You probably shoudn’t buy a Googlebook. That’s less of an opinion about the platform itself, but more about the bad timing that this launch has seen, and protecting your own wallet.
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Googlebook as a platform isn’t magically a competitor to Windows and macOS. Rather, it inhabits nearly the exact same space in the market that Chromebook did. The app gap hasn’t been fixed, nor has Google managed to build a platform that someone can go without the deep ecosystems that the dominant players have built out for decades.
- If a Chromebook wasn’t for you, Googlebook isn’t either
- Googlebook OS review: A post-smartphone PC, if Google can keep it
There are any number of reasons I could give you not to buy a Googlebook right now. The price tags. The lack of apps. The simple fact that this is a brand new platform you shouldn’t fork over hundreds of dollars to beta test. But, ultimately, I think the biggest reason you shouldn’t be buying a Googlebook is timing.
RAMageddon is in full swing, thanks in no small part to Google and its AI competitors, and consumers are paying the price for it. Everything has gotten extraordinarily expensive, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. Price hikes will continue, and you’re only going to feel the strain more and more.
With that in mind, why would anyone spend their money on a Googlebook?
That’s really what I’ve been wrestling with the past few weeks in the midst of Google’s big push. Googlebook is asking you to spent $1,000, give or take, on a laptop that’s not fully capable because… it works with your phone? Truly, I just cannot fathom making that choice when you could pay the same, if not less, for a Windows laptop or a MacBook.
From my HP Googlebook 14 review earlier this week:
Especially at a time when the cost of laptops continues to skyrocket, I cannot recommend that anyone invests $1,200 into a Googlebook when you can get a Windows laptop, or even a MacBook, for the same price, if not less. There’s simply no reason to get less functionality for the same price…
Imagine a scenario. You spend $1,000 or more on a Googlebook today because, right now, it fits your needs. You could have bought a MacBook Air for just a little more, or a Lenovo laptop for a little less. But you reason that, for now, the Googlebook does everything you need it to do. But, six months from now, you pick up a new hobby, change jobs, or have any number of things change that impact what you need from your tech. Suddenly, that Googlebook might not cut it. The problems Googlebook has today are not going to be solved in six months; many, if not all, of the limitations you face today will still exist.
That’s my reasoning for why I won’t buy a Googlebook. What do you think?
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