Chrome will bring about the ICT revolution in schools

[gshaw]

Why not have both? An Android tablet and a touchscreen Chromebook? The best of both worlds!

 

Twice the purchase cost, or are you buying them for me ;

 

Except when it comes to multi-tasking, which sucks on Android. Even simple things like writing posts with lots of links and quotes involves too much faffing about in the EduGeek Android app.

 

Fair point, copy and paste can be a pain

 

What's wrong with the Bay Trail hybrid's like the Asus Transformer Book T100 and why do consumers need the Pro version of Windows 8.1?

 

Performance-wise the Bay Trail looks good enough for tablet use from what I've read in the reviews

 

Build-quality wise the T100 is cheap and nasty looking, back to netbook quality and weight - that said the price point is at a realistic level for a tablet

 

Need 8.1 Pro to use the one thing Windows has as an advantage i.e. being to run the full breadth of applications available within the Microsoft ecosystem; whether that's a weird and wonderful educational program or something more techie. RT is too limited and the app store too basic - if you just want those simplistic apps you might as well get an iPad and have more choice.

 

If Microsoft made a Bay Trail Surface I'd be very interested, sadly they're still clinging onto RT (although hopefully not for much longer if the rumours are to be believed)

[Arthur]

Twice the purchase cost, or are you buying them for me

If I win the lottery I would.

 

Build-quality wise the T100 is cheap and nasty looking, back to netbook quality and weight

Chromebooks have a lot of compromises too (plasticy build quality, LCDs with poor viewing angles and low resolutions, awful trackpads etc.). There still isn't a reasonably priced alternative to the Chromebook Pixel (probably because consumers would find it hard to justify buying one over an equivalent Windows laptop).

 

Need 8.1 Pro to use the one thing Windows has as an advantage i.e. being to run the full breadth of applications available within the Microsoft ecosystem

Manufacturers usually install Windows 8.1 (non-Pro) on their cheap Windows laptops. That's why I wondered why you mentioned the Pro edition.

 

If Microsoft made a Bay Trail Surface I'd be very interested

Me too, although if I needed to run apps like Photoshop, the Surface Pro 2 would be the logical choice.

[gshaw]

When I say Pro I mean x86 aka full fat Windows.

 

I know MS always use Photoshop as a reference but I'm not saying editing huge files, just day to day productivity applications that would run fine on Bay Trail / i3 and keep the cost down; Surface Pro is just too expensive for an 11" screen device

[sted]

Twice the purchase cost, or are you buying them for me ;

 

 

 

Fair point, copy and paste can be a pain

 

 

 

Performance-wise the Bay Trail looks good enough for tablet use from what I've read in the reviews

 

Build-quality wise the T100 is cheap and nasty looking, back to netbook quality and weight - that said the price point is at a realistic level for a tablet

 

Need 8.1 Pro to use the one thing Windows has as an advantage i.e. being to run the full breadth of applications available within the Microsoft ecosystem; whether that's a weird and wonderful educational program or something more techie. RT is too limited and the app store too basic - if you just want those simplistic apps you might as well get an iPad and have more choice.

 

If Microsoft made a Bay Trail Surface I'd be very interested, sadly they're still clinging onto RT (although hopefully not for much longer if the rumours are to be believed)

 

clover leaf in my vivotab smart is fast enough for day to day stuff so baytrail should be more than (for now). have a look at dell venue 11 pro looks more substantial and as well as baytrail has lots of options on cpu up to i5 and LOOKs a bit more rugged. Has to be said the build on my vovotab smart isn't great back scratches very easily and the screen isn't that robust either and somehow ive chipped the case and I take reasonable care of it

[SYNACK]

clover leaf in my vivotab smart is fast enough for day to day stuff so baytrail should be more than (for now). have a look at dell venue 11 pro looks more substantial and as well as baytrail has lots of options on cpu up to i5 and LOOKs a bit more rugged. Has to be said the build on my vovotab smart isn't great back scratches very easily and the screen isn't that robust either and somehow ive chipped the case and I take reasonable care of it

 

+1 I have one to and use it for most stuff, even this. Baytrail should be a great bridge between the core and atom series though, for tablet use it should be great as the current ones cope fine and the new ones are much faster.

