Obsolete, Eh?

Brooke Crothers, reviewing the Chromebook Pixel for CNet:

Thank you, Google. For obsoleting my MacBook.

Glad we’re not jumping to hyperbolic conclusions.

Question: What two killer hardware features are missing on MacBooks? My answer: a touch screen and 4G. What a coincidence. Just what Google is offering on the Chromebook Pixel. And in a package that comes close to matching the MacBook’s aesthetics.

Don’t get me started on the pointlessness of a touchscreen on a MacBook. But cellular networking — that, I agree, does feel missing at this point. I make do with hotspot tethering, but the fact that my iPad has cellular networking built-in (and shares the same Verizon account as my iPhone) makes it feel like my MacBook should have it too.

I’m not sure why Apple hasn’t offered it as an option yet, but my guess is that it’s because Mac OS X isn’t designed to behave differently while on different types of networks. With cellular networking, for example, you wouldn’t want iTunes to download new episodes of TV episodes or even podcasts in the background — a single episode could eat up your entire monthly bandwidth allotment.

★ Tuesday, 26 February 2013