Sunday, July 01, 2007
Change at Dell?
Dell has sucked for years now, and the Clarion is not just referring to their stock price, but primarily their machine quality. Their supply-line commoditization: a direct sales model, coupled with just-in-time building, sort of worked. It relentlessly increased their sales in an effort to meet “the Street’s” expectations. But on the other hand it didn’t work at all, as it drove their quality and brand image relentlessly down market. Yes, Dell’s got cheaper and cheaper. More cheaply made and assembled, cheaper to purchase as a consumer. One could order them custom built just how one wanted, with exactly the bells and whistles desired from their website with but one catch, they sucked. As time passed they sucked worse and worse. Other than Microsoft, who is more associated with the blue screen of death than Dell? Sure when the CPU died they’d ship a new one, but what good was it if that one died, soon, too? Their refurb machines were the worst. Buying a rebuilt Dell from Tiger Direct and their ilk was an exercise in futility that profited only the shipping company.
Now the Clarion’s been reading that Dell is ostensibly “rehabbing the brand.” They are going to change the plan a little. Read:drastically. They are going to build some actual finished machines. They are going to sell said completed machines in stores.
But are they going up market? Posh stores for the sweet machines they build to be the best? That is what they would like you to think, but a closer examination says no, they aren’t even going to mid-market to the evil Circuit City, where many of their dull, gray, box building competitor clones are sold. No Dell is trolling even lower than that, they are taking their ‘puters to Wal-Mart. Sure, they are selling a couple in Macy’s for the big debut of the notebook color case models, but the big inventory push is going to the Arkansas based behemoth.
The message Michael Dell and his team are apparently attempting to convey is that Dell’s are like the rest of the crap Wal-Mart peddles; the most cheaply assembled set of parts the global economy can buy, which are then sold to the massive American market for those losing in the widening of the rich-poor gap, the formerly blue collar, ni service industry, biproducts of globalization. These folks know the products that are foisted on them suck. They’re struggling financially, but they’re not dim. When you are broke, often times cheap comes first, so they’ll buy it.
They’ll buy it because they want to do right by their kids. (Computers are good. Yes?) They’ll buy it because the kids are nagging them. They’ll buy it because they got to have something to keep up. Keep up with the neighbors, be they real or the imaginary ones on the TV. (also purchased at Wal-Mart) Keep up with the false ideal, the idyllic American consumer’s dream, the “one” with the most stuff wins. They have to have some visible totems that deny just how badly the system, the economy is doing them. Hank Hill, Homer Simpson, why they aren’t losing at the game of life, they just bought the family a Dell at the local Wal-Mart.
*For veracity’s sake note: the Clarion’s position from whenever we became aware of Apple (1985?86?) was that they were imminently going out of business. Proprietary model’s never work in high-tech industries. We were just witnessing the demise of Betamax. The Clarion held on to this point of view until about 2003. Yes, for 17 years we were quite sure, Apple was going out of business any week now...A handy reminder to this and any commentator how wrong one can be. Now we write this content on a iBook.
Apple’s are not cheap. Cheap computers are not bad. Windows is not Dell’s fault. Neither is globalization. However, anyone who has ever wrestled with a dying PC can tell tales of horror.
Dell is changing their business model, indeed. Changing it to what? And to what end?
For an example on how to change one’s business model from the nuts and bolts PC business to something more appropriate for an American centered MNC in 21st century global ecomony, see IBM’s sale of its PC business to PRC based Lenovo. It is not clear if this was a good deal for the American worker, but it was a good deal for IBM.
further reading
further reading 2
further reading 3
Now the Clarion’s been reading that Dell is ostensibly “rehabbing the brand.” They are going to change the plan a little. Read:drastically. They are going to build some actual finished machines. They are going to sell said completed machines in stores.
But are they going up market? Posh stores for the sweet machines they build to be the best? That is what they would like you to think, but a closer examination says no, they aren’t even going to mid-market to the evil Circuit City, where many of their dull, gray, box building competitor clones are sold. No Dell is trolling even lower than that, they are taking their ‘puters to Wal-Mart. Sure, they are selling a couple in Macy’s for the big debut of the notebook color case models, but the big inventory push is going to the Arkansas based behemoth.
The message Michael Dell and his team are apparently attempting to convey is that Dell’s are like the rest of the crap Wal-Mart peddles; the most cheaply assembled set of parts the global economy can buy, which are then sold to the massive American market for those losing in the widening of the rich-poor gap, the formerly blue collar, ni service industry, biproducts of globalization. These folks know the products that are foisted on them suck. They’re struggling financially, but they’re not dim. When you are broke, often times cheap comes first, so they’ll buy it.
They’ll buy it because they want to do right by their kids. (Computers are good. Yes?) They’ll buy it because the kids are nagging them. They’ll buy it because they got to have something to keep up. Keep up with the neighbors, be they real or the imaginary ones on the TV. (also purchased at Wal-Mart) Keep up with the false ideal, the idyllic American consumer’s dream, the “one” with the most stuff wins. They have to have some visible totems that deny just how badly the system, the economy is doing them. Hank Hill, Homer Simpson, why they aren’t losing at the game of life, they just bought the family a Dell at the local Wal-Mart.
*For veracity’s sake note: the Clarion’s position from whenever we became aware of Apple (1985?86?) was that they were imminently going out of business. Proprietary model’s never work in high-tech industries. We were just witnessing the demise of Betamax. The Clarion held on to this point of view until about 2003. Yes, for 17 years we were quite sure, Apple was going out of business any week now...A handy reminder to this and any commentator how wrong one can be. Now we write this content on a iBook.
Apple’s are not cheap. Cheap computers are not bad. Windows is not Dell’s fault. Neither is globalization. However, anyone who has ever wrestled with a dying PC can tell tales of horror.
Dell is changing their business model, indeed. Changing it to what? And to what end?
For an example on how to change one’s business model from the nuts and bolts PC business to something more appropriate for an American centered MNC in 21st century global ecomony, see IBM’s sale of its PC business to PRC based Lenovo. It is not clear if this was a good deal for the American worker, but it was a good deal for IBM.
further reading
further reading 2
further reading 3
Labels: Pop Culture, technology
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