Since 2011, I’ve used Chromebooks almost exclusively at home. The reason was simple: I was thoroughly fed up with Windows PCs—endless updates, external driver headaches, and the constant burden of installing third-party antivirus software and firewalls. It was far too convoluted and time-consuming. Beyond that, it became clear early on that Microsoft wasn't particularly fond of the internet back then.
Google was twenty years younger and immediately understood that the future belonged to the web and the cloud. For our team, the introduction of Shared Documents was a massive leap forward because we were already working remotely. While traditional setups required emailing Word files back and forth—resulting in absolute version chaos whenever three or four team members collaborated—Google allowed us to edit a single live document together seamlessly.
A Chromebook is browser-based—basically everything runs inside the Chrome browser. That makes things simpler, clearer and, in the end, faster. No matter which computer I use: I log in, and my entire working environment is right there. So it’s not just about the hardware. It’s about the ecosystem Google has built around its Linux-based operating system. My first Chromebook was a 14-inch Acer with a touchscreen. You couldn’t even get one in Germany back then, so I bought it in a shop in Norwich, England. The English keyboard was perfect for me, because about 90 percent of my communication was in English at the time anyway. What started as Gmail on my own domain has grown into today’s Google Workspace—a development that shows how consistently the tools for digital thinkers and users are being brought together.
What do you take away from this thought?
Thank you. Every answer fits – take it with you into your day. Would you like to share something yourself?
