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Chromebooks Don't Suffer From Bad User Experiences Found on Windows and Mac Computers, Google Says (aboutchromebooks.com)

Kevin C. Tofel, writing for About Chromebooks: Having worked for a Google Chrome Marketing team over an 18 month period, I never saw a project that aggressively goes after Windows and Mac computers like the one that was published today [Editor's note: the video is unlisted, but accessible]. [...] As someone who has used (and often still does use) other platforms, I can't really disagree with the point of this video. For too long, computer users have had to deal with cryptic errors, updates that can take hours to install and the dreaded blue screen of death / spinning beach ball.

Granted, some of my personal experience with those issues was when I was in corporate IT for 15 years; that career ended for me (by choice) back in 2007. And clearly, all desktop / laptop platforms have improved since then. Even so, Google is highlighting the modern approach of Chromebooks with this short video and that's an important point.

3 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. Re:News for nerds? by Joce640k · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Meanwhile, the geniuses at Microsoft are planning to move Windows to a rental model.

    Let's see how this ends.

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  2. Current state of Chrome OS by nine-times · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I don't know what the current state of ChromeOS is, but there have been a handful of things that have made it unappealing for me.

    1) The focus on web apps. I tend to want local native apps. They provide a more consistent UI when they take cues from the OS GUI instead of just being "whatever the web developer thought looked cool." Also, I don't want to figure out what I have to do to get my word processor to work when I'm in airplane mode.
    2) The focus on web storage. I want my computer to generally work offline without needing to plan ahead. I generally don't want to have to think, "Oh, I'm gong offline soon, so I should make sure to sync the files I need to my local storage." I just want all my stuff to be there when I need it.
    3) Being tied to Google. I have a Google account, but I don't particularly like the idea that I need a Google account just to use my computer. Thought admittedly, Apple and Microsoft have been moving in the same direction, being more aggressive to push you to use iCloud and Microsoft/Azure accounts. Still, I don't like it.

    Why can't someone just make a good, reliable, modern computer that works out of the box, without trying to force any personal assistants, online services, app stores, or VR nonsense on you?

  3. No crappy user experience? by bungo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm writing this on a Google i5 Pixel Chromebook.

    The god-damn bluetooth keeps turning off. If I put it to sleep, there's a 50-50 chance than the bluetooth just turns off and a reboot is needed to get it working again.

    Google do not have a fix. Lots of people have the same problem.

    This is a crappy user experience.

    And this thing was damn expensive as well.

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