Dell exec: We're not Wintel's lapdog

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While Dell ditched its Itanium systems in 2005, the decision to do so actually came much earlier, Kettler said. It made the shift in 2003, when it dropped plans for an eight-processor Xeon server. The time lag was because Dell had to keep selling some models for those few customers who wanted Itanium systems, but most just weren't interested in them, he said.

If it were up to Kettler, Intel would drastically scale back its Itanium work--a direction 180 degrees opposed to Intel's increasing investments in the chip. "I ask how many developers they have on Itanium," every time he meets with Gelsinger, he said. Whatever the answer, Kettler says, "That's two times too much."

"We love Dell."

--Intel, in a statement

Kettler oversaw Dell's memory technology before becoming CTO four years ago. In that earlier role, he inherited one mess: Intel's strong affinity for Rambus memory subsystem, a product fraught with delays, technical difficulties and business problems. Intel eventually backed off the Rambus technology in favor of today's prevailing standard, double data rate (DDR) memory, which is more broadly endorsed.

More recent memory troubles have hit Intel. The slow transition to a variant of DDR called FB-DIMM is holding back the arrival of servers with dual-core "Dempsey" Xeon processors. Dell suffered because Intel didn't draft enough industry support for FB-DIMM, Kettler said.

Dell didn't invent PCI Express, the higher-speed successor to the prevailing Peripheral Component Interconnect technology for plugging in video cards, but it should get more credit for ensuring its success, Kettler said. It was Dell's market clout that gave graphics chip companies such as ATI and Nvidia the confidence that they could make the jump to PCI Express from the previous Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) connectors, he said.

Picking on Microsoft
Intel isn't the only major ally to have fallen out of step with Dell. The PC maker's customer surveys have led it to believe the Blu-ray format should succeed DVDs, Kettler said. At the same time, royalties for Blu-ray are lower than for the rival HD DVD format, and the Blu-ray video content is better, he added.

Microsoft and Intel endorsed HD DVD over Blu-ray in September, and Hewlett-Packard, formerly a strong Blu-ray advocate, softened its stance shortly afterward. Kettler suggested Microsoft hasn't revealed the true reason for its fondness for the format. The company has a "franchise to protect," he said: its Xbox business, which competes with the Blu-ray-enabled Sony PlayStation 3.

Microsoft, not surprisingly, disagreed with this assessment and asserted its motives for preferring HD DVD are broader. HD DVD drives and disks are cheaper and arriving sooner, argued Jordi Ribas, director of technical strategy in the Windows Digital Media Division, and interactive elements of the disks are easier to program in HD DVD's iHD than in Blu-ray's Java.

"With Intel and HP sharing our views on this as well, I would say these (factors) are more critical for the PC ecosystem than for gaming," Ribas said. "Blu-ray has been spinning a good yarn over the past year, but it's becoming clearer that the technology is more expensive and has fewer features, and many of their technology claims are far from deliverable."

Dell is sticking to its guns, though. "Microsoft may bitch, Intel may bitch," but the customers want Blu-ray, and that's what matters to the PC maker, Kettler said.

While Dell has argued that it has a tight connection to customers, it doesn't have a perfect track record of predicting what they want, Kleynhans said. "They didn't do so well with the Dell DJ" music player, and the company opted for smart cards to store encrypted passwords on PCs rather than the trusted platform modules that the industry ended up preferring, he said.

"History shows there are wins and losses for all of these guys," Kleynhans said.

[CentrOS]

No, you're Apple's lapdog

Or you soon will be. Apple is so much smaller, and yet commands
AND wields so much more power in the industry than Dell, it's a
joke this article was ever written.

[Seaspray0]

Pot calling the kettle black

It wasn't so long ago that Apple was on the fringe of falling apart while Dell was the driving force of the PC industry. I doubt you would have called articles about apple back then "a joke". You should be cautious with your remarks, Mac Boy. Apple does indeed show lots of promise... but so did Netscape before being buried by Internet Explorer... now being challenged by firefox.

[tmccarty8]

Apple, the great innovator

A yes, Apple, the great innovator. Now let's see, the mouse, hmm I seem to remember seeing that original mouse made out of a block of wood. MADE BY XEROX! The GUI, hmm MADE BY XEROX! Wonderful innovations by Apple? And now for the present, motherboard, well it has a PCI bus with a slot for a standard (read IBM style) AGP video slot, standard (read IBM style) memory slots, IDE (read IBM style) hard drive, whoops, they forgot the floppy drive, REALLY INNOVATIVE ABOUT THAT! And then there's that wonderful OS X, funny they make no bones about the innovation of BSD Unix. I knida like it but it still has that funky interface that they think is so cool....... In case you wonder I started working on MAC's in 1991 and I still don't like them. But Apple is so innovative!
Ted McCarty

oh please dell

Oh please Dell, bestoy the unworthy with more of your wisdom.

You people at Dell really believing this junk that you say?

[MattLPMP]

if they're so great...

Why are they losing ground to HP in most divisions? Why haven't they offered AMD-powered gear?

