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I think this article is looking for a story where there isn't one. For one, Mac sales slowed this quarter because people are anticipating the new lineup. Why w

by jbob2000 10y ago

I think this article is looking for a story where there isn't one. For one, Mac sales slowed this quarter because people are anticipating the new lineup. Why would I buy yesterday's computer for the same price as tomorrow's computer? Just wait until tomorrow and get something better for the same price. Secondly, the Windows laptop market is full of garbage, especially at the low end. Plastic, overheating, underpowered, bloatware-laden garbage. The market was ripe for a disruption like the Chromebook. Many colleges and universities have made the jump to Google services for email and storage. It makes sense to a lot of people to use a device that integrates with these services out of the box. So if the Chromebook is gaining steam, it's not at the expense of Apple, it's at the expense of Windows.

ghaff 10y ago
It's possibly also worth noting (although the article explicitly doesn't address it) that Chromebooks seem to be winning out over the idea of tablets in schools. Which, for the most part, is as it should be even given the availability of low cost mini tablets from at least Amazon. Chromebooks are a lot more versatile, in part as you observe because of the increasing ubiquity of online services. Personally, over the past year or two I've found it increasingly easy to travel with just my Chromebook whereas I didn't and don't find travelling with just a tablet works very well.
- jhoechtl 10y ago
  > Personally, over the past year or two I've found it increasingly easy to travel with just my Chromebook whereas I didn't and don't find travelling with just a tablet works very well. Back to sanity. Clicking here and there and forwarding mails so others do the job is not working. Nor is "networking" which might work well on a tablet. The key is creation which still requires a decent keyboard.
  - wlesieutre 10y ago
    That all depends on what your job is, doesn't it?
    - jhoechtl 10y ago
      Absolutely. But what I wanted to say is that we are not all Startups and foundes, https://medium.com/@shemag8/fuck-you-startup-world-ab6cc72fad0e#.v5km9ooav https://medium.com/@shemag8/fuck-you-startup-world-ab6cc72fa... but need to get stuff done. And having a tablet doesn't make you to a CxO either. You can be creative in tying things together where the rather limiting ui and interface capabilities of a tablet are sufficient or creative by creating, where you need a decent keyboard, screen size etc. I think we should return more to the create part than the shim shiny pretending layer.
bulldawgj 10y ago
Author of the story here. Chromebook manufacturers tend to also be Windows OEMs - HP, Samsung, Toshiba, ASUS, Acer. So saying Chromebooks are excelling at the expense of Windows is useless, since the manufacturers are not feeling that. In fact, HP found strong gains year-over-year, and that's just in terms of unit sales; if they sold a high mix of their high-end machines, they could be doing even better. Also, I did mention that Apple was likely affected by the stagnant Mac line. But the fact is that a lot of people buying computing equipment for school, a situation when waiting for a new Mac may not be an option, chose to buy Chromebooks while many fewer chose Macs. The headline may go a bit far, but the numbers don't lie.

ghaff 10y ago

It's possibly also worth noting (although the article explicitly doesn't address it) that Chromebooks seem to be winning out over the idea of tablets in schools. Which, for the most part, is as it should be even given the availability of low cost mini tablets from at least Amazon. Chromebooks are a lot more versatile, in part as you observe because of the increasing ubiquity of online services. Personally, over the past year or two I've found it increasingly easy to travel with just my Chromebook whereas I didn't and don't find travelling with just a tablet works very well.

jhoechtl 10y ago
> Personally, over the past year or two I've found it increasingly easy to travel with just my Chromebook whereas I didn't and don't find travelling with just a tablet works very well. Back to sanity. Clicking here and there and forwarding mails so others do the job is not working. Nor is "networking" which might work well on a tablet. The key is creation which still requires a decent keyboard.
- wlesieutre 10y ago
  That all depends on what your job is, doesn't it?
  - jhoechtl 10y ago
    Absolutely. But what I wanted to say is that we are not all Startups and foundes, https://medium.com/@shemag8/fuck-you-startup-world-ab6cc72fad0e#.v5km9ooav https://medium.com/@shemag8/fuck-you-startup-world-ab6cc72fa... but need to get stuff done. And having a tablet doesn't make you to a CxO either. You can be creative in tying things together where the rather limiting ui and interface capabilities of a tablet are sufficient or creative by creating, where you need a decent keyboard, screen size etc. I think we should return more to the create part than the shim shiny pretending layer.

bulldawgj 10y ago

Author of the story here. Chromebook manufacturers tend to also be Windows OEMs - HP, Samsung, Toshiba, ASUS, Acer. So saying Chromebooks are excelling at the expense of Windows is useless, since the manufacturers are not feeling that. In fact, HP found strong gains year-over-year, and that's just in terms of unit sales; if they sold a high mix of their high-end machines, they could be doing even better. Also, I did mention that Apple was likely affected by the stagnant Mac line. But the fact is that a lot of people buying computing equipment for school, a situation when waiting for a new Mac may not be an option, chose to buy Chromebooks while many fewer chose Macs. The headline may go a bit far, but the numbers don't lie.