Chrome

I should have something profound to say about my first excursion back to my childhood home after 6 months of living in the so-called real world. I am sure I would have some deep, brooding thoughts brought on by delayed flights and sharing a single bathroom with four other people for nine days except that, upon my arrival home this... morning at 2am, there was a nondescript box sitting peacefully on my doorstep.

I had not ordered anything, you see, so I really had no idea what it was. Well, I did have an idea, but it was a long shot and I didn't want to get my hopes up. Google, however, decided to send my a glorious little Cr-48 to beta-test ChromeOS and its hardware. The excitement for this new toy sort-of blew away anything else I might have been feeling for the time being. New electronics! Some of the best industrial design I've ever had the pleasure of owning! New and exciting technologies that may-or-may-not prove to be important. I love living on the cutting edge.

Of course, with everything that's happened in the last 24 hours, I have to think I'm going to get run over by a bus. Neither flight was canceled though both were delayed, but even then the flight from Chicago wasn't delayed so far that I missed my connection in New York. All the checked bags made it through the trip unscathed, and the trip home was simple enough (albeit decidedly expensive). And, after a day of excellent travel-luck, I got this. I think I may hide away for fear of the inevitable bad that will soon enter my life,

This keyboard will take a bit of getting used to. My biggest gripe is the lack of an 'end' key, something I tend to use somewhat regularly when writing. The chicklet-style keys are strange to type on for now after years of conditioning to the long stroke of mechanical and membrane keys, and the comparatively long stroke of scissor keys. The spacing is lovely, it's just a matter of learning the little quirks.

I'm not a fan of the trackpad at the moment. It is gigantic and offset to the right side of the palmrest. As a result, I keep accidentally bumping it with my right hand while typing and causing the cursor to freak out. I also need to learn not to rest my hand on the trackpad while attempting to mouse, but that will come with time. The pad requires quite a bit of force to click, but tap-to-click is an option and I like it better that way. Multitouch seems nice and responsive, though I am mourning the loss of a middle-click - a vital action for my Chrome workflow.

I really should be sleeping as I have to wake up tomorrow and shop to prepare for a New Year's Eve party. I also have to return to the working world come Monday, and I fear that readjusting to that sleep schedule will be... painful to say the least.

I'm sure I'll continue to review the Cr-48. Hell, it's giving me a chance to live out my fantasy of being a technology journalist - of course I'm going to write about it.