Why do Chromebooks have to be priced cheap?

People seem to be of the belief that Chromebooks have to be priced cheap to be successful. Don't get wrong getting a bargain is a good thing.

I'm sure the Google Chromebook team likes to see low priced Chromebooks to get more users running the Chrome operating system. Despite not having firm statistics on Chromebook sales it appears that cheaply priced Chromebooks have made a vast contribution to the success of Chrome operating system.

Rumors are  all over the web of a new Pixel Chromebook designed by Google. I've yet to see anything official on this out of Google yet.

I for one feels there is a place for a 13-14" quality Chromebook. People are regularly purchasing Ultrabooks in the $600-1000 range and Macbook Air's for $1000+. So why not have a "premium" Chromebook in the $500-600 range. I'm thinking a thin and light device with excellent battery life, an  efficient I5 Mobile CPU, fast SSD, 4-8GB ram. Most important,better construction. An alloy or some form of composite construction that will hold up to heavy usage.

I'm ready for a quality premium Chromebook.

Chromebook For All

The introduction of the under $200 Acer C7 Chromebook has made it a computer for all.

The Acer C7 with it's 11.6" display and comfortable to use keyboard make it a comfortable to use computer. Unlike netbooks from the past or tablets typing is comfortable on the C7.
A family fighting over computers will find the Acer C7 an economical way to have peace and harmony.
Most tasks an average user does can be done on a Chromebook with it's abundant applications available. Users that are convinced they must have Windows, MS Office etc can still benefit from having a Chromebook in the home for doing a multitude of other tasks and activities that don't require a Windows Machine.
The ability to automatically update itself as being immune to viruses make the C7 attractive to inexperienced users.
I find my Acer C7 to be the perfect Coffee table computer.
Since it's release and through the Christmas holiday shopping season the Acer C7 has been in short supply ans difficult to locate.It appears that Acer has gotten that issue under control.
Current checks of Bestbuy.com, Amazon.com and the Google Play store show it available for immediate shipping.
My favorite technology store Tigerdirect also has the C7 available. I typically pay for routine shipping and get my product within 2 days from Tigerdirect.
Acer C7 at TigerDirect.com.

Acer C7 Chromebook, Surprised me!

The announcement of the Acer C7 Chromebook didn't get me all excited.  Celeron dual core 1.1 Ghz cpu, 2 GB ram and a 320gb Sata hard drive (no solid state drive) didn't look very impressive to me despite it's $199 price tag.
When it comes to Chromebooks, my point of of reference is the Samsung 550 Chromebook. I've been using one since they first came out last year. The 550 sports a slightly faster cpu, 4gb ram and a 16gb ssd. It is without question the best Chromebook out there.
After a couple weeks with the Acer C7 my opinion has drastically changed. Out of the box it performed well though it didn't seem quite as peppy as the Samsung 550.
I watched an excellent video from Johnny Phung on upgrading the Acer C7. After watching this video I immediately upgraded the Ram in my C7 to 8GB. This one easy project immediately put my C7 on par with The Samsung 550.
I still have a couple dislikes on the Acer C7. Battery life is only about 4 hours. I can live with this but would prefer a bit more battery time. I recently learned that there is a six cell battery available for $50 that should improve battery life.
I prefer Solid State drives in notebooks, so replacing the hard drive with an SSD is at the top of my list for the C7.
I applaud Acer for making a Chromebook that is so easy to modify. The Acer C7 is definitely a Chromebook for a geek to consider.

My favorite Tablet is a Chromebook

Yes I know the Chromebook isn't a tablet. But my use of it is much the same as I would use one of my tablets. For the record I have plenty tablets I could be using more. I have a Samsung Galaxy tab2 7" & 10" as well as an Exopc slate running Windows 8. My Chromebook can typically be found on the coffee table. It's usually the first device I use in the morning while waking up and the last device I use at night.
Many of the things I do I can do comfortably on any of the tablets. However using the Chromebook more closely resembles what I do on my Desktop and Notebook computers through the course of my normal day as most of what I do is done through the Chrome browser.
I'm sure as time goes on I will be using the tablets for more things. But right now my Chromebook is hands down my most used device.

Chrome OS is the future

Chrome OS is the future. Or at least mine. I spend a lot of time experimenting with Operating Systems. I probably invest more time than I should with this effort. The most recent case in point is Windows 8.  I dedicated a lot of time learning my way around Windows 8. I enjoy the tiled desktop of Windows 8 and am quite sure it will be a success for Microsoft. But in my case it's over kill. I boot a Windows 8 (or Windows 7) machine the first thing I do is open the Chrome browser as that's where my online world exists. Something I can easily so in Chrome OS.
I'm convinced that the future will see web based Operating Systems similar to Chrome. I know there is a Mozilla Firefox system in the making and I'm sure there will be others. I think this is great. More competition in the cloud computing community will result in more innovation and we will all benefit from it.

One week of using Chrome OS exclusively

As an experiment I just completed using Chrome OS for all of my daily tasks for a week.
Disclaimer: I did have a Windows machine running to support my home phone system. I also used Android on my Galaxy Tab2 tablet.
What did I learn from this experiment?
 In the past if I couldn't do something easily on the Chrome book or Chrome box I would jump on a Windows machine to get the job done. Using Chrome OS exclusively forced me to dig in to the App store to find Apps to be more productive. It also forced me to learn keyboard shortcuts better.
As much as I love my Samsung Series 5-550 Chrome book, I found tasks requiring typing more than a few lines more comfortable on the Samsung Chrome keyboard on the Chrome box. For people that type a lot on their Chrome book I would recommend having a Samsung Chrome keyboard to plug in for them tasks.
This past week assured me that I could function well using Chrome OS. Am I ready to give up my Windows machines? No! I'm such a geek that I have to be tinkering in all sorts of devices.

Chrome OS - MyRevelation

Sitting at my desk doing my usual Geeky things. Keeping an eye on the pot of Brunswick Stew on the stove and out of Nowhere I had a revelation. 
"The operating system doesn't matter".

Over the past few months I've devoted a lot of my time experimenting and learning Windows 8. I've enjoyed it and found it to be a an efficient Operating System. I think when it launches next week adaptation will be a bit slow but it will succeed. 
Today I realized that while running Windows, 7 or 8 or one of the various flavors of Linux the first think I do is open the Chrome browser. From there I do the majority of things I need to do. So obviously the Operating System doesn't matter.
This explains why I like my Chromebooks and Chromebox. I'm not at a point that I can abandon my Windows machines but as Chrome OS matures I can see it happening.