Why I Returned My Chromebook

I've long been a "true believer" in remote computing. I didn't distinguish between an internet cloud and a single remote server. What mattered to me was that all I needed near me was some sort of device to send and receive data. The smaller and thinner the local device, the better.

Ever since I'd heard that John Gage, the Chief Researcher and Vice President of the Science Office for Sun, say that "the network is the computer", I thought that the future was clear. He and I both knew where we were headed.

As soon as the first Chromebook came out, I was interested. But I didn't buy. When I spend my own discretionary money, I'm merely cutting edge, as opposed to bleeding edge. So I waited...

When ChromeOS vesion 19 and the Samsung Series 5 550 came out, it was time for me to buy. I figured they'd gotten most of the kinks out, and the device would be eminently usable.

The Chromebook arrived and I loved it. The laptop itself didn't disappoint at all. The battery life, the screen, the keyboard and touchpad - all of it was great.

I returned the Chromebook because of small missing features in ChromeOS. I knew that ChromeOS didn't support Java. I should have known that ChromeOS wouldn't support QuickTime. I could have lived with those two missing features. The third missing feature: ChromeOS doesn't support SSL VPN solutions. That means I can't even use my Chromebook for connecting to my work's network.

So, I couldn't run Java applications. I couldn't watch PATV, and I couldn't work from home. It's with a heavy heart that I realize that the state of technology isn't quite there yet, and I returned the Chromebook.

Dear Google: I'm still watching and hoping. Get to the point where I can access the networks I need on your portable network device, and you'll get my money. You're so close.