To Hell With Chromebooks

Update - Announced at Google I/O 2016, Google is officially going after Windows on the desktop, with a Chromebook update that will allow newer Chromebooks to run Android Apps. In other words, holiday season 2016 Chromebooks should be able to run Android Apps: http://www.networkworld.com/article/3073473/android/google-i-o-2016-every-android-app-really-is-coming-to-chrome.html
However, the following condemnation still applies to all Chromebooks too old for the new update (and to all Chromebooks until such time as this Google I/O promise materializes):

I hereby offer my complete and absolute condemnation of the Chrome Operating System (Chrome OS, and the Chromebooks which are all contaminated by the Chrome OS.) I have tried and come close to making Chromebooks work for me for years now. The only thing they are good for is as stationary web browser terminals for users who are not gamers and who do not do web development: senior citizens.

There are two ways to use a Chromebook, 1st is how it is shipped, exactly as it is out of the box. 2nd is in "developer mode." In developer mode there are numerous hacks you can do to improve the Chromebook that typically fix the Chromebook by allowing you to run operating systems that are not Chrome OS. However, once your Chromebook is in developer mode, there will always be a self-destruct screen, that every time the Chromebook is turned on, will provide simple instructions presented as direct emergency orders - just two key strokes - that result in the Chromebook being completely wiped, deleting all data and operating systems off the Chromebook and reinstalling Chrome OS. All the work you put into installing the other operating systems - and all the work you haven't backed up yet that you could do with that alternative operating system - gone forever.

But aren't gamers or web developers skilled enough to avoid pressing two keys that destroy their workstations? That question presents a very specific lifestyle - one without children, with only highly computer literate friends, one without significant others - only making sense if you have completely sacrificed your social life and family life for your career. Quite frankly it reflects very poorly on Google corporate culture. Thanks to the self-destruct screen me and my friends have lost dozens of hours of work on Chromebooks. "Developer mode" is a non-starter, worse-than-Microsoft/Windows crippling crapware.

But if I was a Real Man, wouldn't I be able to perform all my gaming and web development needs through the browser, on the cloud? There are two problems with this sentiment: 1st the assumption of universal wireless data access, and 2nd the crapware nature of Chrome OS.

Even in the Seattle Metropolitan area there is not complete 3-G or 4-G data coverage geographically. There is nothing even remotely like universal WiFi. Unless you are at a coffee shop, library or home, insofar as internet access is required to make Chorme OS useful, your Chromebook is a brick. Again this assumption of universal wireless access suggests a very insular, privileged culture at Google.

However the real crux of the problem is that the Chrome OS is complete trash even with internet access. Nevermind the fact that Google could have had Chrome OS running Android apps long ago but chose not to, you can't even get the Unity 3D engine to run in the web browser, making the Chrome browser on Chrome OS far less functional for grade school age children than the Chrome browser on Mac, Windows, or Linux. The same is true for flash games in general.

But it gets so much worse. Want to FTP something to your web server or save an image at 150 DPI for use in a PDF? Good luck with that. You might be able to find an expensive 3rd party service that will allow you access to their servers that will allow them to do it for you, but quite frankly if I wanted to spend a handful of cash for every piece of software I need to use, I would just get a Mac. Nothing but condemnation is justified for this being a "feature" on a supposedly budget computer.

This blog is named after Google's failure to support their projects after suckering developers and authors to sink many of their own hours into the projects personally (see "Google Knol.") However Chrome OS and Chromebooks are a project they have allowed to go on far too long - it should have never reached the point where anyone was actually selling Chromebooks in the first place. The fact that Chrome OS doesn't run Android apps, its crippled to the point of not allowing FTP or Unity 3D in the browser, and that the developer mode attacks developers, Chromebooks are a complete betrayal of trust on the part of Google to its customers.

Financial Success

I don't define my success in life by financial success, because I have been down that path before and am fully aware of how painful those self-inflicted wounds are. But for young-of-heart who do, understand that there are two rival definitions of financial success: "career" vs. "financial independence."

