Saturday, March 2, 2013

Samsung Chromebook: got it. Nice. Yeah, I know that it needs an Internet connection.

Works well.  Does it's thing.  No, I'm not going to include the universal caveat that it needs to be connected to the Internet to be useful.  EVERY techie review includes that nonsense.  What percentage of your computing time are you not connected?  For me: zero.

I use Microsoft Access, a really good single user database management system (DBMS), for baseball research; that's the only reason that I still have a Windows PC - an Asus Ultrabook.  The browser program, of course, runs locally.  But most other stuff runs or originates on the Internet.  I have been using Google Docs exclusively for years for word processing and spreadsheet.  I do not use the offline version that's available.  Google Docs (Drive) keeps my files safe and sound on Google servers.  Why should I waste my time and resources performing data center functions in some half assed way when Google does it for me for free.

How many clowns have a backup device sitting beside the system unit so that both are flooded when the roof leaks?  Oh wait, the rocket scientist has a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to another location and mirrors his servers.  Howie.  Google has ... maybe a million servers.  A lot.  With 24/7 professional staffing.  You want a job that will not go away?  Work in a mega data center.  It may be windowless and repetitive but you'll make good money for a long time.

These reviewers who feel compelled to warn you that ChromeOS is OK if you're willing to depend on having an Internet connection virtually 100% of the time are BORING.  It's not 1995.  We've moved on from Microsoft Office.  I can't remember the last time I used Word or Excel.  Who the heck is running Photoshop? How often do you need Quicken, if at all?

I like the nice clean ChromeOS developed for Internet access, which I have 100% of the time I use computers, tablets, smartphones.

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