The Chromebook Pixel

Last week Google released the Chromebook Pixel, a high-end Chromebook starting at $1,299. As the tech community reviews the device, they all seem to agree on a few things. There is general consensus that the hardware is excellent. The Chromebook sports an aluminum body, similar to a modern MacBook; a glass trackpad; and a pretty ridiculous screen with a Gorilla Glass touchscreen, sporting higher pixel density than a Retina MacBook Pro. 

Why so expensive? Because of the hardware package I laid out above. Simple as that.

After the hardware, consensus breaks down and we're left with a big "why"? What's the use of a high-end Chromebook?

There's one easy answer. It's the most cost effective way to provide enterprise employees a premium device that's dead simple to administer from the organization's point of view. ChromeOS is a simple OS and that's the whole point; ChromeOS is simple by design. From an administrative point of view, ChromeOS also provides the ChromeOS management console. The management console allows organizations the ability to deploy and manage a fleet of Chromebooks hands-free in a web-based environment.

The argument against any Chromebook and especially a high-end device goes like this, "it's just a browser." And that's essentially true. But it's the word "just" that causes the trouble.

Let's look at the definition of an OS from Wikipedia:

An operating system (OS) is a collection of software that manages computer hardware resources and provides common services for computer programs. The operating system is a vital component of the system software in a computer system.

When most people think about an OS they think about a computer sitting on their desk or in their lap. But we must also think of the modern OS managing much more than local resources and services. We must also think of an OS in the Cloud - an OS that manages resources beyond those found on the machine we happen to be touching at the moment.

What resources does ChromeOS manage in my case?

• Personal and professional messaging, calendaring and collaboration
• Inbound and outbound voice and video calling, including voice mail and SMS
• Personal and professional accounting and invoicing via apps like Freshbooks
• Business customer relationship management with apps like Salesforce.com and Insightly
• Social network and contact information from Rapportive, Hootsuite, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google+ 
• Photo editing with iPiccy
• Ability to make and take online payments with Google Wallet, PayPal, and Dwolla
• Two-factor authentication to my personal and business data 
• Document and content storage and collaboration via Drive, Box, Dropbox, and Evernote 
• Newsletter marketing and client communications via MailChimp 
• Ability to add text and signature to personal and business documents via HelloSign
• Project management via Smartsheet
• Online forms via Wufoo and Drive
• Expense capture and reporting via Expensify 
• Task tracking and management via Any.do

And whatever else I'd like to do with web apps from marketplaces like the Google Apps Marketplace and AppExchange; from awesome companies like 37Signals; or via Chrome apps in the Chrome Web Store. 

There are a few use cases when OS X, Linux or Windows are going to be required, but there are many more use cases when ChromeOS fits the bill and then some. 

I like the $250 Samsung Chromebook a lot, but I wouldn't use it as my full time machine. I would use the Pixel as a full time machine. 

The catch is that the Chromebook functionality I laid out is available to any device, like my MacBook Pro, running Chrome. My Mac doesn't have built-in LTE, a touchscreen, or the same resolution, and it doesn't update rapidly like ChromeOS ... is that enough to make me trade? Not right now, because I'm not looking for a new device. 

I can say this, I would consider a high-end Chromebook over my Mac if I had an older device and was in the market. I wouldn't consider a low-end Chromebook, a Linux PC or a Windows 8 device. Many of us work in the Cloud fulltime, before last week the Cloud didn't have a high-end device. The Pixel is the first, it won't be the last.