wrote: post #16

That's hard to believe (I believe it, but it struck me as incredible at first). I don't know anyone with a Chromebook, and it's such a different way of computing that it's hard to believe it's taken off so much in such a short time. I think it is reflective of a new generation whose first computing experience was with phones and tablets. The idea that nothing of importance lives on the device is a huge paradigm shift…

How is it a different way of computing? You can use it offline and frankly any laptop nowadays without internet is pretty crippled.

It's actually really easy to believe and frankly not particularly interesting. The cost of a chromebook is like 1/3 or something of that of a mac. I'd sure hope that unit volume was higher..

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#48

Post by moron4hire »

duaneb wrote: post #6
matheweis wrote: post #2

Not surprised ... Apple hasn't put out a laptop with up-to-date specs for years. I'm a lifelong Mac user and I'm unhappy with their current specs.

Somehow I don't think that their hardware is as much an issue as their price point. As a developer you'd still be a fool (or just loaded with elbow grease) to attempt developing with a chrome book.

I know several developers whom I consider very good at their jobs who use Chromebooks exclusively for work.

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#49

Post by LeifCarrotson »

matheweis wrote: post #2

Not surprised ... Apple hasn't put out a laptop with up-to-date specs for years. I'm a lifelong Mac user and I'm unhappy with their current specs.

Their MacBook Pro line does have (and has had for some time) some of the best hardware available.

Perhaps it doesn't match purpose-built gaming notebooks, and definitely not desktops, but they usually are the first to have a new Intel processor, have newish graphics hardware, pioneered mainstream PCIe storage and high-resolution displays...You might pay a lot for what you get, but there's no doubt it's good hardware.

Re: Chromebooks outsold Macs for the first time in the US

#50

Post by mrpippy »

mamurphy wrote: post #5

Reddit[0] attributes this largely to Chromebooks snatching up most of the K-12 education market from iPads, with Google vaulting ahead while Apple was under-prioritizing that market. Motivations school districts might have for switching: (1) Cheaper, (2) Keyboards are nice for typing, (3), More resilient over time due to easy software updates, and (4) Easier to debug (similar to prior point; nothing is stored locally…

> Keyboards are nice for typing

More than nice, they're generally a purchasing requirement for taking standardized tests

Post reply on HN