Comments on: Can he turn Dell into a cool brand?

newsmaker Product design chief John Medica has a big job ahead--jazzing up Dell's image with computers that capture the public's imagination.

[MattLPMP]

A lot of words not saying anything

Good questions from the interviewer, too bad this guy has the same stance that all of executive management at Dell has: nothing is broken, we're just getting better.

Dell's products are boring, their support is terrible, and the overall build quality continues to erode as the years tick by.

You can't even chock XPS' design up to Dell -- that's all Alienware doing what they've always done. It's ironic that Dell couldn't even see the value in infusing some of their design elements into the consumer products, after paying a premium for a well-designed PC maker.

-Matt

[Akiba]

I agree.

I agree, good questions but his answers were worthless. It sounded like he was just there to spew out brochure-ware.

Its unfortunate that Alienware wasn't allowed to grow into a real competitor.

[ss_Whiplash]

Exactly

This guy may have Apple on his resume, but he's a stiff suit through and through.

[bbraxton5]

Just to clairfy

As a matter of fact, we have taken a hard look at our customer service and have been forthcoming about the need to fix some things. That?s why we?ve invested an incremental $150 million to regain our leadership in customer experience. We?ve made good progress on these initiatives and recently showed improvements in key consumer industry reports including the University of Michigan?s American Consumer Satisfaction Index . Although we're pleased with our progress, we're certainly not satisfied. You?ll see us continue to raise the bar.

One other comment: the XPS design was spawned at Dell, not Alienware. For more background on the origin of the XPS design, check out the following blog: http://www.direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2006/07/05/79.aspx.

--Bridget at Dell

[dmarcoot]

Can he turn Dell into a cool brand?

No, he cant.

[bw94382]

Do executives ever listen to customers?

I know from experience that Dell's customer support is so bad, you're better off buying a no-name brand computer from the back of a truck. If Dell wants to stop the market share erosion, they need to fix this. Maybe somebody at Dell needs to re-examine the long-term wisdom of off-shoring.

[BentonBear]

Just buy an Apple!

Be done with it and buy an Apple to satisfy your need for Style.

[rmiecznik]

apple is cool

Apple rules! - is cool, and solid Unix OS, no bs!

[Seaspray0]

Define cool

style? cool? Those have to deal with individual tastes, not just what you think it is.

[Seaspray0]

MacBoy

For MAC holding less than 5% market share, there sure seems to be alot of MacBoy posts around here (darn near half). It doesn't seem to matter what the subject is (this article has nothing to do with MAC), half of them are from Macboys who's chant "buy a Mac" is at this point... annoying.

Tried it, didn't care for it, tired of hearing you chant about it.

[john55440]

I Don't Care About So-Called "Cool"

Companies that market so-called "cool" make me want to hurl. :-)

What Dell needs is higher quality computers, higher quality customer service and technical support, and service/support employees who actually know how to speak American-english.

[bufu3284]

Dell = productive, reliable solutions at reasonable prices

I've been a computer technician for a couple years now. I have found dell's to be the most reliable, easy to work on machines in the industry. Over 90% of the Dell's I get only have software issues. I also own 4 dells myself. Two of which are Inspiron laptops and the other two are Dimension desktops, no problems at all. With design comes a price tag. I'll pass and choose a productive computer, not white shiny overpriced feature lacking hardware...

[lkrupp]

Dell=unreliable...

" I have found dell's to be the most reliable, easy to work on
machines in the industry."

Customer surveys say otherwise. Even Dell admits they have
problems.

[jones_8099]

I've been a PC tech of seven years

And I have found that short from Gateway I end up working on a
lot of Dells. We also build and sell our own computers and until
a customer gets ready for an upgrade or has some form of
software problem we don't see them again until they get ready
for a new computer or bring in a friend to get a computer. All
I'm saying is with Windows computers your better off going with
a home town builder or build it yourself. All the name-brand
Windows PCs suck. But yeah from a tech point of view Dells are
great easy to work on and a very reliable workflow.

On the Mac front I'm not sure where you get "overpriced" do a
price comparison they are almost equal and if you count
software the Mac wins in price. And exactly what sort of
hardware is lacking?

[Randys2cents]

This guy _IS_ the problem.

This guy has been at Dell for almost 14 years = He IS the problem.
During the whole interview, I did not hear him say one thing that
even sounded close to any type of forward thinking or even any
creative ideas at all.

[lkrupp]

Can he turn Dell into a cool brand?

Not even remotely possible. You can't make a silk purse out of a
sow's ear. Dell should just shut down, sell the assets, and return
the money to the shareholders.

[felgercarbnaysay]

Steve Jobs is the source of all "cool"

This stuffed suit is a holdover from the Sculley/Amelio era: Apple at it's least cool.

Cool left with Steve Jobs and it returned with Steve Jobs.

[john55440]

Steve Jobs - Marketer of Pseudocool

Steve Job's specialty is marketing phoney pseudocool, to uncool geeks. :-)

[m.o.t.u.]

Source of all Cool?

I only read the first two paragraphs by this stuffed suit and if this defines his boundries of cool, then
he really needs to get out of his suit more often.
For myself, cool is a 6'6" surfboard handshaped by a good friend, that gives me more pleasure than a Dell can ever hope to give. If Dell reckons a computer is cool, try doing something in the real world.

[m.o.t.u.]

The source of cool?

I would say my new 6'6" surfboard is very cool, handmade by a guy who is definitely cool. Cool is not a corporate suit pedalling boxes of transistors.

[iBuzz]

First step: get rid of that Enron-like logo!

The Dell logo is so boring in itself and says "anti-cool." That leaning back "E" also reminds everyone of evil Enron. Get rid of the logo now!

[peterdom]

Can He Turn Dell Into a cool Brand?

Not a chance!

[fred dunn]

Dell is finally starting to come around...

I give them credit where credit is due. Dell is starting to finally give the consumer what the consumer wants and not what Intel wants the the consumer to want.
Their "break" from a total Intel mindset is refreshing and I think they will give HP a run for their money.

I give credit to Michael Dell, although he is in the background now he still steers the ship when it is "off course". Way to go Mike.

[m.o.t.u.]

The source Cool?

My new 6'6" surfboard is cool. The guy who handcrafted it is definitely cool. A corporate suit trying to convince me his boxes of transistors are cool? Think I'll give it a miss.

[qwerty75]

Typical responses from typical businessmen

Do people in business learn how to speak forever without saying anything substantive in school, or are idiots just attracted to business school since it requires little thought or effort to complete?

Perhaps both are true.

Anyway, Dell offers shoddily made PC's that have no imagination or innovation put in them, are overpriced relative to its features, And as an added "bonus" their support sucks.

Dell wiil neither grow, nor make strides until these issues are truly solved. And it will still take a few years after that happens for them to gain the trust on computer users with at least half-a-clue.

[Ian Joyner]

Here's why Dell can't be cool

Dell is Dull and can't be cool - here's why. Because it's a
hardware box manufacturer. Computing is about ideas and
software. That's where Apple gets its excitement from - new
things you can do with computers in innovative ways. Two
companies stand out in integrating hardware design with the
needs of software in mind, Burroughs with the B5000 and Apple.

Dell does not put money into software research, but just expects
to make huge profits by building and selling dull boxes - that is
decidedly uncool.

[R. U. Sirius]

Boring

This clown has been with Dell for 14 years, and thinks that he can "Apple-ize" Dell. ***? He's the guy who made Dell what Dell is today: BORING. Dell innovates NOTHING. They don't make software. Their hardware is all commodity based. What is the purpose of this interview?