[shuw]

Chromebook's claim to fame (or primary selling point) of 8 second boot-up is very gimmicky to me. People never hard power off their tablets and never need to for most notebooks. If they are, that's a usability issue they're having with the OS, not a limitation.

A fairer comparison is time to resume from standby. But then, Chromebook will have to push their other selling points.

[Shengster]

I agree with you as well. Most people put their machines on standby or hibernate, eliminating most of Chromebook's competitive advantage.

Honestly, I don't see Chromebooks becoming very successful mainly due to price. For the same price of a Chromebook, one can buy a notebook that is much more powerful.

Instead I think Google should sell (or even more ambitiously give out) Chromebooks at a loss to have people use their cloud-based services. (Much like what Amazon is doing with their Kindle Fire). Unfortunately, if they were going to do this, they would have a long time ago.

I think the Chromebook will eventually go the way of the Zune. Late to market and eventually cancelled.