Wednesday, August 12, 2026 Strategy, technology, media, and social systems

I Think

Sorin Adam Matei

Analysis, research, maps, and essays from Sorin Adam Matei.

State of the Art: A Laptop, Its Head in the Cloud

Chromebook - click to see the product page on Amazon.com

Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook (Arctic White)

Google Chromebook, the minimal-OS, always on, wireless laptop is a major disappointment for David Pogue…

Truth is, considering how stripped-down the Samsung is, you have to wonder why it’s as big, heavy and expensive as it is. You can find plenty of full-blown Windows laptops with the same price, weight and size.

Maybe the Chromebook concept would fly if it cost $180 instead of $500. Maybe it makes more sense if you rent it (students and corporations can lease Chromebooks for $20 to $30 a month). Maybe it will fly once this country gets free coast-to-coast 4G cellular Internet, which should be just after hell freezes over.

For now, though, you should praise Google for its noble experiment. You should thrill to the possibilities of the online future. You should exult that somebody’s trying to shake up the operating system wars.

via State of the Art: A Laptop, Its Head in the Cloud.

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