Remember those "Get a Mac" commercials from a long time ago, the ones featuring Justin Long as a Mac and John Hodgman as a [Windows] PC? Many of the arguments in favor of the Mac were flawed, and so it goes with Google's new ad with Bill Nye promoting Chromebooks over Windows laptops.
In case you are wondering, the reason you haven't made the switch is fear! That's actually right—I'm rightfully afraid I won't be able to play all of the same games on a Chromebook, or render videos and edit photos with comparable performance to my Windows-based desktop with 32GB of RAM.
Of course, the premise is a tongue-and-cheek play on Bill Nye as the Science Guy. He explains how parts of our brains—amygdala and prefrontal cortex—are at odds, but there are some very real (and very wrong) claims and insinuations.
Early in the ad, Bill Nye points out how Chromebooks boot up in as few as 6 seconds, while the other (a Windows PC) "takes forever." Maybe in the days of old, but pairing Windows 10 with a solid state drive results in quick start up times (if you even turn your PC off at night).
Bill Nye also points out that Chromebooks have built-in virus protection, while "the other...should be quarantined." To the less savvy, this could insinuate that Windows PCs lack built-in virus protection, but of course they do have it. In fact, the most recent analysis by AV-Test, an independent testing laboratory, found that Windows Defender is among the best antivirus solutions.
He's right about the "constant updates [and] patches" though, and the duct-taped bumper to a car with a "WNDWS" license plate is pretty funny. But this is marred with another broad stroke claim.
"Not to mention it takes forever to start up, and it won't be long before it freezes, or worse!" Bill Nye says as the car falls apart in a cloud of smoke. "But when you switch to Chromebook, which starts up fast and updates automatically with no interruptions, you don't have to worry about any of that."
Here's the full ad. Let us know in the comments section if you'll be trading in your Windows PC for a Chromebook after watching it:
