Chromebooks have surpassed sales of Mac laptops in the United States for the first time ever. And that doesn’t surprise me. Because roughly a year ago I made the same switch. Formerly a lifelong Mac user, I bought my first PC ever in the form of a Chromebook. And I’m never looking back.
Image: Shutterstock / Acer / Gizmodo
Driven by the kind of passion that can only be found in the recently converted, I have aided and abetted friends in renouncing the sins of gluttony and pride uniquely found in the House of Apples. I have helped them find salvation with the Book of Chrome. Glory be the Kingdom of Chrome, for your light shines down upon us at a quarter of the price.
Make no mistake, I grew up on Macs. The first computer I remember my Dad bringing home when I was five years old was a Mac. Our family computer throughout the 1990s was a Mac. I used that Mac Performa throughout primary school, and it gave me treasured memories of playing Dark Forces and first discovering the internet. My high school graduation present from my parents in 2002 was my first Mac laptop. And I would continue to buy Mac desktops and laptops for the next decade and a half.
But something happened about a year ago when my Macbook Air was running on fumes. I looked at the Macs and gave my brain a half-second to entertain other options. I owned a functioning Mac desktop, which is my primary machine for heavy lifting. But I started to wonder why I wasn’t entertaining other options for my mobile machine.
The biggest consideration was price. When all was said and done, even the cheapest Mac laptop was going to set me back about $US1300 ($1811) after taxes and AppleCare (in Australia, a basic Macbook Air with Apple Care will run you $1678). And the siren song of a computer under $US200 ($279) was calling my name. I got the Acer Chromebook with 2GB of RAM and a 16GB drive. It cost a shockingly low $US173 ($241). And it was worth every penny. It even came with 100GB of Google Drive storage and twelve GoGo inflight internet passes. If you travel enough, the thing literally pays for itself in airline Wi-Fi access.
I rarely have to edit video and my photo manipulation needs are minimal. So when I walk down to the coffee shop to work, what the hell do I need doing that can’t be done on a Chromebook? Nothing, is the answer. Precisely nothing. And if you’re being totally honest with yourself you should probably ask the same question.
Computers have essentially become disposable, for better and for worse. We’ve seen this trend in electronics over the past decade and it’s a great thing from the perspective of Western consumers. More people can afford e-readers and tablets that now cost just $US50 ($70). The mid-2000s dream of “one laptop per child”, which sought to bring the price of mobile computers down to $100, has become a reality thanks to Chromebooks and tablets made by companies like Acer, HP and Amazon. And with more and more of our computing needs being met by web browsers alone, the average consumer is seeing less incentive to buy a Mac.
This trend should obviously terrify Apple. Computers have become fungible commodities, just like HDTVs before them. Which is to say that the average Westerner doesn’t view a TV as high-tech that requires much homework these days. Any TV will do. Look at the screen and look at the price. Does it look like a TV? Yep. Is it cheap? Double yep. Whip out the credit card.
You can get a perfectly good big-screen HDTV from Target or Big W for $600. And you can get a perfectly functional computer for $300. The second decade of the 21st century has pushed us into this and, long term environmental concerns aside, we’re all a little better off for it.
Sure, a Mac is a superior computer in some ways, especially if you’ve grown up accustomed to them. But the average computer user’s needs have been exceeded in the most basic laptop. Today there are so many Chromebooks at the $300 price point that are heads above the Acer Chromebook that has served me well over the past year. And there will no doubt be even better ones next year.
Of course, there will always be people who want the latest and greatest tech for technology’s sake alone. And if that’s your bag, my colleagues here at Gizmodo will no doubt keep you up to date on the shiniest incremental changes that money can buy. There’s nothing wrong with loving technology and having an obsessive level of appreciation for the nitty gritty. But for those people who can’t see much practical difference between the last three iterations of their iPhone, the idea of a high-end laptop like the MacBook is becoming silly.
Sure, you might get some weird looks at the coffee shop from people who’ve spent the last decade believing that Apple is the only brand of computer worth buying. But go ahead and buy them a latte and tell them the Good News. You can afford it. You saved a thousand bucks on your last computer.
