Get Real, Google. The Pixel Is Too Pricey

I cannot help but wonder if Google has gone mad. Is it April 1? Nope. Am I dreaming? I doubt it. Then what's going on?

I'm talking about the new $1,299 Google Chromebook, dubbed the Pixel. It is nothing more than a souped-up dumb terminal. This idea is fine—in fact, I recently praised it—but that was when it cost around $250.

Was there some irrational demand for a pricey cloud computer? Were the Google executives hounded because the regular Chromebooks were "too damn cheap"? When did that ever become the tech lament?

Oh, and let's make this more ludicrous by discarding the trend toward 16-by-9 aspect ratio and using 3-by-2 so we can look both weird and clunky, too. It also has a touch screen for some unknown reason. Even if you hacked the device and made it a Linux box, it would still be too expensive.

I must be missing something. I can get an incredibly powerful ultrabook for less money. And if you want this thing to hook directly to LTE, it costs $1,449. I can hook to LTE with my ultrabook via tethering for free.

I figure something must be up. Google has habitually made wise decisions, so what could this lunacy really be all about? I have some ideas.

1. Test – This could be a pure marketing test to see how many idiots are out there. Perhaps it is to build a "suckers" mailing list. Anyone who buys this device has to be on that list.

2. Honeypot – Perhaps Google is trying to trick Microsoft, Apple, or Lenovo into believing there is a market for this product. Ford, some years back, similarly showed a prototype of a six-door SUV to bait GM.

3. Executive Delight – There is always the possibility that this was some executive's idea. One guy really likes the Chrome OS and the odd aspect ratio. There will be a limited number made for a few executives. Every so often, a company will do this for some insiders, no matter what it costs the company to develop.

4. Silicon Valley Insanity – Over the years, numerous network-attached terminals and cloud computers have come and mostly gone because they were overpriced compared with a more powerful PC. This never made sense to me. Now I must conclude there is something in the water that allows this to happen over and over. Move the company to Wyoming before it is too late!

5. Someone Lost a Bet – Someone lost a Super Bowl bet and had to humiliate the company with this exact device.

6. Blame Microsoft – Some spy from Microsoft managed to sneak into the company. Perhaps Larry Page was replaced with a body double. This would explain his inability to speak for a month or so. It wasn't Larry and his voice would have betrayed him. Someone should try and pull off Larry's face and see what happens.

7. Corporate Brain Hiccup – It was a moment of complete and utter corporate insanity.

This last option seems like the probable answer. That tells me that the company has been filled up with Yes Men because someone along the way should have stopped this idea from becoming reality.