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It really is a loss that Apple enthusiasts are so trapped in their bubble. Apple makes some fantastic gear, but there's a whole world exploring design choices.

It really is a loss that Apple enthusiasts are so trapped in their bubble. Apple makes some fantastic gear, but there's a whole world exploring design choices. I recognize some of the compromises the author talks about trying to use a tablet as a computer from time spent with those devices, like the Samsung Q1 and numerous exotic devices that were more like prototypes than anything. It's not clear Apple will care to consider developers on the iPad platform, or professional users of any requirement, since Apple seems to like to sell users a device for every purpose. I just spent time with an Asus Chromebook Flip, which has an excellent keyboard and trackpad and converts into a tablet or the useful tent mode, has a quality aluminium body and IPS display, and weighs less than 2lbs. Give that $300 device a faster CPU, backlit keys, replace the bezel with a full size 4:3 12" screen and it's pretty much the perfect no-compromises browser-centric device that'd still be less than half the price of the iPad Pro with keyboard. And ChromeOS acknowledges enough of its Linux base that the user will get respect when they want to go below the covers.

ghaff 11y ago
I really like my Asus Chromebook Flip, but I suspect that by the time you're done enhancing the design you're getting into the laptop/high-end tablet price range. And I don't understand the market for the Pixel. I do think there's going to be a re-convergence between tablets and laptops even given the track record of convertibles but it's going to require a lot of thought and engineering and testing around specific use cases. (And I also understand why Apple might not be incented to drive things too hard in this direction.)
- davidy123 11y ago
  I've wondered about the price too, but I think with $200 they could upgrade to a 12" IPS display and something like a Core M chip. Maybe the more square display would be too exotic, 16:9 is weird in tablet mode but could be acceptable for the price. I'd expect USB 3.1 charging in that timeframe too. Backlit keys are a $20 option for Thinkpads so they should be achievable too. What's there is already so nice and the form factor works so well I'd be really surprised (and disappointed) if we don't see this in 2016, and it should be something of an inflection in the market to contrast with Apple's unrelentingly expensive offerings. The Pixel is clearly for Chromebook developers, or those with money to burn.
  - ghaff 11y ago
    >Apple's unrelentingly expensive offerings It's really the relative expense of quality laptops more broadly. Story. I forgot my laptop on a weeklong business trip last week. It actually made sense to pickup a Chromebook for the week. After all, it was only about 3x what a forgotten laptop charger would have cost. Chromebooks aren't a laptop replacement but they are very useful. I don't know enough about component costs to know what a Chromebook+ which isn't a Pixel would cost. However, I do see them as a complement to a laptop rather than a replacement. And, by historical standards, a MacBook Pro is very cheap.
    - davidy123 11y ago
      I agree by historical standards they are cheap, but by current volume, simplification (SOC) and process they should continue to drop in price. https://www.semiwiki.com/forum/attachments/content/attachments/15150d1440356386-untitled-jpg?s=d2e192a51882cefee4d114236c37f162 https://www.semiwiki.com/forum/attachments/content/attachmen... But the Macbook is a bit of an novelty, really it's the Macbook Air that I find to be badly overpriced now. I like to project on Apple cause I always look for some idealism that must exist somewhere past good design and profit margins since they can't simply be aspiring to smugness. So I find the Asus Chromebook Flip a good example of what a 2016 Macbook Air could look like because it has many attributes of excellent design while integrating practical innovations, yet remans inexpensive. With their own chip they could easily make a quality lower priced Air and still have profit higher than the rest of the industry. However Apple is unlikely to use the flip design, much less put a touchscreen on a keyboarded device. It would shatter their image. As well I think Apple has stacked their market, including the Apple resale market, such that any lower cost product would cause value problems across their line. So hopefully these factors create a good opening for a reasonably priced, quality product that is intentionally more open to the hacking mindset from a company like Asus.

ghaff 11y ago

I really like my Asus Chromebook Flip, but I suspect that by the time you're done enhancing the design you're getting into the laptop/high-end tablet price range. And I don't understand the market for the Pixel. I do think there's going to be a re-convergence between tablets and laptops even given the track record of convertibles but it's going to require a lot of thought and engineering and testing around specific use cases. (And I also understand why Apple might not be incented to drive things too hard in this direction.)

davidy123 11y ago
I've wondered about the price too, but I think with $200 they could upgrade to a 12" IPS display and something like a Core M chip. Maybe the more square display would be too exotic, 16:9 is weird in tablet mode but could be acceptable for the price. I'd expect USB 3.1 charging in that timeframe too. Backlit keys are a $20 option for Thinkpads so they should be achievable too. What's there is already so nice and the form factor works so well I'd be really surprised (and disappointed) if we don't see this in 2016, and it should be something of an inflection in the market to contrast with Apple's unrelentingly expensive offerings. The Pixel is clearly for Chromebook developers, or those with money to burn.
- ghaff 11y ago
  >Apple's unrelentingly expensive offerings It's really the relative expense of quality laptops more broadly. Story. I forgot my laptop on a weeklong business trip last week. It actually made sense to pickup a Chromebook for the week. After all, it was only about 3x what a forgotten laptop charger would have cost. Chromebooks aren't a laptop replacement but they are very useful. I don't know enough about component costs to know what a Chromebook+ which isn't a Pixel would cost. However, I do see them as a complement to a laptop rather than a replacement. And, by historical standards, a MacBook Pro is very cheap.
  - davidy123 11y ago
    I agree by historical standards they are cheap, but by current volume, simplification (SOC) and process they should continue to drop in price. https://www.semiwiki.com/forum/attachments/content/attachments/15150d1440356386-untitled-jpg?s=d2e192a51882cefee4d114236c37f162 https://www.semiwiki.com/forum/attachments/content/attachmen... But the Macbook is a bit of an novelty, really it's the Macbook Air that I find to be badly overpriced now. I like to project on Apple cause I always look for some idealism that must exist somewhere past good design and profit margins since they can't simply be aspiring to smugness. So I find the Asus Chromebook Flip a good example of what a 2016 Macbook Air could look like because it has many attributes of excellent design while integrating practical innovations, yet remans inexpensive. With their own chip they could easily make a quality lower priced Air and still have profit higher than the rest of the industry. However Apple is unlikely to use the flip design, much less put a touchscreen on a keyboarded device. It would shatter their image. As well I think Apple has stacked their market, including the Apple resale market, such that any lower cost product would cause value problems across their line. So hopefully these factors create a good opening for a reasonably priced, quality product that is intentionally more open to the hacking mindset from a company like Asus.