[Arthur]

The first AIO running ChromeOS...

 

LG's 21.5" Chromebase all-in-one puts ChromeOS on the desktop « Engadget

 

Besides Samsung's Chromebox series ChromeOS has appeared mostly on laptops, but now LG is ready to put its new Chromebase up against Apple's iMac and Windows-based all-in-one desktop PCs. According to the spec sheet, that 21.5" 1080p LCD hides an Intel Celeron CPU, 2GB of RAM and a 16GB SSD inside, along with an assortment of ports in the back and on the sides. It won't compete with high-end PCs on horsepower or internal storage, but it's ready to play a part in Google's vision of network computers that run mostly web-based apps, are hassle free and require no real maintenance. We're not expecting to get Steam loaded on here, but when we're playing IT for relatives over the holiday something like this may seem like a better option. Without a price tag however, it's hard to judge properly so we'll look for that and more information next month at CES.

 

http://snag.gy/7GcEy.jpg

[rich_tech]

Seems like a nice enough looking device there, cant decide whether I fancy a chromebook or a full fat laptop here myself, I trialled a chromebook a while back and liked it, despite looking up the spec and thinking "Eurgh" at the time, it ran everything fast and well, there are some pretty decent AMD based laptops about now, which can handle things like gaming on linux which I want.

[SYNACK]

web-based apps, are hassle free and require no real maintenance.

 

Sweet, no need to dust it or provide it power or anything, it's a modern day perpetual motion machine and all for the low low price of your soul.

[Arthur]

Interesting stats...

 

Chromebooks Shifted 2.5 Million Units in 2013, Analysts Say « OMG Chrome

 

Chromebooks accounted for almost 1% of global PC sales in 2013, market research firm IDC has said.

 

The industry analysts report that out of more than 314 million PCs shipped last year Chrome OS notebooks accounted for 2.5 million units sold to consumers.

 

And things, analysts predict, are only set to get better for the cloud-centric computers in the near future.

 

By 2017 IDC experts predict that yearly Chromebook shipments will make up 2% of all PC sales. Like-minded research group Gartner is more optimistic in its forecast of a 4.5% share of PC shipments for Chrome OS by the end of the same year.

[gshaw]

Would be interesting to see how much of a sales increase there was over the Xmas period as Google had a pretty large advertising campaign this time round (TV ads, billboards, tube posters etc)

 

Still think for the price you pay for an average Chromebook many of the target demographic would rather add £50-100 and have an iPad instead

[SYNACK]

Would be interesting to see how much of a sales increase there was over the Xmas period as Google had a pretty large advertising campaign this time round (TV ads, billboards, tube posters etc)

 

Still think for the price you pay for an average Chromebook many of the target demographic would rather add £50-100 and have an iPad instead

You lot must live in an interesting world, I have never seen a Google ad on TV, even the Microsoft ones are scares, the only company bashing my retinas in is crApple.

[SPM]

I am not sure about the market size for these things, but it is a nice machine for those contracts to supply, libraries, public info systems, info workers, and government/large businesses with server based info-systems. A real competitive advantage too and a profit multiplier over Windows for those applications given the plug-in and walk away zero maintenance nature of these devices, and the fact that you can maintain 10-30 times the number that you can Windows machines with the same time and staffing levels, and the fact that Zero Touch Administration means you don't ever need to physically touch or log into one of these devices. That's a real force multiplier.

[SPM]

I am not sure about how IDC got their figures, but IDG are often unreliable and little more than crystal gazing. It should also be noted that until very recently, Chromebooks were only on sale in the US and UK, and even after expanding sales to 6 more countries late last year, availability outside US and UK is very limited. As far as worldwide sales are concerned, IDG's 1% of 360 million is 3.6 million, almost all of which are in the US and UK.

