HP's unveiling of the sleek, powerful HP Chromebook13 prompted some debate at Tech Insider.
Chromebooks are laptops that run ChromeOS, an operating system that allows for web browsing, word processing, video streaming, spreadsheet editing and other app-specific tasks you can pull off in the Chrome browser.
They're built for people who live most of their lives within range of WiFi, forgoing anything more than a few dozen gigabytes of internal storage in favor of Google Drive and other cloud-based apps.
Tech Insider editor Ben Gilbert wrote in Slack (our internal messaging system) that he doesn't think Chromebooks count as laptops, but are closer slightly-more-functional tablets. I disagreed, pointing out that many people use the device to replace a standard Windows or OS X laptop.
"You could use an iPad Pro like a laptop too," he said. "It doesn't make it a laptop."
(The iPad Pro is, famously, a terrible laptop-replacement tablet.)
The issue for detractors is that buying a Chromebook seems like spending money on a device that you know will limit you compared to its competitors.
Here's why I disagree with that point of view.
Most people only use their computers for a few discrete tasks: writing, web browsing, tax filing, video streaming and the like. There is, of course, a relevant XKCD comic to this effect.
For that sort of user (a group that includes pretty much anyone who isn't an artist, designer, scientist, or video-game player,) Windows and OS X are overburdened with features they'll never use. Lower-end devices built to support desktop operating systems distribute their limited resources inefficiently, to places like the internal hard drive, and often cut corners on basic issues of design.
A Chromebook is an affordable laptop with its limited resources distributed to do those few things very well.
(I say this recognizing that a $500 device pushes the limits of affordability, but that's for superfans who want a premium experience. A more typical Chromebook can cost a third of that.)
Chromebooks, running their lightweight operating systems and apps, are much faster and less buggy within their use cases than similarly-spec'ed Windows devices. And they offer the opportunities to do some fast computing at lower costs than most smartphones.
That's a very good thing in a world where more and more people exclusively use smartphones for internet access. For a low-income college student working on a research paper, a child, or simply a person who has no need for video game capability or Adobe Photoshop, that makes a Chromebook an excellent device.
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