Michael Dell has definitely
provided us with a few
token quotes before, but his latest spurts over at a Silicon Valley dinner sponsored by the Churchill Club are amongst the best. For starters, he didn't hesitate to exclaim that "a fair amount of customers" have been unhappy with the small screens and weak innards found in
netbooks, which is definitely a perplexing comment to make when you're making ends meet (at least in part) by moving
Minis. Of course, it sounds like the honest-to-goodness truth, but we digress. The money quote came when asked about
Windows 7, as he noted that if "you get the latest processor technology and you get Windows 7 and Office 2010, you will love your PC again; we actually have not been able to say that
for a long time." We're not trying to read too deeply between the lines, but that definitely sounds like a gentle jab at
Vista, does it not? Hit the read link for the full schpeel.
posted October 14th 2009 1:58PM
If it weren't for the iPod (and to some extent the original iMac), he would have been right.
Dell's problem is that they became successful by pioneering an easily-copyable business model.
I'm actually pretty impressed by how they've managed to innovate over the years, turning the mid-range server market on its head.
telepheedian: Really? So what you're saying is that if he hadn't been completely and 100% wrong, he would have been right? That's very insightful of you. Let's not defend Dell's enormously stupid comments any more, okay?
telepheedian: No. Apple is already dead in essence. Macs are nothing but PCs now, and the Mac OS is unix based.
Being different was something mactards were proud of. And they still pretend to be different.
Yes, hobo, Macs are dead. That's why Apple's market cap is 6 times larger than Dell's. Because they're dead.
I'm not talking about the business side.
It's the Apple philosophy (lies, hypocrisy, smug, arrogance and a touch of deceit).
Yes, you hate Apple, we get it. But if you actually believe that Apple's philosophy is any of those things, you are a bona fide idiot. Furthermore, things like "arrogance" and "smug" are entirely your own warped perception. We've already established that you hate Apple for whatever ridiculous reason, so obviously you're going to see them as smug. You probably even think the fact that Apple advertises their own products is "arrogant" of them. How dare they try to sell their products!
That doesn't mean that anything you believe about them is actually true. You're just an Apple hater, and most Apple haters are not known for their keen observational skills or their ability to stay objective or their ability to reason, and you are certainly not doing anything to disprove that. Additionally you're entirely ignorant about Apple and their products, seeing as how you wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole, so you're really not the best type of person to be making judgements, are you?
I'd ask you to prove any of the things you accuse Apple of, but I know you can't. So you throw around a lot of libel that you can't prove and hope more people who hate Apple agree with you, because that makes you feel special. You probably don't get out of your mom's basement very often. :) As far as Apple being dead, good luck with that. People have been saying Apple is about to die for at least 25 years now, no reason for that to change, right?
If you were really unbiased, you'd have seen what I'm talking about now. Hell, I'll just mention them:
iPhone ads. Apple got sued for false advertising.
iPhone ads. "Not a watered down internet"
iPhone, Steve Jobs: It's a an iPod, a phone, and an "Internet communications device."
iPod touch, Steve Jobs: "The reason it didn't get a camera, is because it's a great gaming device"
He could at least say something like, "we didn't feel the need to", or "we couldn't get it ready on time" instead of spreading bs.
Steve Jobs: "We've always been shameless about stealing ideas", "What I don't like about Microsoft is their lack of innovation/ideas"
Talk about hypocrisy...
Comedian on stage at the Snow Leopard keynote: "How different windows 7 is from our OS". The fact that the company feels the need to put down competitors to promote their own stuff, and in such a douchey way, says a lot about them and the people that support them.
The "300" strong list of "innovations" they put out when Leopard was released. A load of baloney.
Snow Leopard deleting all your files. Way to go. Really, Macs ARE worth the extra money, they take care of all your work for you. What little work that can be done on macs that is.
Mac vs PC ads: The most smuggest ads ever known to mankind.
The biggest reason is what I mentioned earlier. I actually had some respect for them when their hardware and software actually was different. Not that they didn't have the arrogance they have today, but I was too young and stupid then to notice.
Bigger companies have tanked before and I hope Apple does too. The world will be a much better place without them. (I'm all for competition, just not a bunch of jackasses as competition).
A fresh example of first rate dickery from the Apple bosses:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/15/phil-schiller-on-windows-7-no-matter-how-you-look-at-it-its/
Those "weak innards found in netbooks" (mostly running XP) are more powerful than the laptops Dell sold when XP was new, and in fact, more powerful than many of Dell's laptops throughout XP's normal life. So, if Dell says netbooks are weak, they are also saying that half their product line from 2001 to 2006 was too weak.
How about a large screen, very weak innards in the very ridiculously over priced ADAMO. Shame on you Mr. Dell!!!!! lol
I think he hates netbook because of his giant hands. I mean look at the picture its huge..
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OK waiting for "that's what she said .."
I hope you're set in for a siege then, cause you aren't getting it out of us.
@TTSGEB
That's what she said.
