Once upon a time, Dell was played second fiddle to Apple in terms of hippness. However, with the recent launch of their multicolored Inspiron notebooks, along with a partnership with Google and actually compelling ads, Dell might be making a come back.
Sure, Dell doesn’t have the iPod/iPhone duo to create a strong push into the markets, they do resell the Microsoft Zune though. I’m personally a Microsoft Zune owner — a white one that I refer toto as my Ice Cube — and I love the product. It’s much more compelling than the standard iPod. However, it doesn’t touch the iPhone. Why am I even bringing this up? Because these two products are what Apple has become famous. Without the iPod and without the iPhone Apple wouldn’t exist like it does today. In 1997 Apple was a struggling company with their own share of problems, but now they’ve made an excellent name for themselves among the younger generations. But enough about Apple…
Why would Dell create colorful laptops? They’ve observed what works. The iPod shuffle and nano comes in many colors, these appeal to the teenage girls and some teenage guys. They’re the generation with the hands deep in the pockets of their parents, and they have the purchasing power in modern America. If Dell sells a laptop that matches their iPod, they would be more likely to buy a white/blue/green/pink laptop than a silver, white or black one. (Also, the white Zune matches the white laptop.)
And when it comes with partnering with the coolest kid on the block, who wins the prize? Well, Apple is with AT&T and Yahoo! and Dell is with… Google. What’s this? It’s not Google and Apple, but Google and Dell? Yes. Dell has partnered with Google to help them sell their hardware for server specific searches. As the commercial shows, this comes in use for hospitals to quickly locate patients x-rays, charts, or access archives. This could also be very useful for larger libraries and schools where they could create and manage their own Internet without the chance of a student coming across the occasional porn site while doing biology research.
The ads are also interesting. The ad displaying the colorful laptops compels me because of the tune in the background (The W.A.N.D. by The Flaming Lips, if you’re wondering) along with the use of blending colors on the screen. Then again I’m usually entranced by simple gimmicks like touch screens.
The Google ad is laid out and shows two businessmen working together to create this project and make it successful, and it also shows an example of the technology in use. To me this says that they’re committed to making the partnership and the product work.
What’s your opinion on the matter? Is Dell so hip they can’t see over their pelvis? Or are they still stuck a few years behind their competitors?
This is quite a shock, someone who writes for Crunchgear who is not negative (positive even) about the Microsoft Zune. What is happening to this world???
PS: I own a black zune and I quite like it
This is a bad joke right? Dell? Colorful laptops? Zunes? Am I missing something?
am i the only one who thinks that dell is missing the boat here by making their new colorful laptops only colorful on the top and not on the keyboard as well?
Dell Will be No. 1 Again by End of this year.
Dell can never match Apple in terms of innovation. Adding color and copying Apple is not going to help long run. Do u know how many hardware people are there at Dell? Very few…. compared to apple. Dell lives only on sales and marketing not on making innovative products.
Wy are comparing iphone/ipod with Dell laptops. Dells laptops just add color and none of the inside part is dell designed except the logo and color….
Give us a break
And Alias is claiming Apple “designed” the inside of the iPod? Let’s be honest — Inventec and Asustek in Taiwan are the original design manufacturers of the iPod. Important to note that they are ODMs and not CMs (contract manufacturers). Apple doesn’t really “design” anything on the inside of the iPod — they just provide functional specs to the ODM and they handle the internals. How is this any different than Dell?
In fact, for most Dell notebook and desktop products, a *far* higher percentage of the internals are designed by Dell than you would find designed by Apple in Apple products.
Seems like Dell can’t catch a break here — if they build solid functional machines, the market says they have no design flair. If they add design flair, the market says they’re just slapping makeup on a pig. I guess what we all learned in high school is really true after all: It’s hard to be cool.
@Tobias: No, I like my Zune.
For all those who think Dell, a $60 company doesn’t innovate….
Since the very first Dell PC was introduced in 1986, Dell has continued to shape the industry, breaking new ground and pioneering critical developments in home, small business and enterprise computing. Dell’s R&D efforts now span the globe, driven by some of the industry’s foremost product designers and engineers. At the core of Dell’s innovation approach, however, remains an unwavering commitment to delivering new and better solutions that directly address customer needs.
We gather requirements directly through tens of thousands of customer interactions daily, organized events, and customer panels. Partnerships with a wide variety of key industry software, hardware and component suppliers give us a uniquely broad perspective on the computing landscape.
Many innovations begin in-house, led by a global team of top engineers, product designers and technical experts. Others begin as a team effort with Dell’s strategic partners. The mission is to deliver innovative and cost-effective solutions that meet today’s real-life customer challenges and work seamlessly in existing environments and with other products.
Dell is uniquely positioned to impact industry trends. We maintain strong internal development capabilities. We partner, rather than compete, with top industry technology suppliers and original development manufacturers. We steer enabling industry standards and technologies through industry groups and strategic partners. In this way, Dell spurs innovation and delivers value to customers.
Every day, thousands of Dell engineers and product development groups are hard at work around the globe aggressively pursuing new and better answers to customer technology challenges. The result of their work is often first-to-market products that guide innovation industry-wide.
Dell’s expanding global presence gives the company an edge over its competition in product development in critical ways:
Brings a widely diverse range of ideas and employee skills.
Offers an extremely broad understanding of global customer needs.
Dell’s global reach also offers significant advantages to consumers:
A global supply network improves overall product quality and lowers costs.
Brings affordable technology to new and emerging markets, offering tremendous potential social and economic benefits.
While its principal headquarters and design centers remain in Austin, TX, Dell has rapidly expanded its operations over recent years. The company has established innovation facilities throughout the world, each with its own areas of specialization:
Austin Design Center Dell’s original design center, the Austin facility handles notebook, desktop, server and storage system development, as well as software development and documentation.
Singapore Design Center Established in 2005, the Singapore center is home to two of Dell’s global lines of business — Dell Displays and Dell Imaging. These lines encompass Dell’s entire portfolio of displays, projectors and TVs, along with Dell printers and associated software.
Bangalore Design Center Established in 2001, the Bangalore center in Bangalore, India, focuses on software development, enterprise solutions, server development, international product support, test engineering and documentation.
China Design Center Established in 2000, the China center in Shanghai focuses on desktop system development, client system testing and notebook and desktop services.
Taiwan Design Center Established in 2003, the Taiwan center in Taipei focuses on notebook and server development and data center solutions.
Nice script you copy/pasted there Dellman.
Keep drinking that Koolaid.
Name one single innovative product Dell has released in the last five years that a public majority would agree IS innovative let alone memorable?
that story is so dramatic and stupid!!! like hello people wake up and smell thee fresh coffee!!!!!!
like i said that story is so stupid and hello wake up and smell the fresh coffee!!!!!