“My computing roots can be traced back to CP/M and an Osborne 1, so color me about as tried and true as a Mac user can be,” Ron McElfresh writes for McSolo. “First Mac, April 1984. Since then, I’ve owned nearly everything Mac, and most things Apple. And a few PCs and Windows PCs, along the way too, not to mention management of a few dozen Linux servers through the years.”
“That makes me not only experienced but curious about current trends. Ooe that is notable is the Chromebook line, and one that has my eye is the Asus Chromebook Flip C302, recently introduced at CES and soon to hit the market,” McElfresh writes. “For the most part, Chromebooks– easily viewed and tried at the nearest Best Buy store– look much like MacBooks for as much as $1,000 less.”
The Asus Chromebook Flip C302 “is a Chromebook I want to see but it’s size, weight, and Chromebook OS make it much less of a useful computer for me than a MacBook of nearly the same size and far more expensive,” McElfresh writes. “That brings me to a wishlist item. A MacPad. Think of it as a very small touchscreen MacBook; thin and light but running an Apple designed ARM-based A-series CPU like that found in the iPad. It wouldn’t run Windows or Linus, probably not do well with Photoshop or Final Cut Pro, but it would be competitive with Windows and Chromebook hardware at the premium end of the low end.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s way make sense: Touch onscreen only when there is no other primary input available.
What you really have to see is anyone under the age of 12, largely untainted by previous computing paradigms, using an iPad. That is the future, not trying to turn Macs into iPads.
That said, as we’ve asked many times over the past few years: Anyone in the market for a 12.9-inch device that’s an OS X-powered MacBook when docked with its keyboard base and an iOS-powered iPad Pro when undocked?
Illustration from Apple’s hybrid Mac-iPad patent application
that because most kids under the age of 12 can’t even touch type.
once they learn about that, then the iPad is just another useless toy. because thats all that kids under 12 are using them for… candy crush etc.. thats not a computer, its a fashion accessory for mom and dad and a baby sitter for their brats.
touch screens are the worst sort of input devices.
I’ve watched my 8 year old niece thumb type on an iPhone faster that I can use a standard keyboard. Kids have a way of learning what is useful to them. While typing on a virtual keyboard is different from a physical keyboard, it’s not that difficult to master. Just because a kid can’t touch type by age 12 doesn’t mean he or she is doomed to hunt and peck for the next 70 years.
When she goes to the Orthopedic Surgeon in a couple of years for a Repetitive Motion Disorder do you think she will sue Apple? Hammering your fingers on glass for years does not seem like a formula for happiness or healthy hands and wrists.
It is already well established that floors with give cause less back, hip, knee, ankle and foot pain than concrete slab floors. I would imagine that passing on Gorilla Glass with no give likewise does things not seen with a mechanical keyboard.
You might dislike Chromebooks, but they are kicking Apple in the ass for Educational sales- another area where Pipeline Tim has neglected a long time Apple market. Today’s school kids are tomorrow’s customers.
I have been calling for this for years now … and reciveing viloent reactions, for the most part, from most everyone!
When the new gorgouse macbooks came out ..i was convinced the idea can be executed beautifully ….with some design mods…
Open twist and fold back on keys > tablet pro, ios or touch macOS.. user selectable.
Open and detach > pure tablet .. liteweight, ios
Or just open > laptop, macos
I have even occasionally asked MDN to iCal the post…
That phrase has been oft repeated but is not even close to true. Apple enjoyed being the choice of education, long before Windows, during the PC explosion, and well after, but almost went out of business in the process. The reason – Kids wanted Windows PCs for the games. Period. Parents buy the PCs to please their kids, and justify the expense by telling themselves “they need them for school”. Those two desires still rule today, even for the iPhone where games and social apps rule supreme on the AppStore.
