The thing I think you're missing is that many people are replacing usage of their main computer with tablets and similar devices. So yes ChromeOS/books can be seen as a competitor to an iPad, but the ENTIRE space (e.g. tablets, smartphones, Chromebooks) is competing against the PC as we know it.
Despite the terrible reputation it has, Vista is where Microsoft really started turning it around in a big way when it comes to stability, security, etc. (XP/Windows 2000 was obviously good too for moving the consumer OS to the protected NT kernel, but things really picked up in the subsequent releases).
My current Windows desktop system is running Windows 8.1 after in-place upgrades from Win7->Win8->Win8.1 (in place Windows upgrades being another previous no-no that now pretty much Just Works) and it still feels as zippy as the day I first started using it, despite having a hard-drive full of large RAW photos, videos, music, etc, and many dozens of apps installed, uninstalled, reinstalled, etc over the years.
All that being said, I own two different Chromebooks and I use them as mobile development systems running crouton and I really like them a lot and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone who isn't pinned to Windows due to other app constraints like needing Photoshop, Lightroom, games, etc.
The problem with Windows is usually third party crapware that people always install. Or comes preinstalled by the vendor. If you keep that in check you could last a long time before doing a re install. But most non tech savy users ... have trouble with that. Malware is getting more and more sophisticated in its ability to trick person to install it.
On top of that, almost all of it is open source.
[1] https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton [2] https://patchwork.kernel.org/patch/2205401/ (for example)
It's not really like Windows though is it? I could argue ChromeOS has far less privacy and is less capable. Sure, ChromeOS presents a simplified and streamlined experience that fits with what many people want in a computer: surf the web, check email, write simple documents. But there is nothing in ChromeOS that you can't do in Windows or Ubuntu or MacOSX. Importantly, in those OSes, I can run desktop apps without worrying about usage data being recorded and tracked (if usage data is recorded, it's opt-in and usually described as "anonymous" data collection).
I wonder how many people here would be happy if every action they performed or every app they launched on their computer was recorded by Apple or Microsoft? Yet, this is exactly what ChromeOS potentially does. In ChromeOS, running Google apps is only possible by signing into your Google account. So very quickly, Google builds an incredibly detailed picture of your computer usage: from the sites you browse, to the apps you use, to even the docs you print. They are not capturing this data anonymously either. Knowing clearly what Google tracks and records is a perfectly reasonable expectation. I'm amazed how easily Google have escaped any scrutiny on this matter.
There's barely any mention in this thread (and none in the TechCrunch article) of the privacy implications of using ChromeOS. I guess for many in the tech press and the tech community it's a complete non-issue. As someone who cares about privacy, I find that pretty depressing.
Very large numbers of people already use Google find stuff they want to know and to manage their intimate e-mail communications. People have had a decade's experience gauging how Google acts when it has this information. They continue to use these services. Today, 81% of people who are buying smartphones in the world are choosing Android.
The most straightforward explanation of these facts would seem to be your concerns about Google knowing things are simply not shared. Not by the tech community, not by the tech press, and not by the overwhelming majority of people.
It doesn't seem likely that Google potentially knowing that one is using a Chromebook to play Angry Birds or watch Netflix will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
There's a huge market for people who don't want all the complication of windows. Don't think of it as having less features and less software, think of it as having different features and different software.
But like Netbooks I think it'll have a short run. In the same way it is hard for WinPhone to compete against Android in the long tail of apps, I think the long tail of Win apps is tough to compete with when you can get a Windows PC at almost the same price.
Tablets are a great secondary device. I think Chromebooks are too bulky and not feature rich enough as a secondary device. And simply can't replace a laptop as a primary.
And with virtually no price delta, I just don't see the story.
I now know two people with Chromebooks. Both also have an (older) desktop. By any reasonable measure, it's the Chromebooks which are the primary. It's almost as if the desktop provides an it's-there-if-I-really-need-it fallback in case any of the long-tail apps are needed, but both are finding them not needed. (Note that neither are office workers.)
Both knew going in that the device would not run their PC software, so I think perhaps the correct messaging is out there.
Still, two is a very small number, even in the personal anecdote space. So, we'll see.
What do you mean? I just bought a $199 Chromebook (Acer C720) with 9+ hours of battery life and weighing under 3lbs. It performs well for all day-to-day tasks (email, news/HN/reddit, Facebook, etc). I don't know of any well-performing Windows laptops at that price point, and Windows laptops come with the added complexity of using Windows: I like the minimal simplicity of ChromeOS (no pre-installed bloatware, no useless extra features complicating the UI, everything safely backed up in the cloud, and automatic updates).
And my Chromebook is absolutely my primary device: I rarely touch my Windows 7 / Ubuntu (dual-booted) laptop.