Cheaper for a Reason

School Chromebooks awaiting repair in NYC (WSJ)

In 2020 I bought an Acer Chromebook for web-surfing at public WiFi spots. In 2022 I found that there was a good reason the 2½-year-old $175 Chromebook had been so cheap: updates were free only for five years from the date of manufacture:

Why did I get only 2½ years of software updates? Because when I bought it from Amazon in 2020 it had been sitting in inventory since 2018, according to the sticker on the back.

Now schools are learning my sad lesson on a much larger scale:

Low-price, easy-to-use Chromebooks were once a boon to cost-conscious schools. Educators say the simple laptops are no longer a good deal.

Models have shot up in price in the past four years. Constant repairs add to the cost. Google imposes expiration dates, even if the hardware still works. This year, Google ceases support for 13 models. Next year, 51 models will expire...

Chromebooks have no second life. When they expire, they become e-waste. By contrast, Macs and PCs can run apps even after their native software is no longer supported. They can even be repurposed into Chromebook-like devices.

Apple still provides free updates to my 2014 MacBook Air. Though it cost $1,000 at the time, the MacBook was a much better value.