Chromebooks still selling well

I was just looking at stuff over on Amazon and I noticed that the best selling laptop is the Acer Chromebook 11. How can that be? I keep reading how Chromebooks are not selling as well as they could be, or that they have a small market share, but I think that Chromebooks are selling well and will be for the foreseeable future. I also noticed that most of the reviews are positive. How could that be considering that you can't do everything on them? I think Chromebooks fill a niche and that is why they are doing much better than anyone expects.

The niche Chromebooks fill is the one for an inexpensive laptop. Chromebooks are the least expensive laptops you can buy (currently $159 on Amazon). They also have all the free applications you could ever want and need. In other words, once you buy a Chromebook, you never have to spend another dime to use it. They never get a virus or malware. They also have amazing battery life. Now you can't do everything on them, but you can do all the basic stuff. I own several other laptops and tablets, but I keep coming back and using my Chromebook. It just works great for me.

What do you think?

Tim Cook dismisses Chromebooks

There is a story out that Tim Cook (CEO of Apple) dismissed Chromebooks as just cheap “test machines”. I think this is very interesting. The last time a major CEO dismissed Chromebooks was when Steve Ballmer (former CEO of Microsoft) did back in 2009. Since then Chromebook market share has grown. This is especially true in the education sector where Google has estimated that Chromebooks will outnumber all other devices in schools by the end of 2015. Since Steve Ballmer is no longer the CEO of Microsoft, does this mean Tim Cook will eventually be out as well? I think it is not a good idea to underestimate Chromebooks. They fill a need no one else is addressing and thus they will continue to increase market share especially in the education sector where they are well suited.

What do you think?

Chromebooks in the classroom catch on

I just read an article that 50% of technology sales to schools were Chromebooks last quarter. I am not surprised. Chromebooks get the job done and they are all that is needed for schools. They are also inexpensive to buy and use. I think we will see a lot more Chromebooks in the classroom and I think that is a positive trend. We will finally have a generation that knows how to use computers productively (and not just smartphones). Here is the article if you want to look at it:
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/03/googles-chromebooks-make-up-half-of-us-classroom-devices.html
What do you think?

The best part of using a Chromebook

I could list some apps here, or some other thing I enjoy doing on my Chromebook, but that is not what I like best about my Chromebook. The best part about using my Chromebook is the battery life. I have been using my Chromebook for more than an hour and have only used 96% of the charge. How awesome is that? According to the the battery charge graphic, I have over 9 hours left to use my Chromebook. No other device (even my iPhone) last that long! The best part is that even when I am doing something like watching videos, the battery life is still longer than any device I own. So I basically get a fully functioning laptop with amazing battery life. Yes I have to be connected to the internet for full functionality, but at least I know I can go all day without worrying about how long I can continue working on my Chromebook Not bad for something that cost me less than $200.

What do you think?

What is a Chromebook good for?

A Chromebook is essentially an internet terminal. In other words, a Chromebook uses the internet like a terminal uses a server. So what ever you can do on the internet, you can do on a Chromebook. It turns out that you can quite a bit on the internet. You can create all forms of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. You can do basic photo and video editing. You can write music. You can build web pages. You can write code. You can do just about everything you can imagine. Is using Chromebook just as good as using a regular laptop or desktop? No, but it comes close enough. The best part is that you can own a Chromebook for less that $200 and do all I mention basically for free. You can also do all that without worrying about getting a virus or malware.

So I guess you can say that a Chromebook is good for just about anything.

What do you think?

Fear

I think hat one of the biggest reason many of do not experience as much success as we possibly can is because of fear. It is fear that keeps us from trying. It is fear that keeps us from putting those words on the page. It is fear that keeps us from playing the notes in our souls. It is fear that keeps us from creating thae masterpiece within us.

So how do you conquer fear? First, recognize it in all it's forms. From paralysis to procrastination, from platitudes to blame, from fault finding to anger, fear takes on amy forms. If something is keeping you from moving forward, it probably is a form of fear. Second, after you recognize the fear, take small steps forward into what ever it is that you are thinking of doing. Put some words on the page. Pick up the phone and dial. Play that first note. Pick up that brush and make a line. Just start taking steps. Finally, keep taking steps until you get there.

The reality is that you will never be rid of fear. You just have to learn to act in spite of it. \

Oh yeah, that's called courage!

What do you think?

Is the music industry dying?