Dear Mr. Dell
Let's try an spend less time knocking an OS and improving QA and Customer Support i'm tired of calling your support staff for tech support to be passed from one operator to another like an drunk college chick at an frat party.
Let's Get Your Shit Together.
Thanks and Good Night
I couldn't agree more - Dell's customer support, both on the sales/customer service as well as tech sides, has beome horrible. I had a pretty good experience with my last laptop 3 years ago, but I was trying to buy a netbook this time around, and it was terrible.
I'm so happy that Windows 7 is shaping up to be a solid product. I'm a web designer and I can't tell you how many customers I've come across in the last two years with brand new laptops running Windows XP and IE6. I have no idea how they're getting this combo on a new system but in every case they have been Dell laptops. Needless to say IE6 is a nightmare for web designers in it's own right, but the situation is ten times worse when you have to convince the customer in question that they're actually using IE6.
Just last week a client told me, "This is a new laptop with all the latest technologies. I don't need to update anything, I'm running IE8" Sure enough, it was Windows XP with IE6. Sigh.
Because IE8 is on the cutting edge of being CSS2 compliant ala 1998.
Making fun of Vista, funny comments coming from a company that thought putting Vista Home Basic onto machines running Celeron Processors and 512MB of RAM, that was a smart idea...its always a dumb idea to run a OS on a system that meets or barely meets the minimum requirments.
I actually read 'Our profit margins are highest on top of the range laptops pre-installed with the latest MS software'
Giant hands!
Is it just me, or does Michael Dell have somewhat, giant-ish, features in that photo? As though his massive hands could tear down factories and crush livestock?
Perhaps that's why he struggles with 90% netbook keyboards and 10" screens.
He's right though, netbooks are no replacement for a PC. They're an okay companion device, but even then they're not going to reach full value until someone make a good quality convertable tablet with stylus/multitouch for under $500 (£300 in real money). Preferably with a 128GB SSD and 24 hour battery life.
Want to really love your PC? Install XP and Office 2000.
Want to really, really love your PC? Continuously play videos of Jenna Haze on it.
Want to really,really love your pc? Make sure the curtains are closed.
Netbook generation is almost finished, the next generation of notebook (with a real cpu, i.e. not atom) are in the way, cost the same than most netbook and runs windows7 with aero. And, for the other side, the next generation of smartphones are kicking hard with the in-build keyboard (such the Nokia N800)
=)
your bubble is bursted, my friend. people want more portable devices. as netbooks get more powerful and cloud offerings get more robust, more and more people will migrate to a smaller footprint mobile device like netbooks.
these are the portable email/browser machines that people need for travel.
the only people buying true notebooks anymore are people that need more robust business applications on the go (very small demographic) and want to play crysis 5 on their notebook (again small demographic)
For most people, there are two kind of portable devices :
-devices that fit in a pocket.
and
-devices that fit in a backpack.
Netbook exist in the middle of them, it is too big for a pocket and it is too small for a notebook.
Dell did well dropping the line of netbook.
again, no one wants to carry a 8 lb notebook when the 3lb netbook does the same thing and lasts all day on one battery charge running atom/ion or tegra/snapdragon.
notebooks are dinosaurs and will only exist as a niche product in the coming years. everything from here on out will be smartphones/tablets/netbooks/MIDs. people will carry these around in the form factor that suits their needs. destinations will merely need a screen/keyboard peripheral for people to hook their portable to and use for full 1080p.
'Cause Vista with bloatware is worse than Win7 with bloatware Dells ship with. I think that's what he's trying to say.
One of the best things about Dell is that you don't have to get the bloatware...
Dell Netbooks are very expensive in comparison to many other brands on the market, I guess when you can't compete you badmouth the product and customer. Like we go buy a Netbook not knowing the screen is small and then get it home and become unhappy? paaalease
I've been using Vista for a little over a year and I recently tried going back to XP, problem is I forgot what a piece of crap XP is.
Damn, its like XP is deliberately trying to be a pain in the ass. Its rediculously complicated to install without a CD drive, the networking is inconsistent. Not even the damn Bluetooth drivers can be tweaked with much effort and 3rd party drivers to function as well as Vista does with just plug and play. Even though it is a lower powered machine, I think I'm going to install Vista because even if it works sluggishly, at least it works.
HAHAHAH jakem ~Vista was bad because Dell loaded bloatware on their machines~ HAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA
fuck michael dell.dell sucks.
Has anyone else notice Michael's disproportionally sized hands and head?
It isn't a jab just at Vista. Windows 7 is great and much better than Vista. But Vista was better than XP (yes, it really was. If you haven't ever taken the time to use the new UI Vista has but still bash it then you are an uninformed and should not pretend you know what you are talking about. I used Vista since it was an RC and can assure you that XP's UI is awkward and clumsy and slow in comparison. The search box in the start menu made the old, XP way of starting programs via icons obsolete, for example.), just as XP was better than 2000, and 2000 was WAY better than 98. Windows has just gotten better over time, and this is the first time the improvements haven't come at the cost of higher system requirements.
That's a bad photoshop job they did on his face.