<a href=”http://polldaddy.com/poll/6104021/”>Did you ever get a Google Chromebook?</a>Oh Google. You startup so many new projects, and yet fail to see so many of them through to the end. Case in point, at least possibly: Chromebooks.
Chromebooks were supposed to be a new category of netbooks that only ran Chrome. They were netbooks with only a web browser. It doesn’t seem like such a bad idea, per se, but even as folks who review web apps for a living, none of our team could imagine getting rid of our Macs and PCs for a Chromebook. There’s still too many things we need native apps for.
Even Google didn’t seem so sold out on the idea of Chromebooks. After all, they also make Android for tablets, which has both a browser and native apps. Chromebooks could have been interesting if they were cheaper, but for the most part, they cost the same as PC netbooks, and often weren’t much cheaper than the iPad or larger Android tablets. In fact, with the iPad 2′s discounted price, they’re almost neck-to-neck on price.
Last year, around 30% of our readers said they’d wait and see if they wanted a Chromebook. That’s why we’re wondering: did you ever try one out? Do you still use it, or did it become an expensive paperweight? Would you still consider getting one today?
Despite seeing tablets and eReaders everywhere, I’ve yet to actually see a Chromebook in action. But, there’s at least one guy out there using a Chromebook: the guy who demoed Chrome’s April Fool’s joke, Chrome Multitask Mode. If only they had invented a way that could really make me work faster, they might actually tempt me to get a Chromebook yet.