The nice man in the video has no idea what he has just done. Google has pitched their Chromebook Pixel against Apple's MacBook Air and iPad. Now Jonathan Ive is paid lots of money for a good reason. Because he is one of the few designers who uses common sense to design products. The person who has designed the Chromebook Pixel does not have common sense.

Now the Chromebook is not a bad product. It's just that it has so many flaws that it renders itself obsolete. The Chromebook Pixel has one of the best displays ever fitted to a laptop. The 12.8" screen is also touch sensitive, so you can operate it both via touch and the trackpad. Yes, the body of the laptop is made of plastic, and it is thick and the protruding hinge on the back isn't something you'll want to look at but it is light. It has a fast i5 processor, and decent amount of RAM. It also has a terabyte of online storage which is really very nice. But Google has affixed a price tag of $1,200 on it. And that changes everything.



The Chromebook Pixel doesn't have an operating system. It uses a Linux based OS called Chrome OS which is heavily dependant on web apps. It is basically consists of Google Chrome, the web browser, and web apps you can download from the Chrome Web Store. So in essence, the Chromebook Pixel is actually a very expensive web browser. And here lies the problem. If Google had given it Windows 8, or even Ubuntu, the price could still be justified. But if you just want to surf the web, why not use an iPad? An iPad is for $500, and the iPad Mini $330. The iPad is one of the most complete devices you can buy. With every developer on the planet flocking to code apps for the Apple ecosystem, buying an iPad is a no-brainer if you just want something to surf the web with, or read magazines, or indulge in a bit of gaming. Even if you attach a bluetooth keyboard, it's still a cheaper and more practical option than the Chromebook Pixel. It really is hard to make a case for the Chromebook Pixel.

Even if you pitch the Chromebook Pixel against the more expensive MacBook Air, it'll still end in a bloodbath. The MacBook Air with Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, is a powerful little thing. The beautiful hardware, and that sensational trackpad, all for $999 makes it a bargain compared to the Chromebook Pixel.

Apple did not fit a touch screen to the Air for a good reason. They found that users did not want to touch the vertical screen as it simply wasn't a comfortable posture. It wasn't natural or intuitive. Also, the hardware for it would complicate production, and would jack up the prices. It just does not make sense to put a touchscreen in a laptop.

It's hard to believe that the company which came up with Google Glass tries to crash Apple's party with the Chromebook Pixel. Although the Google Glass will also retail for about $1,500 it is brilliantly thought out product which will probably become commonplace in a few years time.