 

 

NPD has some accurate sales figures based on data about 14 million laptops, desktops, and tablets sold through US "commercial channels" which they define as "business to business sales" ie. resellers/VARS like CDW and Ingram Micro that sell direct to businesses, government and education, in which they say Chromebooks made up 21% of all laptops sold and 9.6% of all tablets, laptops, and desktops sold. It does not count sales via channel sales like Amazon online, or Best Buy or Staples retail outlets or direct sales from OEMs like Apple Stores, Dell Direct or Google Play. The 14 million number of devices counted represents about a third of the US market. Chromebook sales growth: 2013 saw huge growth in business market | BGR

 

There ie one thing that is strange about the figures - Apple has a very low representation of 1.8%, and Chromebooks before 2013 accounted for only 0.02% of sales, which seems to indicate that those selling supply and support services or supply and maintenance services as a package (which is most Apple and Chromebook sales to schools) aren't included, since both should have a very much higher representation based on their success in sales to schools before 2013. Basically this seems to be mainly business and government sales, which is damned impressive. Presumably they are being used as thin clients to access web based info services on servers.

Edited January 11, 2014 by SPM

[Arthur]

Basically this seems to be mainly business and government sales, which is damned impressive.

9.6% of 14.4 million is 1,382,400 Chromebooks (sold directly to U.S. businesses/schools/government through distributors during the first 11 months of 2013). That's not what I would call impressive.

 

[gshaw]

Painful reading for MS executives there, barely any growth for Windows tablets to make up for the drop in desktop and notebook sales Edited January 11, 2014 by gshaw

[SYNACK]

One of our local High schools has gone chromebook and is in turn pressuring by example their feeder schools. MS tablets are still a hard sell despite their excellence in some areas ironicly because their management ability sucks. It is like they threw out everyone who was doing the good stuff and promoted the apple following coffee swilling hipsters who should have been cleaning the building instead.

 

Still not enamoured with chromebooks because I don't trust Google at all and it seems to be furthering the playschoolisation of computers. I swear the UI of the future is going to be blocks and crayons.

[Arthur]

Painful reading for MS executives there, barely any growth for Windows tablets to make up for the drop in desktop and notebook sales

Surely Apple should be more worried than Microsoft? Sales of Windows PCs actually increased (according to NPD).

 

Desktop sales through the channel increased 8.5 percent, notebooks grew 28.9 percent, and tablets jumped 49 percent growth over the same time period in 2012. [Preconfigured] Windows notebooks showed no growth over 2012, [Preconfigured] Windows desktops increased by nearly 10 percent and Apple sales for notebooks and desktops combined fell by 7 percent.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Arthur

[Arthur]

Here are some more interesting stats...

 

 

 

[gshaw]

Surely Apple should be more worried than Microsoft? Sales of Windows PCs actually increased (according to NPD).

 

Not necessarily, Apple don't really seem to care about business (if they did they'd still make server hardware, proper server OS and official management tools for iOS etc)

 

As long as Apple continue to sell to private consumers at huge markups they'll be happy. When the tide of fashion changes and the fruit logo is no longer the flavour of the day that's when they'll worry.

 

Will be interesting to see how MS tablets do this year as the hardware is finally getting better in terms of design and affordability (about time too)

[SPM]

9.6% of 14.4 million is 1,382,400 Chromebooks (sold directly to U.S. businesses/schools/government through distributors during the first 11 months of 2013). That's not what I would call impressive. http://staticc2.cdngeek.net/images/smilies/confused.png

 

21% of all laptops is pretty impressive compared to Windows' 34.1% of laptops, all achieved in a year. It is easy to see why Microsoft was spooked into launching its recent Scroogled attacks on Chromebooks.

