@wackoae You don't get it. This is not for consumers. A minimum of 10 Chromebooks must be rented in the $20/$28 monthly plan. This is for companies and education institutions so your calculation has other implications:

Many companies and education institutions areas would be well served with a simpler machine that has software upgrades and hardware support covered in a $20/$28 month plan. Less IT infra-structure needed, less software and hardware to support, less software licenses to pay for etc. The price includes software upgrades and hardware support (by the way, where are the software and hardware maintenance costs in your calculation?).

Defect? Get a new Chromebook, and since it is stateless all your work is there, ready in minutes.

The point of paying $20/$28 month is to reduce hardware, software and maintenance costs that otherwise would be expended in full-blown PCs that, in most cases, don't need to be full-blown PCs. Virtualization will give access to extras, but most PCs are underused anyway. Those can be simpler and cheaper in many cases, and those cases are perfect for the Chromebook concept.