Dell does no more for the industry than any leading company would. They get to set some direction because of their size. I'm sure that HP and IBM can give examples of how they'd "established" something in the industry.

Their blind loyalty to Intel continues to hurt the industry as a whole.

[Pop4]

If dell could only; today lets say, offer the only quad-sli AMD FX-60 Liddo

Then we too, and even us. Could be blue.

Yellow; pale with a plastic shovel.

[mike.gw]

Dell responsible for 802.11?!!!

Those were orange and blue Dell iBooks that Steve Jobs walked around with when he introduced the first commercial and consumer application of the 802.11 wireless spec at MacWorld in NY? That was Michael Dell in the blue jeans and black turtleneck?

Dell was an earlier adopter in the PC world for 802.11, but Apple put Wi-Fi on the map with their Airport hub and cards. Apple didn't develop wi-fi, but it saw a good thing and put it on the market first.

[Jesus#2]

I know...

next they will say they established USB and Firewire as a standard..
Geesh..

[fred dunn]

Nonsense! Dell follows Intel BLINDLY!

Dell, did you not sell socket 423 P4 systems with RAMBUS? Yes, and you had problems with them. Why? When the PIII was proven a better processor architecture. I'll tell you why becuase what Intel says Dell says. Did you follow Intel's Itanium roadmap, YES! Only when you didn't get any customers for the Itanic did you withdraw.
While other's were going to DDR you stuck with PC133, why? Because Intel still wanted to prove that RAMBUS was a much better architecture. If you had any say about what Intel was delivering to you then what happened there?
You followed Intel all the way through the P4 lineage even after they hit the thermal "brick wall" of 4GHz and had to back off to 3.8 GHz. Where was your CTO then? Intel promised that the P4 would go to 5GHz which was almost required for the P4's long pipeline.

I won't comment on the MS side of the house because I actually thing that they do listen to you.

But let me put it this way, Dell may as well be named Intdell because you totally depend on Intel to tell you what to do. You design your systems off of Intel reference boards and you are Intel's lapdog (although I can think of a better term but can't post it here).

Fred Dunn

[Blito]

Dell recommends Windows XP

Dell recommends Windows XP

[Byronic]

Probably because that's ALL it will run!

Not counting write it yourself Linux, etc...

Not so long ago...

I still remember when Dell included in their first servers Red Hat 7 as a standard OS. Suddenly they deleted it from their web site and put Windows as the ONLY option. Recently they put Red Hat as their LAST option (check Dell's website). And now you can tell me, is Dell "free" from Microsoft's fist ? I don't think so ...

[Dachi]

Page 2 of Dell playbok

Every 3 months were hear in one form or another that Dell is not obligated to use Just Intel/Microsoft etc. etc.

They paraphrase the same thing they have been saying over and over but not doing and it's still news.

They say these things I think becasue they are trynig to convince Wintel, but these days the pro AMD statements made from Dell must be a running joke around the Intel water coolers.

Boss: "You get those TPS reports?"
Dolt: "They are on your desk right next to the press release that Dell began shipping AMD desktops"

[Byronic]

Time to sell the company and return the money to the stockholders.

Do it now, and do everyone a favor.

[Titos 2 Cents]

There are other Dell offerings?

I wasn't aware that Dell was offering a Linux-based, AMD-powered desktop these days. And those dual-core Athlon 64's are just flying off Dell's virtual shelves.
As a large customer they were able to influence the Intel wireless standard and push them towards the 64 extensions. Good for them, it sounds like standard business practices to me, but it only seems to work one-way. Most successful businesses listen to their customer base and respond, Intel listened to Dell, but Dell isn't listening to the consumer. When they actually decide to broaden their horizons and offer something up outside of the Wintel playbook, then maybe they can claim to have a leadership role in technology. Until that time they are just a successful lapdog that occasionally nips at the master.

[Seaspray0]

Dell not well know as tech inovator

Dell has never been known as a technology inovator. Dell was run on a business model that went similar to this: Spend little on R & D and let others create the technology. Purchase the components with that technology and integrate it into a PC and sell it online at a low cost.

Dell could undercut all the exisitng PC makers with this model, because they didn't do research and development or have to support brick and mortar storefronts. They were grabbing market share from everyone. Compaq and HP merged as a result of this threat. During the confusion of the merger, dell grabbed even more share of the market. Perhaps dell expanded too rapidly or the other makers now have their act together, as dell is now showing cracks in its armor.

A company of inovation? Hardly. They may have influenced others, but dell shouldn't be boasting about being responsible for inovation.

[gggg sssss]

dell vs apple

Last week I baught 6 dells, 0 apples.

[benjiernmd]

Ay buang ka!

Napakatanga mo naman. Wala kang nalalaman sa daigdig ng mga
computers. Ang mundong ginagalawan mo ay para lamang sa mga
hunghang na tulad mo. Huwag ka sanang makahawa.

[GGGlen]

So?

Last quarter, the district I work in bought 2,000 Apple's and 500
Dells

[kxmmxk]

Apple is usually first, not Dell

Apple had wifi long before Dell did. Same with standardizing USB in their systems. PCs still don't have firewire standard.

