It was just about them

Eight years ago, at Google I / O 2011, Google announced the launch of the first commercial Chromebook: the Samsung Series 5 and the Acer AC700.

To give you an idea of ​​its seniority, the company also announced at this event a new version of Android, called Ice Cream Sandwich, and a streaming music service called Google Music Beta (later become Google Play Music).

The launch of the first commercial Chromebooks was not easy, at least from a critical point of view. One reviewer has called the Acer AC700 "essentially a big netbook," while another reviewer has called the Samsung Series 5 "browser with a keyboard."

The very notion of Chromebook – a cheaper laptop based entirely on an Internet connection and cloud services – seemed to go too far for critics and consumers of the time. The register at the end of 2011, an article entitled "Chromebooks: the 2011 flop?

Imagine how shocked these people would have been if you had told them that in 2016, Chromebooks would exceed MacOS sales in the US, or that more than 60% of all mobile hardware purchased by businesses Teaching is today Chromebook.

You probably would have made the room laugh.

Google bet big on the Chromebook

Tech Republic

Google was working on Chrome OS – the Linux operating system based on Chromebooks – since 2006, when Googler Kan Liu and his team hacked together a Linux netbook that started in less than ten seconds. At the time, Liu was developing Windows applications for Google. He was frustrated by the complexity of the operating system and the complication of this excessive complication in the user experience.

Over the next few years, Google Chrome has developed Chrome OS internally as an Internet-based operating system that can boot in seconds and work well on low-end hardware. The development mantra seemed to be "Keep it simple"; In fact, the development team initially was interested in removing as many settings, menus, and features as possible without harming the average user experience.

In December 2010, Google revealed the CR-48 notebook, shown above. The all-black, unbranded machine made of rubber was clumsy, ugly and undernourished. It existed only as a prototype for first testers for the sole purpose of playing with Chrome OS.

The first Chromebook was not available for sale and only existed as a Chrome OS test platform.

To make things as clear as possible when Sundar Pichai unveiled the CR-48, he said, "The hardware only exists to test the software."

When the first Chromebooks arrived, critics and consumers were not worried. The biggest complaint was the high price of laptops (from $ 350 in the case of the AC700) and too restrictive to be worth it. It makes sense: why would you pay $ 350 US for a laptop that can not run any of the Windows or Mac programs you need (or at least, which you think you need)?

Despite these setbacks, Google was determined to make Chromebooks work. One of the company's most intelligent moves has been to place Chromebooks on a very neglected market segment: the classroom.

Success came slowly – but he came

After a while, the thing that reduced the early Chromebooks – how much they were limited by only allowing you to do basic tasks – became their greatest strength. Because Chromebooks are so simple, educational institutions have designed an easy-to-maintain and cost-effective system.

Google saw this as an opportunity and started working from this angle. He started encouraging OEMs to develop Chromebooks that work specifically in classrooms by making them durable, lightweight, simple and globally inexpensive.

From 2012 to 2017, Chromebooks have engulfed the education market of their rivals Apple and Microsoft.

In 2012, Chromebooks accounted for five percent of mobile classroom products in the United States, which is not bad at all for a year of existence. In 2017, however, Chromebooks accounted for just under 60% of the same market.

This incredibly fast growth has surprised competitors Apple and Microsoft. Apple's market share in the education sector dropped by 33% over the same period, while Microsoft's market share dropped 21 points.

See also: The best Chromebooks of CES 2019

Chromebooks doing well in schools, it was only a matter of time before they started to work well with consumers in general. Parents buying Chromebooks for their kids and finding that they were enjoying the simplicity and ease of use of one of them, sales began to increase.

According to StatCounter, Chrome OS now has a market share of just over six percent in the United States. It's amazing when you consider that the operating system did not even exist ten years ago.

The success of the Chromebook will only grow

Chrome OS has finally been extended and can now run both Linux and Android applications. This has opened the possibilities for Chromebooks, which can now do just about anything a standard PC can do.

However, a low-power Chromebook still can not replace a high-performance PC. Or can he?

Earlier this year, Google unveiled its cloud game product called Google Stadia. By using Stadia, players can play AAA titles using only a browser. Google's servers manage the game's workload and simply broadcast it to a user's computer over the Internet.

This product will allow a person with even the cheapest Chromebooks to read the newest game titles at 1080p / 60fps. Players will no longer need to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to build a computer or buy the latest expensive console. The playing field will be leveled.

Stadia, Google's cloud-based streaming service, is proof that a Chromebook might just be the only computer you'll need in the future.

The stadium is only the beginning. Soon, virtually everything you do on a computer will be treated in the cloud and broadcast on your device, whether through your home broadband or your future 5G service on the move. You do not need an expensive graphics card to render video mounts or a powerful processor to compute complex code strings. Instead, you will just need a browser.

This, without a doubt, will fundamentally change our vision of personal computing. There will be people in developing countries who will grow up and learn how to use a computer using a Chromebook, as well as professionals who have long relied on Windows to upgrade to Chrome OS when they realize that their laptop to $ 1,000 is excessive.

Google has played the game along with Chrome OS and its efforts are just beginning to bear fruit. It is very likely that in a few years, Chromebooks will be considered one of the major successes of the company.

NEXT: How to enable developer mode on a Chromebook