All of a Sudden, the Chromebook is a Perfect Fit

When Google released it first Chromebook in December 2010, it did not look like it had a bright future. I mean, it looked like an internet only Netbook, and at that time Netbooks were on the death spiral already. The tablet was here. 

Less than US$250, shipped

Now two years later, it does seem like the perfect tertiary device for many users. Looks at you daily routine. Email and social networking is mostly handled by your smartphone. When you want to do some web browsing, you reach over for you tablet. Your gaming habit is more and more moving from your PC, to your iPad or Nexus 7. Hell, games are much cheaper on Android and iOS than on any other platform, and getting better each year. You edit pictures to upload to the web, which you took with the camera on your smartphone. Why not edit it directly on your mobile device and upload it? Cut out the middle man.

Your laptop, which was your pride and joy in the previous decade, well, you now power it up less and less each day. There are the power users who need a powerful laptop or desktop. But in these days when people are more and more spending more on smartphones than ever before and are gravitating to the tablet, who want to spend US$1,000 on a laptop they will use to compose long emails, write a report or record their monthly expenses.

Chromebooks, come in at US$200-US$400. The right price for a tertiary device. Once you factor in the software, it even gets cheaper. No need to buy and Office Suite or Photo Editing app. No need to pay for OS updates on a yearly basis.

I could never give up a laptop and its keyboard. I type too much. But I don't feel like replacing my MacBook Air with another one. For the past two weeks, I have tested just using the Chrome Bowser and web apps, and am doing fine.  I am thinking more in terms of an iPad mini or Nexus 7, and a Chromebook come replacement time. The pair would cost just over half the price of the Cheapest Macbook Air. Hell, the pair would cost as much as a entry level laptop.

All of a sudden, the Chromebook is a perfect fit.