 

This isn't all Chromebooks sold mind you - just the percentages sold by US business to business resellers out of a sample of 14 million devices - which represents about a third of the US market. I think this must exclude educational specialist VARs who sell most of the Chromebooks and Apple Macs sold to schools, otherwise a 1.8% for Apple who have a big share of US school computers, and 0.2% for Chromebooks at the end of 2012 rising to 9.6% of all devices in Nov 2013 makes no sense, because Chromebooks had made inroads into the school market before end of 2012, and sales have been steadily increasing since rather than the 50 times increase shown. This means the sales in the 14 million sales sample are mostly to businesses rather than schools.

Edited January 11, 2014 by SPM

[SPM]

Surely Apple should be more worried than Microsoft? Sales of Windows PCs actually increased (according to NPD).

 

I think NPD are talking about sales to businesses. Overall Windows sales dropped by 10% over 2012 as many other sites have reported.

Edited January 11, 2014 by SPM

[SPM]

One of our local High schools has gone chromebook and is in turn pressuring by example their feeder schools. MS tablets are still a hard sell despite their excellence in some areas ironicly because their management ability sucks. It is like they threw out everyone who was doing the good stuff and promoted the apple following coffee swilling hipsters who should have been cleaning the building instead.

 

Still not enamoured with chromebooks because I don't trust Google at all and it seems to be furthering the playschoolisation of computers. I swear the UI of the future is going to be blocks and crayons.

 

Not to be outdone, Windows 8 has its Mattel/Fischer Price UI.

[AngryTechnician]

Not to be outdone, Windows 8 has its Mattel/Fischer Price UI.

 

You must be too young to remember when we all referred to the default XP theme (Luna) as the Fisher Price theme. Windows 8 has NOTHING on that garishness.

[Arthur]

21% of all laptops is pretty impressive compared to Windows' 34.1% of laptops, all achieved in a year.

Chromebooks do NOT account for 21% of all laptops sold in the U.S or globally. You have made the same mistake a lot of incompetent bloggers and journalists made.

 

Media reports two weeks ago that Chromebooks had had a successful 2013 drew criticism from analysts, including one whose data sparked the coverage.

 

"There has been a ton of misreporting as many lazy reporters and bloggers have characterized this as all sales, which it wasn't, or even consumer sales, which it most assuredly was not," said Stephen Baker of the NPD Group, in an email reply to questions. "It has been very personally distressing to me that so many reporters/bloggers refuse to read, or don't know what commercial channels mean."

 

Baker was referring to information NPD released Dec. 23 that said Chromebooks accounted for 21% of all U.S. notebook sales through the commercial retail channel for the first 11 months of 2013.

 

In his email, Baker defined the commercial channel as the distributors -- like CDW and Ingram Micro -- that many businesses, government agencies, schools and other organizations use to buy personal computers and other devices. His data did not include consumer sales, nor PCs sold by OEMs, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, directly to businesses. (Source)

 

I think they are talking about sales to businesses.

Indeed they are (since I am referring to the same NPD data that included the Chromebooks).

 

Overall Windows sales dropped by 10% over 2012 as many other sites have reported.

Global PC sales have regressed to the same levels as in 2009 (which was 305.9 million globally). I don't see this as a bad thing since sales can't increase year-on-year indefinitely. Hopefully it will give PC manufacturers a much needed kick up the arse too.

 

The numbers released Thursday show annual PC shipments have now backtracked to where they stood in 2009.

 

The PC slump is driven by the growing popularity of less expensive and more convenient mobile devices controlled by touch-screen technology instead of keyboards and computer mice. (Source)

 

^ PC sales have also declined because people are perfectly happy with the computers they purchased within the last four years (or more). There isn't any need to replace them!

Edited January 11, 2014 by Arthur

[Arthur]

You must be too young to remember when we all referred to the default XP theme (Luna) as the Fisher Price theme.

I seem to remember a lot of people hated the Teletubbie-style wallpaper too.