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Michael Dell Steps Down as CEO
A whole lot of readers made sure we knew that Michael Dell is calling it quits as CEO of Dell, and has named Kevin Rollins, the current president and chief operating officer of Dell, as his successor. Rollins will retain the title of president, but Michael Dell hasn't left completely. He's still planning on sticking around as chairman of the board.
Dell said at Oracle conference in SF last year that SUN and HP spend too much on overrated research and development and consequently are driving the cost of their systems up even higher.
He should be fired now.
Why doesn't Michael Dell become a school teacher like Woz and actually make a difference in someone's life. He doen't need money but he could do something personally enriching.
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Dell is nothing more than a glorified Northgate (or Everex, whatever).
Actually, IIRC, Dell was the one of, or the, first companies to market computers directly to consumers, which basically revolutionized the computer market.
I listened to a speech by Michael Dell in which he started the company with $1,000.
Now that's skill.
--Happy Dell customer
Most of Mr. Dell's money is in the company. Sure, he's taken a lot out, but the majority of it is in his Dell stock.
.-.--
In a related (and 100% true) note:
Two weeks ago I cancelled an order for a $1400 projector with Dell because that morning they send me an email saying the projector would be shipping in the middle of March. 15 minutes on hold and the call is disconnected by gremlins. Next try: 45 minutes (yes, really) on the phone and the order is cancelled. I'm a little steamed at this point about the phone time but oh well.
Three days after that I got an email from Dell saying that the projector had shipped. I call Dell. 20 minutes (quick this time, ROFL) later I have my marching orders: "when the projector arrives just refuse delivery". Sounds good to me. I am only slightly pissed off.
The projector arrives two days early so my "DHL: I refuse delivery of Dell's package" sign is not yet hung up on my door. DHL leaves the package on my doorstep. This is a $1400 item, shipped without "signature required". WTF? Now I am annoyed.
The next day I call Dell. Hold time is less than 3 minutes but it still takes 30 minutes for the Customer Care chick to arrange DHL pickup at my house. At the end of the call she asks, "are you satisfied with Dell's service in this matter"? I laugh, exert all my force of will to refrain from swearing, and say "no I am not ".
The next day the package is picked up. Finally! I assume in 2 weeks Dell will charge my VISA for the order and I'll get to do it all again.
Be happy. Nothing else matters.
Just because a SMB (small- to medium-size business) doesn't need systems running RAID arrays that can survive multiple simultaneous drive failures [which Compaq pioneered]
Actually, no, they didn't do all the RAID pioneering in the PC world. The DDA was an in-house-designed product that was pretty darned nifty for its time, and resulted in quite a few patents for the people who worked on it.
Back in the early 90s, Dell was actually shaping up to be a formidable engineering company in its own right. We (I worked there at the time) designed and debugged our own motherboards and ASICs, and Dell was the first PC vendor to come out with an 80486 workstation, beating Compaq (who was famous for being first with the 80386) to the punch.
People around here seem to be selling Dell short as an engineering outfit, and that's not entirely fair or accurate. After it became clear that the PC was a commodity, Dell's engineering efforts were redirected at manufacturing and support processes rather than the products themselves, and that's when they really started to kick butt. No one -- not HP, not Compaq, not IBM -- proved able to compete with Dell's process engineering talent.
Dahlmann tightly grips the knife, which he may have no idea how to use, and steps out into the plain.