Helping those who help themselves

Culture | February 22nd, 2017

Starting out in computing may seem to be a daunting task for seniors or those approaching senior-dom, especially if you have no previous experience with computers. If you wish to join or catch up with the computing world, you can do it cheaply with a small laptop. One possibility for beginning computer equipment is the Chromebook. Here is the definition of a Chromebook:

A Chromebook is a laptop running the Linux-based Chrome OS as its operating system. The devices were originally designed to be used primarily while connected to the Internet, with most applications and data residing in "the cloud.”

The original Chromebook was an example of a thin client. A thin client means that there is very little software that resides on the Chromebook, relying on the internet to provide all of the functionality that the average user needs. However, since its original release, Google Apps (Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Slides) were rewritten to run in offline mode, and Android Apps are being made available on Chromebooks, which makes the platform more general-purpose than a typical thin client.

It is very important to note here that Chromebooks do NOT use the Windows operating system (OS). Actual everyday operation of the Chromebook is very similar to Windows, though.

Most of the commercial software you see advertised either locally or online is for Windows. So what software do you buy for a Chromebook? Since the Linux-based system was designed by Google, they have also written many pieces of software to run on the Chromebook, as I mentioned above.

The nice part about the Google software is that most of it is free! Another benefit is it is not necessary to back up your files! What! No backup!!! Yes, it is true. All files on the Chromebook are automatically backed up to the cloud, assuming that you are connected to the Internet.

Samsung has come up with its own Chromebook called the Chromebook Pro. It is due out this week with a cheap and expensive processor. The cheap processor is $449 and the expensive one is $549. There are some other differences. Do your due diligence.

I am not suggesting that you run right out and buy a Chromebook. There are other considerations when getting into computing. How about the size of the screen? I use two 27 inch monitors on my machine at home because I don't like the smaller laptop screen. I also prefer the mouse over the mouse pad on the laptops. You may feel the opposite. These are some things that you have to experiment with on your own.

The laptop function includes being able to move it around the house, the city, or the world if you wish. The desktop stays in one place.

I type blogs, web sites, this column, and all of my emails on a better than average keyboard on my desktop machine. The keyboard on many laptops like the Chromebook are what the industry calls a three-quarter size keyboard. The keys are smaller and closer together. My hands seem to bump into each other when I use that keyboard.

So now you can get started on computing based on your own research. You can help yourself.

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