Craiginoregon,
I’ve been away, so only now getting to respond to your detailed post in response to mine.
Like you, I’m a ‘working novelist’, and CEO of a software company, and a motorcycle accessory distribution company (oh, and trying to be semi-retired, and half way through my third Masters).
Samsung, Yes killed the Chromebook in the UK, and by all accounts considering it’s future elsewhere.
. According to Samsung’s latest financials, they are taking a bath in chrome books and notebooks. (They still don’t come out and divulge actual sales, or lack thereof.)
I always chuckle when anyone says chrome books are ‘doing well’. All the ‘talking up’ seems to be based on IDC’s figures. IDC, who are paid by Intel, MS and Google, amongst others (not Apple) (and where people like Computerworld get their headlines from) always play up ‘sales increases’, yet reality is NONE of the Chromebook mfrs release sales figures, so where do IDC get their figures from (thin air?).
In every quarter I have checked IDC revise the previous quarter’s figures down to ‘prove’ an increase in the current quarter. Remember these are ‘ESTIMATES’ of sales. As in their ESTIMATES of PC sales, when they claimed Apple was losing ground earlier this year, the result was a polar opposite to IDC’s claims. The reality of actual Chromebook sales seems to be well south of the IDC estimates.
Like you, as a ‘working novelist’ I hang about on line and in person with a good number of writers, (not to mention students and academics) and the uptake or stated intent to go Chromebook has been almost zero (we’re in Australia and we typically have a higher uptake in tech than any country, despite the ‘Australia Tax’ people like Adobe slam us with) I know a couple of students are interested in the new HP Windows notebook that is priced on par with Chromebooks and comes with 12 months online storage. Personally, I’ll keep investing in a MacBook.
There was nothing SNARKY about my comment. It’s a valid question.
Hey, thanks for the compliment. Yes I have a MacBook, purchased based on a thorough eval of hardware and software. It’s my second, after twenty odd years with Windows notebooks.
In my 30 plus years at senior management level in multinationals and my own companies, I’ve had a wide and varied exposure to all types of computers and O/S’s. We evaluated Chromebooks in depth earlier this year as an easy to roll out thin client style option for some staff, and decided they weren’t a valid option for us. I’d say my, and my IT team’s knowledge of chromebooks is pretty up there. When we were investigating, the only stats our IT dept came across showed the predominant use for chrome books was browsing, and some basic wp work. That was pretty much in line with our assessment of their worth to us as a company.
Yes, I’m old enough to remember the early Mac vs windows days. I wrote an accounting package on the very first Mac’s. I also wrote functionally equivalent packages on both CP/M and DOS machines. I can tell you which was the easiest to use, pre-Windows.There’s no disingenuous O/S bashing involved, just a considered opinion. My history with Apple, Linux and Windows (My software company is an MS partner) is extensive.
My statement about not rushing out to develop for Chromebook, is based on my experience of financial reality in software development and sales. Doesn’t have to agree with yours, and doesn’t necessarily say I’m right, but I have the background.
If a Chromebook suits you, go for it.
To Da_buckster, there is ZERO evidence to suggest even the beginning of a trend which would result in locally based apps being on the way out. The uptake on cloud based apps has been minuscule to date. (Creative Cloud doesn’t count, it’s just a subscription version of a locally installed app).
Like many people, I like to be able to pull out the iPad, MacBook, (substitute whatever brand you prefer) and work even when beside a remote beach with zero mobile connection. Cloud based will never enable that.
