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The Chromebook Pixel

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Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#221

Post by MatthewPhillips »

spankalee wrote: post #101
ConstantineXVI wrote: post #48

That is one beautiful laptop (note that it's not 16:9 either). I feel like we're missing something, there's no way Google would be blind enough to build such a powerful machine (vs existing Chromebooks) that's so limited by the OS. There's either something we aren't being told or Google's jumped entirely off the deep end. (Alternative: there's no way they could do a "Retina" Chromebook for reasonably cheap, but the N…

Discliaimer: I work for Google, but don't know about real strategy decisions about this. I think it's all about establishing more demand for web apps. Already I can do everything I need to in Chrome except for a nice development environment, though Cloud9 is getting closer, and music apps like Logic. Those are quite doable though, especially with the Chrome App APIs, someone just needs to get the ball rolling. The cu…

Well said, that's my thought as well. If you look at the complaints in this thread (lack of VMs, lack of Photoshop equivalents, etc.) won't get created until there is compelling hardware capable of running them. We're already seeing an explosion of web apps to fill the need of regular Chromebook users (stuff like RDP clients are a hot item in the Web Store these days), but it will take something more capable before we get, for example, good WebGL games.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#223

Post by j_camarena »

dannyr wrote: post #150
javajosh wrote: post #58

There are only three meaningful things you can do with a computer with specs like this: development, design, or gaming. And yet ChromeOS can't do any of these things. Perhaps this is a vanity product for the wealthy. But wealthy people are going to just surf the web on an iPad. I really don't get this product.

I agree it doesn't make sense. Unless Google announces something in the near future that would make it more than just a web-browsing device...

^ this

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#224

Post by incongruity »

rayiner wrote: post #171
oskarth wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This and similar arguments in this thread are eerily similar to the arguments made against the first iPhone by the ./ crowd.

You mean the iPad? I remember the iPhone having a very positive reaction. As a general rule, most of the time when people say "this is going to be a failure" they are right. The iPad is the exception, not the rule. And Apple has market-making ability that Google can only dream of.

Well, I mean, given that most new product launches and most new business ventures fail, of course the naysayers will be right more often. That doesn't mean they actually have insight into why products fail.

So, that having been said and because this is the internet, I'll rush in with my probably foolish and ill-advised explanation for with this won't be a game changer: In this case, I think the price vs. capabilities will make people compare this unfavorably with other ultrabooks/macbook airs. For the price, there isn't much here that can't be copied, easily, and quickly – and if I really want the cloud connectivity, I can get that on my ultrabook.

What's the unique value proposition in this product? I just don't see it being compelling – except that it's not an Apple product (don't get me wrong, I'm typing this on a Macbook, but I recognize that some people don't like the fruit vendor).

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#225

Post by JungleGymSam »

javajosh wrote: post #58

There are only three meaningful things you can do with a computer with specs like this: development, design, or gaming. And yet ChromeOS can't do any of these things. Perhaps this is a vanity product for the wealthy. But wealthy people are going to just surf the web on an iPad. I really don't get this product.

I agree but the only explanation I can think of is in preparation for Native Client. But why buy now when the price is high, right?

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#226

Post by LilValleyBigEgo »

Kerrick wrote: post #163
rayiner wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you pay $1,300 to log into a $5/month remote box with 20GB of storage and 512MB of RAM?

Plenty of people already do this with the $250 Chromebook, and even iPad. The $1,299 isn't for the 32GB SSD. It's for the 239ppi 2:3 multitouch Gorilla Glass display. It's for the 4GB of RAM. It's for the dual core Intel i5. It's for the impressively made aluminum chassis. It's for the 1TB of cloud storage. It's for everything a high-end cloud device should be.

> It's for the impressively made aluminum chassis.

So it's reasonable to pay more to have your computer in a biscuit tin.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#227

Post by recoiledsnake »

mcfazeli wrote: post #193

What I find rather shocking is that 10% of all UK laptops are Chromebooks. When and how did that happen? This is all while Apple is still dominating the Windows exodus!

The original source says this:

>In PC pro stores with a Google Zone, sales of Chromebooks represent over 10% of our notebook sales.

That's a far cry from "10% of all UK laptops are Chromebooks".

First they're talking about sales, while your statement is talking about install base.

I suspect the "other" below is mostly Android, so it's not even a blip on the radar in Statcounter stats for UK.

http://gs.statcounter.com/#os-GB-monthly-201201-201301

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#228

Post by incongruity »

rdtsc wrote: post #57
jbail wrote: post #14

So, it is real! It looks awesome, but at $1,299, I don't think it's priced well. That's $100 more than a 13" MacBook. I just don't see that much value in a Chromebook at this point in time.

> That's $100 more than a 13" MacBook. Some will see that as "So Chromebook is better than a MacBook then? They wouldn't have priced it that high if it wasn't. I want one". Kind of how some expensive wine is sold. Sell it for $15 / bottle and it gets lost on the shelves among others. Put it in a special glass case and sell it for $120 / bottle and surprise people will buy, taste it and think it is really the best one…

People use price to compare wine because we have virtually nothing else to go on. With wine, many people are selecting from options they have no direct experience with (styles, yes, particular wine or year? not in many cases) – so price became a way to discriminate when all else was unavailable.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#229

Post by chris_mahan »

Kerrick wrote: post #130
criley wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you develop on this? I'm used to using Linux, command line, text editors, local installs of the product I'm developing for, virtual machines, etc... Are you simply forced into using ALL websites to actually develop and unable to use anything else? Seems strange to pay $1250+ to develop on a machine that cannot even run or test the code you write.

Chrome has a wonderful SSH client [0], and with a $5/mo Digital Ocean [1] (or other [2]) VPS for all your UNIX work, it's a perfectly capable dev machine. [0]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/secure-shell/pnhec... [1]: https://www.digitalocean.com/ [2]: http://www.lowendbox.com/

I got a cr-48 in november 2010. The new chromeOS remaps ctrl-o to "open window" even when in crosh, so you can't save files in nano or pico. I stopped using it altogether. It's gathering dust.

Re: The Chromebook Pixel

#230

Post by Teckla »

mtgx wrote: post #178
javajosh wrote: post #58

There are only three meaningful things you can do with a computer with specs like this: development, design, or gaming. And yet ChromeOS can't do any of these things. Perhaps this is a vanity product for the wealthy. But wealthy people are going to just surf the web on an iPad. I really don't get this product.

Exactly. ChromeOS is not for such powerful machines, because the OS itself is not powerful. So ChromeOS with a $1000 machine is far from a perfect match (at least it isn't yet, maybe 5-10 years from now). But right now ChromeOS is and should be for light web machines. And I've said it many times before. There's absolutely no reason for Chromebooks to use x86 chips. I've said Google will almost surely mess up the pric…

There's absolutely no reason for Chromebooks to use x86 chips.

What about people that prefer trading some battery life for some performance?

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