Apple was the first to get rid of floppies.

Apple was the first to have super drives where you could write DVD and CDs using the same drive.

Apple had the touch pads on laptops most use today.

And of course Apple had mice first :)

Dell is a follower. Maybe they push things out into the pc market, but it's usually well after the market has been there and doing things on their own for sometime. There is never any risk involved.

[SCPRedMage]

Missing the point

I think what all the "Apple was first" posts are missing is the fact that the article is not suggesting that Dell was first. Ever. The point the article is trying to make is that Dell has used it's market share to push in directions that both Intel and Microsoft were against. It had nothing to do with innovation.

Frankly, all these Apple love letters are about as out of place here as posting Linux kernel patch notes in a thread about a new version of Internet Explorer.

[csmark]

Suggestion on non-Dell laptop and warranty

I though this would be a good time to ask for a suggestion for a laptop supplier other than Dell. I would prefer to have a 64bit (read AMD) processor. The support from Dell has been so good, save when they temporarily moved their phone customer support to India. The 3 year repair policy is unbeatable and I'm most fearful of loosing this service. I've gone through 2 laptops in 4 years (with 2 years of warranty left on the second) and have had to ship both of laptops back, the first 4 or 5 times. The longest turnaround time has been 5 days. Multiple times I've gotten the laptop back 2 days after shipping it. I know some other laptop suppliers offer similar warranties, but I?m not sure if they are as good as Dell?s (Dell has done well on the support). I definitely don?t want the Best Buy or CompUSA one strike and its gone rip-off warranty. Any suggestions or personal experiences are greatly appreciated!

[Hitokiri Batusai]

Get an Alienware!!!

Enough said.

[ThreadSurfer]

Dell's Response to Apple Running Windows

I believe this PR-campaign from Dell is due to increased pressure that Dell now feels from Apple. Dell has always been known as a computer builder. They take off-the-shelf components, put them together, and sell mass quantities. There was little competition from computer 'assemblers' aside from Alienware, which they purchased.

Now, with Apple able to compete directly with Dell... Dell has to be more than a computer assembler. Now, they've magically crowned themselves kings of innovation, thanks to Dell's P.R. department and c|Net's lack of journalistic instinct.

Most people know Apple is an innovator. But Dell is no more innovator than is your local police department an innovator for choosing a Dodge Charger instead of the Ford Crown Vic or Chevy Caprice. For all we know, Dell has *hurt* innovation by using their market share to force suppliers to toe Dell's line.

Now, with Apple as a competitor, we'll likely see some real innovation from the Wintel side of the fence.

[Lindy01]

hahahahahahahahahhhhhaaaaaaaaaaa

"is due to increased pressure that Dell now feels from Apple."

NOW THAT was funny. Oh look here comes Apple with their way over priced, running XP, un-supported Intel box with different plastic....look out they are going to move from 4% to 4.5% market share!!!!!!!!!!!

Wake up please.

[Hitokiri Batusai]

Apple has it chance when they used IBM Processor's

But now that IBM closed it's Processor's Manufacturer Facility, Apple will have to use the same INTEL crap, than everybody else. Even IBM will do so, they even tough of using AMD chips instead come on...

[kgofsb]

Dell is the antithesis of innovation

Other than innovating the sales process, Dell is probably one of the biggest obstacles to innovation in the computer industry. Their biggest contribution (and not to belittle it, it is important) is to provide downward pressure on prices. But introducing new technology? That's like the president claiming to improve the environment. They are followers, not leaders. They wait for markets to mature, and then they invade.

They should be happy with their role in the industry, and shouldn't feel the need to make stuff up.

[digantasaha]

I would agree Dell is the antithesis of innovation

Dell contribution is to supply chain management and efficiently
cutting costs of their products. Sometimes to an absurd level
(i.e. the option to add or remove the mouse pad). I don't
remember Dell being involved with creating any new
technologies. They slap together off the shelf components from
several suppliers into a box and slap the Dell logo on it. What
has changed since the time Michael Dell was assembling
computer parts from his dorm room to this day is economies of
scale. Better inventory and supply chain management and
improvements in cutting the cost of manufacturing down. Dell
was probably one of first batch of large companies to off shore
their tech support and move their production from the US to
China. Calling Dell a technology innovator is a joke. Individually
IBM, HP, Apple, SGI, Sun innovate far more technology than Dell
ever has. Dell is the biggest assembler of computer components
and parts like Gateway, Acer, Packard Bell and is so far doing a
better job of assembling computers than their competition. I'll
give Dell credit for that, but definately not for innovative
technology. This article should be put under the humor column
of C|Net

[aabcdefghij987654321]

Dell innovates; as long as it starts with Windows/Intel

Is this story a late April Fool's joke?

[aabcdefghij987654321]

April Fool's!

It's....just....got to be a late April Fool's joke. I can't make this story out to be anything else.

nothing new

The only thing dell is inovative at is sticking it to their customers and the exec's on how to in- crease their pay. Lousy service may pay for awhile but after awhile it will come back to the bottom line (of course only the poor working stiffs will feel the pain)