Ode to David Pogue: love the Chromebook, you shnook.

See David's New York Times June 15, 2011 article:

A Laptop, Its Head in the Cloud

David, what happened to you?  You used to be so imaginative, so cool ... OK, not cool, but an OK mainstream media tech critic.  What the heck?

You have the advantage in having actually used the Samsung Chromebook that I have only pre-ordered but as mentioned in my June 9, 2011 post:


I cannot remember the last time I used my PC without the Internet.  Probably years.  And years since I used a PC program other than the browser and notepad (for copy and paste)...  In recent years I have created ALL my files using free google docs.

And from my previous post:

The wiseguy in of all places the New York Times who questioned why someone would buy a Chromebook for the same money as a low end laptop never wondered why someone would buy an iPad, or any tablet, for the same money as either.

The wiseguy was not Pogue, although I cannot remember who he/she was.

David, you wrote"

I tried valiantly to use the Samsung as my main machine, but by the end of a week, I was about ready to toss it like a Frisbee...


Is "the cloud" really where you want to keep the only copies of your most private, most important files?


(I) wonder why it’s as big, heavy and expensive as it is. 

1. It's got a 12 inch screen!  Who the heck uses such a small screen as his/her "main machine"?

2. The cloud is exactly where I want my files, almost all of which, I want people to read.  I often wonder what top secret documents people are producing.  Plus, the conventional paradigm is to keep their precious documents on a PC and back up the files to junk like a thumb drive for easy loss in transit and/or some clunky medium, which is stored beside the PC so that when the roof leaks both are destroyed simultaneously.

3. I agree: a Chromebook should be lighter, and much less expensive.  I'm hoping that future Chromebooks, including larger laptops and desktops, are priced lower as sales increase.

On June 10 I was notified by Best Buy that my Samsung Chromebook's "new release date is 06/19/2011".  Is that because so many people are pre-ordering it?  From my previous post:

I think this will catch on much more quickly than many pundits think.  They are comparing Chromebooks to laptops.  Try comparing Chromebooks to tablets, which sell for about the same as Chromebooks but are not as functional or practical.  Media types missed the boat on tablets and will miss another boat on Chromebooks.