This, to me, is exactly what is wrong with them. They are teaching people complacency, to be consumers and not have any involvement. Ironically, it's much like how TV used to be before the emergence of the internet and PVRs forced it to change - people have to accept what's handed down to them and discovering features, experimenting and DIY is discouraged if not actively worked against. A classic example is google's steady elimination of anything resembling user choice - if you want something of theirs to work a way other than their imposed default, your options shrink practically every month, as does your privacy.
People who are "scared of computers" are a rapidly dying breed, and designing a product to appeal to them seems counterintuitive compared to encouraging emerging users to experiment, hack and learn.
The best thing about chromebooks is that they can be turned into a cheap low-end linux system.
I considered buying a netbook at one time (decided against it, but after some thought); I've never seriously considered a chromebook appropriate for my own use in its intended use case, and only briefly before discarding the idea as something to root and install linux onto.
This excellent Register piece may need updating: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/01/goodbye_netbooks/
Man. I was so happy when netbooks came along. I'd wanted something like a netbook ever since I got onto the Internet. I suspect my next laptop will be a Chromebook with Xubuntu installed.
