Gizmodo: michael dell

Michael Dell Hates Netbooks, But Loves Windows 7: What About You?

Danny Allen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:50:00 EDT

Dell may have a page dedicated to pitching netbooks, but its founder and CEO slammed mini notebooks at last night's Silicon Valley dinner sponsored by the Churchill Club. He also said Windows 7 will help you love your PC again...

"Take a user who's used to a 15-inch notebook and then give him a 10-inch netbook. He'll say 'Oh, this is so cool, it's so lightweight.' Then 36 hours later he'll say the screen's not big enough, give me my 15-inch back."

He went to say that smaller screens and slower performance are not a "replacement for a high-end machine." Fair point, but ouch! On Windows 7, Dell was more optimistic:

"I've been using Windows 7 for a long time now, and if you get the latest processor technology and Office 2010 with it, you will love your PC again."

Are mini notebooks just underpowered casual toys? And if they are, is that because the PC makers (and Microsoft) have imposed limitations so netbooks don't eat into regular notebook sales? What do you think? [GigaOm and PC World]

Separated at Birth?

Wilson Rothman — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 04:00:00 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.I'm sorry, but I just gotta know—are Dell Dude #1 Michael Dell and Iron Man director Jon Favreau secretly related? Does their freakish resemblance not trouble anyone else?

Dell Reports 63% Drop In Earnings, Banks On Windows 7

John Herrman — Fri, 29 May 2009 08:01:26 EDT

Everyone in tech is taking an economic beating right now, but Dell is doing particularly badly. Why? Turns out their business customers—which make up about three quarters of total sales—are buying even fewer computers than regulars folks.

Michael Dell says "We are preparing for what we believe will be a powerful replacement cycle," which approximately translates to "If Windows 7 doesn't drive sales, I will personally murder Steve Ballmer in the face." [NYT]

Dell Encouraging Employees to Take Unpaid Time Off to Cut Costs

Sean Fallon — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

It seems like every tech company is feeling the pinch these days, and Dell is no different. In order to cut costs, they are encouraging employees to take up to five unpaid vacation days or a severance package during Q4. CEO Michael Dell has also initiated a hiring freeze and announced that the company will be using fewer contract workers during this time. Dell hopes to trim $3 billion off its annual spending over the next few years, and my guess is that another round of layoffs might occur if these preliminary measures don't help enough in the short term. [AP]

Friday Caption Contest: Bill Gates, Bono and Michael Dell Walk into a Bar

Jason Chen — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:15:24 EST

Have you seen Bono more uncomfortable than this? Caption this picture of him supporting the Dell & Microsoft RED campaign. [Image courtesy Gadgetell]

Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC Shown Off at Oracle OpenWorld

Adrian Covert — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:51:56 EST

Michael Dell showed off the Latitude XT tablet at Oracle OpenWorld today, and from the looks of it, they might have a winner on their hands. Aside from previous specs (12.1 inches, 1.2 GHz processor, under 4 pounds, up to 3 GB RAM), the video reveals that the convertible tablet features multi-touch recognition that can detect five fingers on the screen at once. The demo shows our presenters finger painting with all five fingers and shuffling through a "pile" of photos via the touchscreen. Dell also said it's due to hit the market in a couple of months. [jkkmobile]

Dell Wants You to Make It Suck Less with Digg Clone

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:00:32 EST

A week ago, Dell launched its customer-centered "Dell 2.0" push with its Diggish customer suggestion site, IdeaStorm, where users can post ideas and thoughts on how to improve Dell products. Other users vote on the ideas so that the most popular ones hit the front page, ensuring that a set of eyeballs at Dell scopes out your brilliance—presumably, so they can steal it.

BusinessWeek is actually a bit down on the new program, noting that the idea of "prosumption," where consumers get involved in the creative process, is not wholly innovative. Nonetheless, Dell is certainly in need of a refresh, and taking it to the people seems like a good way to go about trying to make itself relevant again, even if pulling out the "Web 2.0" trope is a bit trite.

The top suggestion right now? "Offer the 3 top free Linux versions for free pre-installation on all Dell PCs." Gotta love the Linux crew—they are persistent, if nothing else. – Matt Buchanan

Hack This Product, Please! [BW]

Dell Touts Upcoming Conroe-Packing and Overclocked XPS 700

Charlie White — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 11:05:55 EDT

Nothing like some friendly co-opetition between Dell subsidiaries Alienware and XPS to keep the blood boiling, and the next shot inside of Michael Dell's bucket is the upcoming XPS 700. It'll feature an overclocked and hyper-cooled Core 2 Extreme CPU (affectionately known as Conroe), and will also offer the option of two NVidia GeForce 7900 GTX graphics cards strapped together in SLI mode.

At a meeting with the press, Dell Chairman Michael Dell lauded the upcoming processors from Intel, pointing out the various flavors which all receive a significant power boost by using Intel's Core architecture:

"Conroe is a great part. I think whether you look at Woodcrest, Conroe, Merom, that Core is a huge improvement in terms of performance and power from the prior generation, and we're very excited about what that's going to mean, all up and down the business in terms of the desktop market, mobile with Merom, [and the] Woodcrest servers that are already starting to go out. I think it's a real nice advancement."

Dell also hinted at a limited edition of the XPS 700, similar to the Renegade Edition of the XPS 600, a loaded-for-bear $10,000 PC that sold out in 36 hours. – Charlie White

Revised Dell XPS 700 to feature overclocked Intel Core 2 Extreme CPU [TG Daily]