If the customer's always right, then let's hope that Dell's ready to deliver. Since February 16 when it launched Ideastorm, a customer-based crowdsourcing site, over 100,000 comments have addressed the possibility of offering leading Linux versions preinstalled in addition to, or in place of Windows. Dell spokesman David Lord confirms that the Linux buzz is being "taken into consideration" and tells us we should "certainly stay tuned." Despite the vague update, Dell no longer has the luxury of turning a blind eye to high customer demand since it's getting exactly what it asked for in the first place. Believe it or not, Dell is no stranger to Linux, according to Lord who explains that it sells custom-designed, high-end Linux desktops for use in oil and gas exploration. There's no doubt that systems pre-loaded with Linux instead of Windows would cost less, but it's hard to say how much since it isn't clear what Dell tacks on for Windows. In addition, some customers are pushing to swap MS Office with OpenOffice, which is another way to reduce system prices. So it looks like Dell's got a real (Idea)storm a-brewin' and an interesting opportunity to make some big changes -- but stalling seems to be the plan du jour for now.

Read - Dell Ideastorm site
Read - Reuters

Crowdsourcing is one of those internet buzzwords that many of you have heard floating these days, and it was only a matter of time before someone took that idea and merged it with consumer electronics. Enter CrowdSprit, a new online community that aims to improve upon the consumer electronics market by tapping the wisdom of the masses. Some of the proposed devices include an MP3 player, GPS device, and radar detector (huh?), all for under €150 or $190. The idea is that a group of online consumers discuss ideas for a new gadget, then investors will throw some money down and build a prototype. Once that's done, the community comes back to test the device, and then will ostensibly buy that product. (No word on what happens if the product is a flop, or if it needs to go back to the drawing board.) We've got loads of suggestions on some of our favorite gadgets, and while we're not entirely convinced that this whole idealistic plan will work, we're definitely intrigued. Once CrowdSpirit actually makes its first prototype, we'll let you know.

Texas Governor Rick Perry has just announced a plan to leverage the eyeballs of millions of voyeuristic web surfers into a de facto army of unpaid border guards, by allowing the general public to watch live streams from video cameras trained on the Mexican border and call a toll-free number to report illegal crossings. Although the governor did not go into details on how many cameras would be installed nor how far apart they would be positioned, he did estimate the cost of the program at around five million dollars, which would buy almost 3,000 high-def HDR-HC3 camcorders even if Sony decided not to give the state a bulk discount. Leaving the whole immigration issue aside, what really stands out about this project is that it could possibly set a precedent for inner-city officials to open up their surveillance cameras to John Q. Public  -- so instead of some authoritarian regime monitoring every citizen's activities, "Big Brother" will actually become all of us.

[Via BBC News]