The forgotten Chromebook that started it all

Google didn’t even call the first Chromebook a “Chromebook.” The Cr-48 had no interesting design and no bright logos – it wasn’t even designed to be a product you could buy. Instead, it was a portal to a big new idea about computers. In this week’s episode of Version History, The Verge’s Nilay Patel and MKBHD’s Marques Brownlee join David Pierce to help explain the history of ChromeOS and Chromebooks, and discuss whether Google’s approach to computer hardware was the right one. [Media: This has been an exciting season of Version History, as we’ve been exploring the most iconic school tech. Last week’s episode explored Nicholas Negroponte’s One Laptop Per Child XO-1 and his goals for a global distribution. We’ve also talked to the lead game designer of The Oregon Trail and learned why everyone had to own a TI graphing calculator. If you missed these episodes, check out them out below: * The Version History podcast feed * The Version History YouTube channel * Our TikTok and Instagram accounts If you’re a Verge subscriber, you can also get access to Version History (and all our other podcasts) with no ads. All you have to do is visit your account settings. Version History has been nominated for a Signal Award! You can vote to help us win here. If you want to know more about Cr-48 history, here are some links to get you started: * From The New York Times: “Chromebook From Samsung Has Its Head in the Cloud” * From PCMag: “The Google Chrome OS CR-48 Notebook: Hands-On” * From Ars Technica: “Nothing but ’Net: hands-on with the Cr-48 Chrome OS laptop”