The next generation runs on Google thanks to Chromebooks

Forget TP and baking yeast... The most in-demand pandemic necessity is a Chromebook. Chromebooks, for the Mac-centric among us, are low-cost laptops that use Google's Chrome operating system and apps. The ~$300 laptops are made by computer OGs like HP and Lenovo. Now that students are schooling from home, Chromebooks are quickly becoming the unofficial laptop of COVID.

• 5 months: How long some people are waiting to receive Chromebooks, according to a report from The Information.
• +242%: Best Buy's sales nearly 3X'd last quarter, partly thanks to the fact that Chromebooks were constantly flying off the virtual shelves (still sold out).

Don't judge a Chromebook by its cover... While Apple's sleek MacBooks get a lot of the limelight, Chromebooks are winning in terms of volume. From May to June:

• Chromebooks made up nearly 10% of all computers shipped globally — that's a 2 percentage-point bump from the same quarter a year ago.
• Apple’s Mac OS laptops made up just 7%. Microsoft's Windows OS still dominated with an 83% share of shipments.