I would not say that the music industry is dying. What is happening is that it is changing or better yet, being transformed. In the past (before the digital age) large music labels controlled the music industry. In order to make it as an music artist you needed to be "signed" by a music label and your fate was in their hands. In other words, to produce and distribute your music, you needed a label to make it possible. There were few options (if any) for independent artists. Today things are much different. Though we still have the labels with us, you do not need to have them "sign" you to make it. You can produce and distribute your music inexpensively (and free in some cases) and keep all the profit for yourself.

I think what is happening to the music industry is amazing for artists, not so amazing for the corporations that profit from them.

One trend that I think is not so positive though is the advent of digital instruments. You can actually create music for a whole symphony orchestra (or just about any other instrumental group) without any live musicians. Is it as good as a live orchestra (or any other instrumental group)? Surprisingly, it almost is. I can produce some great sounding stuff just with a laptop and some sound samples. Unfortunately that sucks for professional musicians since there is less and less work for them. In fact, it has become difficult to make a good living as a musician. On the other hand, as a composer, it sure is nice to be able to write for any type of instrumental group and not be concerned with the cost of having it performed or produced.

Overall, the music business is not dying, it's just changing.

The Future of Chromebooks

I can't say anything definitive on this because I do not work for Google and have absolutely no knowledge on what is truly going to happen. I do have an opinion though.

There are rumors that Chrome OS will be merged in some way with Android. Now that is a distinct possibility, but I am not sure it will happen. Chromebooks have not taken off as a consumer device. They are not the hottest thing on the market and the fact is, they do not pose much of a threat to Windows machines or Macs. They do have a small market share, and that is nice, but I do not think it will expand that much in the future. That is just reality.

But there is one market where Chromebooks are doing very well, which is in the K-12 education market. More and more K-12 schools are adopting Chromebooks, and sales are growing. There are several reason for this. First, Chromebooks are inexpensive to buy and inexpensive to use. Second, software is all web based and inexpensive to use. Because Chromebooks are web based, they are easier to control from an administrative point of view, especially at the school site. I think this is the most important reason why Chromebooks are making nice inroads in the education market.

Smartphones are the new curse of education. Why? Because they are cool and you can do some really fun things with them. You can text, surf the internet, and you can especially download play many of the most popular games on them. How can any teacher compete with that? Now, schools are doing their best to overcome the distraction, but if you give a kid a device that can do all the cool things smartphones can, they will immediately load them with games and all the other things that they love to do. Then you will not only have to deal with the curse of the smartphone, you have to deal with the curse of the device provided by the school itself! At least with Chromebooks, there are fewer distraction wile still being a functional computing device.

So, because of the education market, I think Chrome OS and Chromebooks have a good future. Since I like using my Chromebook, that is good news for me.

What do you think?

Writing more

I started keeping a journal digitally once again. I seem to bounce back and forth. I had been writing in paper notebooks, but I stopped once I got my new iPhone 6s. I just wanted to put it to greater use than just texting, surfing the internet, and checking my email. By keeping a journal on it, I have the ability to write anyplace I want to and anytime I want to. I can also take what I write and post it to my blog with ease. I have also started to use my Chromebook more. I think it is because when there is WIFI, it is just easier to write using my Chromebook. As a result I have been creating blog posts once again. I have also become a bit of a writing machine. I am writing and average of over 2000 words a day in my journal. I think that is awesome and credit it to being able to write that much to having access to a device 24/7/365. Also, I have no excuse not to write since my iPhone is always with me.

What do you think?

Chromebook functionality

I have been playing with several the "productivity" apps that are available for Chromebook. First I used Google Docs and Sheets. I found that they work great on my Chromebook, but not so great on any other device. Then I used Microsoft Word and Excel. They worked great on my Windows laptop and Mac Mini, but were just okay on my iPhone, and not so great on my Chromebook. Finally I used Apple's iCloud and Pages and Numbers. They worked great on my iPhone and Mac Mini, and are actually not to bad on my Chromebook. On my Windows laptop I use iCloud, which is exactly like it is on my Chromebook.

Now all the apps are free to use online and usually free on a smartphone or tablet, but the Microsoft products are not free on a Windows or Mac platform (you used to have to pay for the Apple products, but they have been free lately). Also, all the online versions of the apps do not have the full functionality of the offline versions (except for Google which is basically online for all platforms).

Which one is the best? I actually like using Apple's software. The experience on my Chromebook and Windows laptop is pleasant, and it works very well on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac Mini. In fact, that is what I am using right now to write this post.

These apps also prove a point about which platform you use. It does not make that much of a difference anymore because you can get versions of each one for whatever platform you are using. So why spend hundreds on a Mac or Windows platform when you can have access to the same basic apps on the Chromebook? If you are looking for a way to do basic computing and save a lot of money, Chromebook is the way to go.

What do you think?