“Instead of investing in the channel, the area most likely to produce sales growth, the vendor is trying to be Apple. The problem is Apple is cool and Dell isn’t,” Pedro Pereira writes for The Channel Insider. “PC maker Dell’s decision to open two inventory-less retail stores this summer… makes me wonder how many potential customers will be walking into the Dell stores at shopping malls in West Nyack, N.Y., and Dallas expecting to leave with a new laptop under their arm… I don’t know about you, but unless I am buying furniture, I expect to walk out of a store with my purchase.”
“Instead of investing in the area most likely to produce the results Dell needs—sales growth—the vendor is trying to be Apple. The problem is Apple is cool and Dell isn’t. In fact, there hasn’t been anything ‘cool’ about the vendor since “Steven, the Dell dude” vanished from our TV screens a few years ago,” Pereira writes. “Apple is image; it’s attitude. Using a MacBook at your neighborhood café says something about your nonconformist view of the world. But if you pull a Dell out of your bag, the only message you’re sending is that you presumably got a decent deal when you bought it.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Using a MacBook at your neighborhood café says also says that you probably have used both Windows and Mac OS X, compared the two, and actually made an informed choice. If we see you, we’ll wave. You know why. It not just about “cool,” it’s really about “better.”
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Related articles:
Will Dell’s retail computer stores work sans inventory? – May 30, 2006
Dell to open retail stores – May 22, 2006
Is it Gonzo or Bonzo? While I do 6 illustrations on my Mac with everything working seamlessly so that I hardly notice the computer at all, my GF just got home to tell me her laptop won’t recognise her flash drive and that her work pc has yet more viruses, but hey she’s gonna pay a guy to come in and sort that, well at least till the next time. Meanwhile she heard today her friend has had all her work moved to a folder with some dodgy east european blackmailing her before he will give up the code to release it. But not all’s lost she thinks she may be ble to pay a company to break the code for her without resorting to the money laudering. Some people really just don’t get it.
Believe it or not this is all true.
“Apple owners are all paranoid about their appearance to others- hence they buy computers and ipods more often to have the latest thing…”
Holy crap that’s silly. It’s the software stupid. Me? 2002 PowerMac G4 dual 867, 1gb, 160gb, Tiger. Runs like a champ, boots up in about 10 seconds. Does everything I need it to.
spyinthesky – sounds like a personal problem.
never a virus on either my mac or pc ever.
Repeat – never a virus.
spyinthesky – tell your friends to avoid computers at all costs. buy your gf an apple for her birthday.
meanwhile of every 100 computers sold today only 3 will be Apple computers.
i like my mac i use daily and my peecees – people are just sooooooo hung up on which computer they own.
Majikthize: “Actually, Mac users keep their Macs longer than PC users keep their PCs”
You have no proof of this. Statistics of web use show time after time that there are more people surfing the web running Windows 95 than all total mac users combined. Windows 95 – 10 years old and people still use it for what they need.
Why is apple stock dropping so much today?
Most other stocks are up!
“unless I am buying furniture, I expect to walk out of a store with my purchase”
Well, Dells do make pretty good doorstops.
gonzo-
“Statistics of web use show time after time that there are more people surfing the web running Windows 95 than all total mac users combined.”
Y’know, if lots of Mac users were still running Mac OS 7, I wouldn’t go around bragging about it.
“Windows 95 – 10 years old and people still use it for what they need.”
Because they haven’t been offered anything better since 1995, or because XP is incompatible with older hardware?
Thanks for making my point for me. Lots of Windows users are running old software on new hardware, whereas lots of Mac users are running new software on old hardware.
</i>”It not just about “cool,” it’s really about “better.”
I’m glad MDN took the time to add that. The design/”coolness factor” is just a benefit, but is not part of the equation for me. It’s about OS X. OS X IS THE MAC.
I’m sick of all you hooligan’s slamming Dell and MS. I for one think it is very important to have them around. I mean, if it weren’t for them, Apple wouldn’t look very good. It’s nice to have a skidmar…er….benchmark to help you know where you stand. Plus it creates jobs. For instance, if it weren’t for criminals, you wouldn’t need jails, courts and police. Think about it.
GONZO…
You’re right…
…there is no gignatic proliferation of Windows viruses in the wild, and they don’t cost the international community billions dollars a year in lost productivity…
…Macs are not more secure than PCs, and PC don’t have any security problems…
…my friend Damian has not lost 3 Windows PC harddrives in the last 3 years due to meltdown due to viruses…
…and he has not has his computer used as trojan…
…and 3 days after he had a new Dell installed a few weeks ago, it did not fail to even boot due to a virus…
…and working for a major financial institution as a consultant a few years ago, I did not experience major problems with viruses on the client PC’s…
…a current client company has not had major email problems, not experienced by me at home on my Mac…
…and using both MS Office and graphic design and video editing software at home on my Mac is NOT heaps more productive than doing the same things on their PCs…
…and the owner of the firm is not completely jealous and embarrassed by this fact and regretting they use PCs…
AND YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT !
MDW: IDIOT
People who keep saying the computer is a tool are correct. Because the Macintosh is the best tool for almost any job. If you need it tweaked, you can try Linux. Windows has no place anywhere.
Apple’s stock price down?
Heck, I don’t see MSFT or DELL up much either huh?
Apple is down, because many don’t beleive it will generate the growth required to support the stock price.
MDN made a prediction a while back that the next time Apple passed Dell in market cap, it would be the last time.
Well, the’re likely right about that statement, just not the direction in which Apple was headed.