I got an EOL Chromebook for $50, dropped Mint on it & use it to run a 3D printer instead of a raspberry pi.

I used to have one as my primary work device for a few years. Honestly, it was surprisingly usable once you find online analogs for all typical things you do on a computer.

The biggest issue is you'd be using a free online service for some application, and then they start charging per month or the company goes under and you lose your work, so you have to keep finding new services and exporting your work to a common format that won't disappear to a central file system like Drive diligently.

And isn’t rendered unusable by a “hole drilled by a pen”. The person comparing a desk to a Chromebook is making a ridiculous comparison.

Not even that, but they are simple and repairable. I remember we had these sleigh-style desks (same idea except the seat was one-piece molded plastic) that were a total of four parts (two rails, the seat and the desk top) aside from bolts/hardware, and they had a graveyard of parts to replace pieces as needed. And those desk were tough as all hell.