This post originally appeared on Gizmodo Australia
Comments
6 responses to “Why I Bought A Chromebook Instead Of A Mac”
I bought a Samsung ARM Chromebook years ago, 2013 I believe. I found it brilliant to travel with as it’s light, no fuss, plays videos if you need it to, and you’re not going to shed a tear if it gets dropped and/or damaged. I bought a Metabox (Clevo) desktop replacement laptop for any “real” computing I wanted to do, a bonus that it’s also portable.
The Chromebook’s still kicking, and recently came with me to Thailand, but it’s showing it’s age.. perhaps I’m demanding too much of it these days.
I’m currently waiting on a Chuwi Hi12 tablet to arrive to replace the Chromebook, time will tell if I miss the no-fuss use of my Chromy.
Found this during a Google search… I’m looking at the Hi12 myself.
Any comments ? Happy with the Chuwi, or looking for something else?
Hello! I bought the Hi12 along with the matching keyboard and pen. I think this was about $500 delivered but not certain.
The combination falls short in several areas for me.
– The touch screen isn’t very sensitive. The protector I put on it could be making things worse but I don’t want to take it off. I had to apply a bit of a hack on Windows 10 to get it to respond in the middle of the screen without using the face of my thumb. I think I found the hack on XDA. Not available on Android and I haven’t been able to improve that sensitivity.
– The device itself feels heavy compared to some other tablets. I haven’t felt the weight of a Surface recently to compare though.
– The keyboard is heavy, too! But it’s not heavy enough to securely hold the screen in place if it’s extended much past 90 degrees.
– The keyboard’s track pad is quite small and there’s some gestures on the top of it for Windows. I end up bumping it constantly and screens are maximised/restored/closed. No option in the driver to do anything useful. I ended up disabling the trackpad for some time.
– The processor really isn’t that strong. I removed Chrome (my favorite browser) to just use Edge as it felt a little lighter. It could be due to the Hi12 screen being a higher res.
– I’ve had occasions where it just wont start
I’ve tried using it for some development with Visual Studio Code but it’s really too painful for me and I can’t immerse myself in a problem as something unpredictable is always happening.
The battery life seems pretty good, but it’s hard to tell when I don’t use it a great deal.
I still like that it can be charged with a Micro USB but it does take some time on chargers other than the one supplied with it (as expected)
The pen works well, but I’m not convinced that it’s doing very good palm recognition. I’d prefer to take notes on my Galaxy Note 4.
This is pretty bad for me as I am not somebody who regularly buys new devices. I try to be mindful of what I purchase and not constantly add to landfill (while acknowledging that it will happen) and for this reason I haven’t replaced it, just haven’t used it and defaulted back to squeezing more out of my Note4, Metabox, and Chromebook (STILL!).
Most of the reviews I read/saw were positive.. but maybe I was targeting them optimistically, or maybe I am expecting too much for a low-end Windows 10 device.
I should answer the second part – If I’m looking for something else.
I’ve been thinking about getting a new device to replace both the Hi12 and my old chromebook… I wanted a Hi12 because portable Windows 10 was important to me at the time.
Right now I’d prefer a Chromebook Pro/Plus but can’t justify the cost.
I currently value less weight, better UI response, reasonable battery life. I’m probably due to upgrade my phone at some point (Note 8 maybe), which may fill the desire for a tablet device anyway.
I feel the price of tech is a bell curve on value for money, and I bought far too early on the curve to make it worth while with the Hi12
I had exactly the same realisation this afternoon (funnily enough, just minutes before reading this article!) – if I am a writer, what else do I actually need? Do you use Office 365 when you need to create true .docx files?
Does anyone know where I can buy a Toshiba Chromebook 2 in Australia? Or any other Chromebook (apart from Officeworks)?
Dell have some on their site, but prices all seem to have gone up (ie a 13 inch is now nearly AU $1000 – I refuse to pay $1000 for a Chromebook). JB etc used to sell but appear to have stopped stocking. It seems like most retailers are dropping them? All a bit frustrating! Any hints @Lifehackeraustralia?
At least you didn’t switch to Windows.