resurrectionsong

September 25, 2003

Dell: Exquisite Followers

I like Dell machines. I like Michael Dell in a general sense. I like the way they do business. But there has never been anything terribly innovative about Dell.

Today, they announce that they will be putting out their own version of the Apple Music Store and their own competitor to the Apple iPod MP3 player.

This from the guy who, a few years back, suggested that the industry would be better off if Apple closed its doors and gave all their money back to the shareholders.

Apple will likely never be more than a niche player--but the industry should be glad for their leadership.

Now, I can't wait to see what Dell holds in store for us--hopefully it will be better than that BuyMusic.com abomination.

Posted by zombyboy at September 25, 2003 10:30 AM | TrackBack

Comments

Actually, Dell has long been one of the the most innovative computer companies out there. Just in time shipping of parts, very little warehousing of parts or finished products, and building your computer on the fly right after you order it are all Dell innovations. All those things may seem obvious now, but they were a lot more original and harder to pull off than any of the cool but superficial color schemes that Apple can throw at you.

I love Apple, btw. The iPod is the greatest consumer gadget ever.

Posted by: Matt Moore at September 25, 2003 12:09 PM

That wouldn't be something that I consider innovative--other companies were doing the same things, just not with computers. Dell took a business model that was being applied in other instances and applied it to computer distribution--nothing innovative about that.

Apple, on the other hand, championed and helped develop things like Firewire, CD technology for computers, re-defined the ways users interface with computers (the Xerox PARC interface did start it all up, but Xerox thought it was so worthless that they sold it to Apple for stock, if I remember correctly), and the like hardly qualify as superficial color schemes.

Even things like OpenDoc, which ended up on Apple's own scrap heap, was a brilliant, modular approach to user-defined work-spaces and document-centric (rather than application-centric) computer use.

How about something more useful on a daily basis--Apple helped Adobe create Postscript. Or how about that Apple created the first consumer portable computer (although, admittedly, it's portability is questionable).

First personal computer with built-in TV? Apple in 1993.

If I buy another Windows based PC, it will likely be a Dell. They make a good product--their servers here at work have been excellent--but that doesn't make them innovative in my mind.

In all likelihood, though, my next new computer will be an Apple G5--I have to say the OS X interface is my favorite interface. I love the way it works for me.

Posted by: zombyboy at September 25, 2003 12:44 PM