

(Remember there's a huge price disparity between Chromebooks selling in the $250-$300 range, and Macbooks, which start at around $1,000.) According to market research firm IDC, just over 3 million Chromebooks sold in the second quarter, compared to 1.8 million Macs, in the United States, to 12 million Windows PCs. Earlier this year they surpassed Apple MacBooks as the second best-selling kind of computers, after Windows. Google’s Chromebooks have struck a chord with students. Think of a Chromebook as a glorified tablet, a small computer with a physical keyboard, that's light and easy to tote around. On several Chromebooks (only four models will be available in the fall for Google Play Store) Android will also be optimized for running on computers, with mouse and touch-screen. “This is a big deal.”Īndroid is the dominant mobile operating system, with an 86% market share, according to market tracker Gartner, software geared to run on phones and tablets. In the Play Store, Philips found several productivity apps he was interested and downloaded them to the Flip. “I’ve had several Chromebooks, but while they did some things nicely, I was disappointed.

“It’s a game changer,” says Mike Phillips, CEO of Sense, a Boston based company that offers a device for energy management.
