Why the Chromebook isn’t for me


Before I begin the post, let me say how awesome the Chromebook is as an operating system. It has one feature that I have wanted in a computer for a while. It used Google Drive as almost a hard drive. It’s seamless and almost perfect. The Chromebook does what most people who use it need it too. Note I say it does what MOST need it too.

I am not normal people. I love to create content. That includes text, images, movies, audio and more.

My Issues with the Chromebook are:

  • Dealing with Zip files – This was not a problem I was expecting. In order to open a zip you need a plug-in or App. Sometimes it would hang up and not be able to unzip files. This was ok when it wasn’t something I needed. However, when it was an important file it was a pain.
  • FTP of files – There are a few FTP Apps and I even paid for sFTP client. It never was able to connect to servers I needed to download files from. It would time out and not download anything. When I had to get files I would break out my MacBook Pro that took 15 minutes to start up.
  • Creation of Podcasts – This was able to be done but not easy. I could record on the iPad a program called Ferrite. Then download to Google Drive after edited. Then convert the files on the Chromebook. This lead me back to the problem with the FTP issue.
  • Editing Movies – I never even tried this at all. It could be done rudimentary on YouTube but It just wasn’t worth the time to do.
  • Managing Emails – I like to sort and archive my emails. There was no way to download email on the Chromebook. The IMAP was great across devices but it wasn’t my favorite workflow. That is because I had to use webmail and I’m not a big fan of webmail.

It was a journey I’m glad I took. I know when push comes to shove I can be creative and work on a Chromebook. It’s not ideal but It can be done. The only downside is when I went to pitch a client and walked in with a. Chromebook it was like. WTH? I now have a new MacBook Air that can do all those things above and more.

What happened to the Chromebook? I still have it and plan to keep it. You never know when you will need a backup computer. I figure I can use it for a few days if this one needs to get fixed.

Tim is the founder of Element33. A social media agency specializing in education, management and strategy for small businesses. He comes from a traditional marketing agency but has embraced all things digital. He considers himself a marketing nerd and believes that all marketing is tied together. This means no matter what silo you are in, social, email, seach, etc, changes in one will affect the other!

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