[cmccabe]

The ChromeBook has been explicitly designed and marketed as a low-cost alternative for people who just want to access the web. Most ChromeBooks are around $100-300.

Windows RT machines are usually between $300-$600, and were marketed as "Windows" machines, which brought with it a set of expectations that Windows RT machines were not able to meet. People assumed that "it runs Windows" meant that it ran their apps, but that just wasn't true in this case.

I am aware that there are some ChromeBooks that are really expensive, and Microsoft introduced desperation price cuts at certain points, but that's the basic story.