Chromebooks are the way forward for Digital Marketers

As a web designer who has only briefly glanced towards the world of digital marketing (for fear of being overwhelmed) I feel like having a lightweight device with a fantastic battery and a myriad of Google sanctioned apps takes a lot of the stress and worry out of getting the right set-up. Having access to the Android version of Google Analytics makes me very happy, and the Addons available for Google Docs, make writing copy a dream.

There were a few cases where I expected the Chromebook to falter. For example: I didn’t expect to be able to do any real image editing on a sub £200 device that runs on a mobile chipset; so imagine my surprise when installing the Linux Container (Crostini) gave me access to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) an open source alternative to Photoshop. It’s worth noting that all modern Chromebooks will have the ability to install the Linux Container, and this opens up an entire library of fantastic applications for you to install.

This isn’t to say that Chromebooks will replace your main work machine; although there are cases where I can imagine it would, There’s a shortage of applications that a power user might need. Chromebooks are not (currently) a viable platform for things like Video Editing, or Gaming. The low powered processors that Chromebook often ship with (especially in the budget ranges) are just not powerful enough to handle really intensive media creation tasks.

With all of that being said, if you’re a digital marketer, chances are you don’t need something super powerful to write your copy, and create graphics for Insta and Facebook, and if that is the case, then a low powered Chromebook with a 20 hour battery life will be every you ever need, as long as you can adapt to the Chrome OS way of doing things.

My foray back into the strange and still somewhat new world of Chromebooks, has enabled me to approach Digital Marketing in the best and most clear-cut way possible. Having to learn something new means that I’m not falling into any old or bad habits, and my experience is so much better for it. I dare say that I love using my Chromebook far more than my big powerful gaming rig, it’s fast, intuitive, and fun to use.

Chromebooks offer something new and interesting. The advent of Web Apps that become more and more complex by the day mean that a lot of the computing tasks that would have required expensive hardware can be done within a web browser. Best of all, I can easily work in some of my favourite cafes.

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