Yes, but at the time Apple IIs were popular in Education they too were strong in games. Mac fell behind the PC in both cost of HW and variety of games those kids were interested in playing. Fast forward to today, Chromebooks are much more affordable now than any other computing device in their year’s dollar purchase power, are more relevant to educational tasks over a larger grade level range, and the OS is based on a browser that practically everyone has access to regardless of income level, age or occupation. “Today’s school kids are tomorrows customers.” rings more true now than ever, if not in the HW at least in Chrome.
• Granny friendly.
• Too limited for serious computer users.
• You get what you pay for.
• Touch screen laptops never made much sense to anyone. Congratulations if you’re the exception.
As a designer, I can guarantee this market segment has been looked at and prototyped at Apple.
They investigate new options heavily.
This guy is a hopeless geek.
No Minecraft for chrome book.
Not even a toy computer.
Try again Google!
The HW is capable of playing Minecraft if you want to actually try installing a dual boot linux.
http://platypusplatypus.com/chromebooks/play-minecraft-chromebook/
that because most kids under the age of 12 can’t even touch type.
once they learn about that, then the iPad is just another useless toy. because thats all that kids under 12 are using them for… candy crush etc.. thats not a computer, its a fashion accessory for mom and dad and a baby sitter for their brats.
touch screens are the worst sort of input devices.
i don’t know why people can’t see this.
Dictation, then mind reading.
Dream on.
I’ve watched my 8 year old niece thumb type on an iPhone faster that I can use a standard keyboard. Kids have a way of learning what is useful to them. While typing on a virtual keyboard is different from a physical keyboard, it’s not that difficult to master. Just because a kid can’t touch type by age 12 doesn’t mean he or she is doomed to hunt and peck for the next 70 years.
Got that right spark. Even my old hands do good with iPad keys. It’s computer power, OS X that I need.
When she goes to the Orthopedic Surgeon in a couple of years for a Repetitive Motion Disorder do you think she will sue Apple? Hammering your fingers on glass for years does not seem like a formula for happiness or healthy hands and wrists.
It is already well established that floors with give cause less back, hip, knee, ankle and foot pain than concrete slab floors. I would imagine that passing on Gorilla Glass with no give likewise does things not seen with a mechanical keyboard.
You might dislike Chromebooks, but they are kicking Apple in the ass for Educational sales- another area where Pipeline Tim has neglected a long time Apple market. Today’s school kids are tomorrow’s customers.
Hybrid, Convertible Devices with Adaptive OS..
I have been calling for this for years now … and reciveing viloent reactions, for the most part, from most everyone!
When the new gorgouse macbooks came out ..i was convinced the idea can be executed beautifully ….with some design mods…
Open twist and fold back on keys > tablet pro, ios or touch macOS.. user selectable.
Open and detach > pure tablet .. liteweight, ios
Or just open > laptop, macos
I have even occasionally asked MDN to iCal the post…
Im still a firm believer !
🤞🤞
” Today’s school kids are tomorrow’s customers.”
That phrase has been oft repeated but is not even close to true. Apple enjoyed being the choice of education, long before Windows, during the PC explosion, and well after, but almost went out of business in the process. The reason – Kids wanted Windows PCs for the games. Period. Parents buy the PCs to please their kids, and justify the expense by telling themselves “they need them for school”. Those two desires still rule today, even for the iPhone where games and social apps rule supreme on the AppStore.
Yes, but at the time Apple IIs were popular in Education they too were strong in games. Mac fell behind the PC in both cost of HW and variety of games those kids were interested in playing. Fast forward to today, Chromebooks are much more affordable now than any other computing device in their year’s dollar purchase power, are more relevant to educational tasks over a larger grade level range, and the OS is based on a browser that practically everyone has access to regardless of income level, age or occupation. “Today’s school kids are tomorrows customers.” rings more true now than ever, if not in the HW at least in Chrome.
• Granny friendly.
• Too limited for serious computer users.
• You get what you pay for.
• Touch screen laptops never made much sense to anyone. Congratulations if you’re the exception.
Microsoft has manufactured that Apple patent. It’s called the Surface Book.