One night last December, I walked out to my car carrying some recently cleaned clothes and a Chromebook. I set my Chromebook on top of my car while I was hanging up the clothes. As I set the computer down, I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be funny if I drove away with the Chromebook still on top of my car? That would be the Googler equivalent of leaving a coffee mug on a car roof.” I think you know where this is going.
I drove to dinner, and after I parked, I looked for my Chromebook to hide it away. I couldn’t find it. I knew what had happened. I actually never found the Chromebook that night, but a few days later I was notified that a coworker had found it and turned it in. The bottom had a bunch of scratches, but I didn’t see any cracks.
And the top didn’t look bad at all:
But when I opened it up, I saw this:
Busted. For those who are curious, I’ve documented the entire recovery procedure below:
- Turn in broken Chromebook to the Chrome OS team. Mention something about a “durability test.”
- Receive new Chromebook.
- Sign in.
Total data loss: Zero.
Total pride loss: A bit.
Steps 1 and 2 are admittedly Googler-specific, but Chromebooks can be really inexpensive, so the financial loss is a lot less than it’d be with a different laptop. Overall, I’d say that if you can, avoid driving with your laptop on top of your car. There’s a good chance that it will get damaged. But if you do have to do it, use a Chromebook. Just don’t throw it in a river.