If you agree that every year dependence on software / systems to perform everyday tasks increases, and that every year software / systems dependability decreases, the outlook is discouraging.

No mystery. Look on Hunter Biden's laptop.

Possibly naively, I'd always thought the #! ChromeOS differentiator is security. Is that not, or no longer, the case?

(palms forehead) Of course! So obvious. Why did the so-called experts not realize immediately?

Their travel-time estimates for any Metro are wildly optimistic & have been for years. From an Android device, try finding a "feedback" page to tell that. You'll need persistence & determination. "Putting the user first"?

IIUC social-media posts are already being used as predictors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

What "Putting the User First" looks like in the real world.

As soon as I saw the sentence about making use of commercial networks in addition to DoD I started pondering all the ways this could go horribly wrong. If you accept the gloomy premise of "Murphy's Law", it would only be a question of "when".

"It's OK to love your job. Just don't expect it to love you back." If experience has shown you that layoffs don't necessarily correlate to an employee's ability or effort, why would you feel "engaged" to the degree your employer would like?

A piHole looks ever more compelling.

I worked for a big tech company that took computer security very seriously & reckoned they had trouble finding enough good people to do it. Last year even they laid off some of their specialists. STM breaches are now so common & frequent that "reputational damage" is no longer a concern. It may be felt "cheaper" to offer the usual insincere apologies & pay for some credit monitoring than to spend the money required to try to achieve effective security.

I concur. Also a grizzled, but now retired, computing vet. Speed, simplicity and security are compelling advantages, not just for recommendations to family and relatives. ChromeOS can be used professionally. I know, because I did for @ a dozen years, in preference to available Mac or Linux notebooks.

My (MegaCorp) employers encourage people to speak-up, and promise no retaliation. After decades of observation, this seems more like a) PC Cant, b) a way to identify "trouble makers", as retaliation certainly occurs.