Archive for November, 2007

Cloud computing is something that we are chatting lots about at Dell.  You might have seen the recent announcement with Joyent.  If not, here is a terrific post on what we are up to with them. Love this bit on what happened when they called Dell:

We had test systems FedEx’d to us and confirmation that Joyent would be able to run our stack on their stack within 36 hours. Once we had given the green light, the systems were in our data centers in two days. And OpenSolaris is supported on these systems according to a recent news item. We have a direct sales representative at Dell who is amazing. We don’t have to work the Dell organizational chart because our sales representative just gets things done. There’s not much to say about the Dell relationship because it is drama-free. Joyent’s relationship with Sun wasn’t. A cloud computing company needs reliable, drama-free supply. It’s that simple.

BTW what Joyent is up to is very cool.

One of the coolest products I’ve seen in a long time is Dell’s XPS One.  Ok, I’m a little biased but still a hard scorer… PC Magazine gave it a 4.5 star rating and an Editors’ Choice award.

It’s Dell’s first all-in-one system, which means the computer, the flat panel, the speakers and the integrated 2 megapixel camera and microphone are all integrated in a single piece.  You don’t have to rush out to buy a new keyboard or mouse on delivery – that’s all included along with a bundle of software.  There is more over at the Direct2Dell blog…

Now, I know those that favor grey boxes over black boxes are going to get into the whole OSX thing vs. Vista.  I actually like Vista.  I’ve found it faster and easier to get about, less temperamental with other devices, and not noticably faster or slower than a MAC. And yes, I know you could run Vista on a Mac but why would I pay the premium for the hardware and then have the hassle and costs of two OSs and application sets.  Screw that.

And I’m tired of all those little updates that flood my PC and Mac care of Apple. Apple has lost the plot here – as their applications proliferate and the platform increases in complexity they start to experience some of Microsoft’s challenges.

It’s an XPS One for me.

I love this idea from Shai Agassi (of SAP fame) who is aiming to create the largest electric car company in the world. Basic concept is that you’ll pay for the electricity, not the car. Much like a phone.  Sounds silly? Not when you consider this:

The cost of the average used car in Europe is now cheaper than the cost of gasoline to drive it for a year.

Paying hommage to Chris’ “Long Tail”, he’s got a blog called The Long Tailpipe.

When will the same be true for computers. The amount I spend on services – internet, basic SaaS apps, wifi roaming… comes close to, or exceeds, the cost of an entry-level notebook.