I think I missed the real meat in this comment in my other response, so here's attempt #2:
> So from European point of view those "lots of useful tools to solve problems with the computer, based on a wide ecosystem." are nowhere to be seen.
These "useful tools" are web sites (and web apps). By providing excellent support for these, the devices are immediately useful. Much better than hoping that another ecosystem like Android's can be jumpstarted.
The average user buys a (hypothetical) Dartbook: Looks for some Dart app. Gets frustrated by the lack of choice. Returns the device.
The average user buys a Chromebook: Browses their favorite websites (and face it: 90% of contemporary computer use is _just_ _that_). Reasonably happy customer (unless they insist on installing "TuneUp Utilities" because they always do that).
That's what I meant with the availability of lots of useful tools to solve problems with the computer (in that case, a Chromebook), repurposing a wide ecosystem (the entire web, basically).
From your other comments on this site (eg about the Atom editor), you seem to be fundamentally opposed to html/js as a platform and with that sentiment, Chromebooks must look anathema to you. Alright, that's one position to take.
But what use would be a Dartbook to you? You'd probably complain (with full reason!) about its inability to run emacs just the same.
> These "useful tools" are web sites (and web apps).
Web browser app....
> The average user buys a Chromebook:
And returns it back after discovering it cannot install his/her favorute software and requires a permanent internet connection to make anything useful with the device.
> The average user buys a (hypothetical) Dartbook: Looks for some Dart app. Gets frustrated by the lack of choice. Returns the device.
The return rate of those devices running Android is quite big apparently.
> But what use would be a Dartbook to you?
The same as my tablet and mobile phone running Android.
eh, I own an Acer Chromebook R11 and am pretty happy with it...
The battery life is wonderful for that price bracket (~8-10 hours, <300€). I used crouton for a few month, which enabled me to install Ubuntu 14.04 in dual-boot. you could switch between ChromeOS and the chosen Linux window manager (i first used unity but switched to i3wm eventually).
At some point, i removed it again because I hardly used the Linux environment anymore. There a pretty fine text editors as offline chrome-extensions available (i.e. Caret) and that was the only two use-cases I had for the laptop... browsing the internet and making text notes.
BTW, a lot of webapps, or "Web browser app" as you call them, have offline support. So no, you don't need an internet connection to use them.
Also have a R11 Chromebook and love it. I do use Crouton but been also using GNUroot as does not require developer.
What I love is being able to do cloud development (Linux) on a commercial laptop.
I wish Google would push this harder as a great dev solution. My biggest gripe is small storage on most CBs. Plus no sdcard access from containers on the R11. Also all Android runs in same container.
It's a mistake to look at Chromebooks as consumer products.
I have bought Chromebooks for my employees. They can access business resources without me having to worry about them getting hacked and leaking proprietary information and passwords to production systems. Chromebooks are cheap, unsexy, and can't run fancy games. These are all pluses.
Chromebooks are the 3270 of the present day. They're for the average customer service representative, not for the home user.
I don't agree. Chromebooks are wonderful for the elderly and folks who don't need a traditional OS. They can browse the web, read email, watch videos, without worrying about drivers, virus, downloading gigs and gigs of update every years for features they don't care about.
Not really. There's a reason why Chromebooks are so popular on Amazon. People just want a device that is free from viruses and malware and something that doesn't need constant maintenance or an on call support person from their family.
> So from European point of view those "lots of useful tools to solve problems with the computer, based on a wide ecosystem." are nowhere to be seen.
These "useful tools" are web sites (and web apps). By providing excellent support for these, the devices are immediately useful. Much better than hoping that another ecosystem like Android's can be jumpstarted.
The average user buys a (hypothetical) Dartbook: Looks for some Dart app. Gets frustrated by the lack of choice. Returns the device.
The average user buys a Chromebook: Browses their favorite websites (and face it: 90% of contemporary computer use is _just_ _that_). Reasonably happy customer (unless they insist on installing "TuneUp Utilities" because they always do that).
That's what I meant with the availability of lots of useful tools to solve problems with the computer (in that case, a Chromebook), repurposing a wide ecosystem (the entire web, basically).
From your other comments on this site (eg about the Atom editor), you seem to be fundamentally opposed to html/js as a platform and with that sentiment, Chromebooks must look anathema to you. Alright, that's one position to take. But what use would be a Dartbook to you? You'd probably complain (with full reason!) about its inability to run emacs just the same.