Career

The career based definition of success basically requires someone to make at least $75,000 per year before they reach a threshold where they don't need more money:
http://www.inc.com/news/articles/2010/09/study-says-$75,000-can-buy-happiness.html

For example, if you are making $35,000 per year, even in a low cost of living area, you easily get into a cost spiral where you don't have enough money. If you don't live in a place where you can get to work, church, school and entertainment without a car then that quickly begins to add up. If you are in a place with harsh weather, you may need an even more expensive vehicle, etc.

I know one guy who makes $200,000 per year and supposedly can't afford to pay his own $2,000 per month health insurance. That's shockingly high health insurance costs, but what is he doing with that other $175,000 per year besides paying taxes? This problem of never having enough money leads us to the question of frugality.

Financial Independence

The frugality definition of success says that though financial success is defined by financial independence, the way to get there is primarily to control spending rather than try to achieve career heights. The general game plan is to get the best job you can and spend nearly nothing an anything for 10 years saving it all, and then from that time forward you will have enough money to live on having become used to not spending anything hardly at all. Mr. Money Mustache is the cheerleader of that movement:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/04/08/mr-money-mustaches-own-story/

There are other "life hack" ways people achieve financial independence, such as living in 3+ generational households or becoming successful small business owners or a hundred other things, but all those life hacks are highly dependent on frugality.

A side note is there are no get-rich-quick schemes that work (besides Mr. Money Mustache.) Multi-Level Marketing NEVER works without making you yourself a criminal, and nor do other pyramid or ponzi schemes or any other get-rich-quick schemes.

Conclusion

IF you are going to define your success in life by financial success - and I strongly recommend that you don't - but if you do - you must chose one of the two above paths. You either make plans to make $75,000+ per year, or you make radical frugality plans, or you plan for (self-defined) failure.

For those of you who are haunted by that inner voice constantly pushing you to move forward, check out this advice from the Mustache himself:
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/05/21/embracing-the-nagging-voice-of-success/

No, it is not just you who feels the drive to succeed (financially or otherwise) so strongly that it is uncomfortable. Welcome to life:

Jon

WARNING: This is a highly personal post about a suicide.

I have had a very easy life. The worst thing that has ever happened to me was one of my best friends son, age 14, committed suicide. The one year anniversary of this was in January, and I didn't really know how to blog about this and how it has effected me over the last year. The only thing I have said about it publicly is that I believe violence is justified when someone is defending themselves against a bully.

I never thought any one of the following changes that has happened in my life since January 2015 was due primarily because of what happened. However it was in in each case a secondary reason I consciously considered:

1. I moved back to my home town with my kids in tow. We have a much more laid back lifestyle here and I can spend more time with them.
2. I was asked to take a volunteer position with a church to help with boys aged 12 to 16, which I accepted, where again I am involved directly with my own kids. I make sure they have the philosophical and religious training to understand the nature of virtue, and that striving to become better people does not mean inflicting unnecessary suffering on ourselves.
3. Though I encourage my kids to pursue things they are interested in, I take it very easy on what expectations I have for them. I encourage them to take their time, enjoy life, and to take life at their own pace, and to not stress out over grades and other deadlines people try to set for you.
4. I have gone out of my way to set a good example to enjoy life myself, and to make sure my kids understand that is what I am doing. Life is too short to waste suffering. 
5. I have started a (poorly written) novel that allows me to vent a lot of the frustrations I have about the conditions in society which contribute to male youth suicide.

This is not a happy ending. It is an attempt to prevent my kids, one in particular, from suffering Jonathan's fate. I have learned how important it is to focus on family and enjoy life itself, but the price was too steep, I could have learned this another way.

A few words about Jonathan. I knew him since he was born, but I only spent a handful of days with him each year. He was a unique and impressive person. He erred on the side of kindness and bravery. He loved animals, and he had way with them that reminded me of Tarzan. He would be the one climbing up on top of something taller than anyone else would dare climb, just to make some absurd declaration so that everyone would laugh. He would be the one making secret forts for the other children to enjoy. He was the most fun loving person I ever met. The world will always be less without him.