This article is part of a 30-day Pixel C Challenge by Chip Colandreo. Read all the articles in the series here: Pixel C Challenge.
In partnership with Chrome Story, this is the first in a series of posts about my experience working for a month with the Pixel C as my only computer. To date, I’ve been a dedicated Chrome OS user and an equally dedicated fan of all things Google.
Why am I doing this to myself? There should be a hotline for people about to engage in behavior like this. I’m going to spend the next 30 days of my working life exclusively on Google’s Pixel C convertible tablet, a device many reviewers claim is about as productive as a rusty spoon. Why would I do this, exactly? For one, because I can. I’m a magazine publisher in Central Florida who spends most of his day pushing around plain-text documents. I do a fair share of photo editing and uploading too, but the heavy Photoshop, layout, and design work is handled by my art director and other members of my team. I don’t even own an active Photoshop or InDesign license, and I don’t do any high-end video or audio production either. That workflow makes me an ideal candidate for “thin-client” operating systems like Chrome OS and, for the purposes of this experiment, Android.
I’m also doing this because Google told me I can. At the unveiling of the Pixel C in September 2015, Google clearly pitched the C as a productivity machine. The tablet and its “optional” keyboard attachment were marketed as a package deal designed to turn the content-consumption-oriented tablet into a productive laptop replacement. The concept looked great on stage, but it fell flat once the device reached reviewers. The early problems were twofold: at launch, the Pixel C’s software was so riddled with bugs that the device was basically unusable, and Android, the Pixel C’s chosen OS, was judged ill-suited for real work and genuine productivity. The first problem has been mostly fixed via a recent software update. With that out of the way, I’m putting the second issue to the test.
Here are the ground rules: I’m beginning my experiment today, Leap Day, February 29th, the only day crazy enough for an endeavor like this. For the next calendar month, I will not use or even turn on my regular full-time computer (an original Chromebook Pixel) or any other laptop/desktop device. While away from my desk, I’ll continue to use my Android phone, a Nexus 5X. If a work-related task can’t be done on the Pixel C, I won’t do it; I’ll either find an acceptable workaround or ask/pay someone else to handle it. I’ll catalog my experience here on Chrome Story with regular posts throughout the month, highlighting the good and the bad of life with one of Google’s most confounding — and most intriguing — products.
What I expect to expect
Despite my snarky headline, I expect to enjoy my month-long exile into Android productivity. I’m one of the dozens of intrepid Google fans who purchased the Pixel C at launch. It has quickly become one of my favorite pieces of tech, and it has rarely left my hands since I took delivery on Christmas Day. I love it. The C has restored my faith in Android as a tablet OS. As a productivity OS, I’ll need a bit more convincing — and that’s partly why I want to give it a fair shot.
I’ve already accomplished quite a bit of “real work” on the Pixel C. I’ve edited and processed several articles for my magazines (my primary job) and edited the photos that go with them. My team uses Slack and email to communicate and Google Docs/Sheets to manage content and advertisers across our three magazines. We also maintain a file server at our physical office, which I can access from the C.
But just because the Pixel C is capable of doing everything I need to earn my living doesn’t mean the experience will be enjoyable. That’s the real goal of my 30-day experiment — not so much to determine if this is possible, but whether it’s something I, and by extension you, would want to do.
I hope the results are positive, because I also expect to enjoy working, playing, and basically running my digital life on a single device — one with legitimate all-day battery life, to boot. Gaming on the Pixel C is a joy, and I’ve spent countless hours battling up the leaderboards in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes and conquering the world in RISK Big Screen Edition. So far, the bill of goods Google sold me at the C’s reveal has held true. In the middle of a RISK match, if I’ve suddenly needed to bang out a lengthy email or Hangouts message, I haven’t needed to open my Chromebook for the job. Instead, I’ve popped on the Pixel C keyboard and gone about my business without missing a beat, then reattached (or detached and set aside) the keyboard and gone right back to gaming. The Pixel C is also my favorite YouTube viewer of all time.
I do expect a few things to bother me, and I’ll only touch on them here, leaving the bulk of my complaints for future posts. I bet I’ll miss backlit keys a lot. I also think I’ll find the C’s 10.2″ display too small for my liking as a full-time screen. I don’t expect to be much slower accomplishing tasks on the Pixel C, but I do expect the difference in speed, however small, to be a source of irritation.
Either way, it’ll be fun, and I hope you’re willing to come along for the ride. Expect my first letter from the bleeding edge in the coming days, and I want to extend a special thanks to Dinsan Francis, owner of Chrome Story, for giving me a platform to share my experience.
I genuinely believe devices like the iPad Pro and the Pixel C represent the future of personal computing. There’s no time like the present to embrace that future, and I’ll be all in for the next several weeks, at least. Wish me luck.
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