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Mark Vena on Dellienware
Edison Trent writes "Tom's Hardware has a piece up on the acquisition of Alienware by Dell in which they've interviewed Mark Vena, Alienware's VP of Marketing, who spilled some interesting beans on the acquisition. Among them is the fact that Michael Dell himself (aka Mr Steve Jobs-alike) supposedly led the acquisition from the beginning (will this force out Alienware management later?), and that Dell will be handling all of Alienwares supplier relationships, including that with AMD. In the more mundane and day to day changes Dell will also be backing Alienware financing of their expensive machines, which is something Alienware couldn't have done before on its own and because Dell will be handling all of Alienwares suppliers the company expects to get more allocation of scarce products such as new graphics cards and ordering an Alienware will no longer be like putting in an order for a car in East Germany."
Dear Editors,
You can, you know, edit the submissions. Holy run-on sentences. To wit:
In the more mundane and day to day changes Dell will also be backing Alienware financing of their expensive machines, which is something Alienware couldn't have done before on its own and because Dell will be handling all of Alienwares suppliers the company expects to get more allocation of scarce products such as new graphics cards and ordering an Alienware will no longer be like putting in an order for a car in East Germany.
This is 5th or 6th grade level writing. Even MS Word would have suggestions to fix it.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Actually, according to Microsoft Word 97, this scores at a 12.0 reading level on the Flesch-Kincaid reading level test ran with spellcheck.
Will you still be able to get AMD processors? AFter all, Dell has a relationship (marriage) to Intel and having a subsidiary buying from the competition could make Intel unhappy....
I'm confused as to why anyone would buy one of these machines. In a world where hardware that is a success is simple, sleek and nice to look at, why oh why would someone want one of the hideous things from Alienware. And then Dell go and buy the company. Yikes.
i wish i was but oh well
When I first saw Alienware, I just thought, "Hmm, so they painted an Antec case green and filled it with high-end parts". When the laptops came out, they caught my interest, but the PCs never did anything for me. That Antec case they've been using has been around since 1997 or so.
User Friendly
Did you just compare Michael Dell to Steve Jobs?
Here's a hint: one wears a turtleneck and makes innovative computer products, the other one is Michael Dell.
Next Time on Slashdot: "Linus Torvalds (Linux's Bill Gates) tells people to use KDE!!!"
The story I heard was that a number of key Dell people defected to Alienware over the past year, and Dell acquired Alienware more to regain these people than the company or the brand. FWIW... -a.
of replacing successful management.
Quite possibly the stupidest thing done in business is acquiring a successful company and then forcing out management that got you there in the first place.
A great example is the airline industry. I used to work for American Airlines and we bought AirCal in the late 1980s, a successful airline. Thinking that somehow we had possessed a magic talisman I suppose, we proceeded to throw the routes to the dogs and our California business went to hell. Then came the establishment of the San Jose "hub" which we did to mainly get coveted Tokyo routes. We signed a deal with the city of San Jose but the deal stipulated that if we ever downgraded San Jose that we could never land in the city again. All was well and good until Southwest came to California (a carrier that also forced us to close up shop in Nashville without a fight).
Within a couple of years Southwest was trouncing our ass and United but one carrier that stood up and fought back successfuly was Reno Air. They put up a great fight with Southwest and did ok. American then suckered Reno Air into subleasing the money losing gates and operations at San Jose and then something amazing happened: Reno Air prospered!
American, thinking like every other arrogant business, bought Reno Air, installed their incompetant management (rife in EVERY legacy carrier which is big reason why they are all hurting so bad now) and Southwest's response was a big "THANK YOU"! American bought their one big competitor and Southwest already knew that American could be taken fairly easily.
Mere possession does not give you advantage, culture does. That is why Southwest is so successful as well as Apple.
"Dude ... you're getting an Alien!"
I'm sure Sigourney Weaver will be first in line.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Those machines look like crap. Dell is going to need more than that to compete with Apple.
I own a Mac and a PC, neither was purchased based on looks. I'm sure Apple marketing would like you to think otherwise, but your computer's look is nice but far from important to most people. Beside's Apple's look is pretty conventional, except for the Mini. It's Mac OS X that looks different and makes people buy Macs, not the case.
I don't know about anyone else, but I would be embarrassed to own a computer that looks like an alien's head.
I'm an AMD user, but if the Core Duo outperforms Athlon and Alienware switches would users care? Would it be inconsistent? No on both. Alienware is about performance. They should not be AMD fanbois and they should sell whatever CPU is the fastest at the time.
everyone can make stupid names like Dellienwarel and the like but to me, if Alienware wanted a parent company, Dell would be the first I would pick. They're the only mass-makers that my institution hasn't regretted buying from. Low maintenance, I think about 1 out of 100 are shipped with something wrong with them. I won an Alienware in a gaming tournament. It wasn't better than my current rig but it was nice. I unpackaged it to take pictures for ebay and I was very impressed with it overall. Dell takes the same care for each computer even though they sell for much lower. This *should* lower Alienware's prices due to supply costs being cut. If so, this will put one hell of an edge on the market for them. I think of Dailmer-Chrystler, now that they merged European cars have boommed all over the nation. Same thing's going to happen with Alienware. My question is, is XPS going to compete with Alienware in good manner?
Who is that masked man?
Dell is better off shutting down, and giving the money back to its shareholders....
;-) For the record I own a Mac and a PC, and I know Dell does not supply all PCs. creative license.
[humor]
But where would 97%, errr - excuse me - Apple's been on a run - 96% of the public get their computers?
[/humor]
Hey, one lame joke deserves another.
More importantly, with Apple's recent nosedive in stock price, 30% in three months - 86.40 to 59.96 you probably don't want to advocate Macs and mention stocks in the same post. This nosedive occured as they were introducing some of their best computers ever. Apple's recent success has little to do with their computers, it's *iPod* that is making Apple. Without iPod they would probably be successful, have a slightly better image due to the Apple store and it's reminding the public they are still around and worth considering, but they would not be gathering all the attention they currently are. There may be no halo effect for computer purchases but their is a halo effect for the media. iPod gets the media to cover Apple's computers far more than they would have otherwise.
I realise you were not being serious, but despite that... If the shareholders wanted their money back, they could just sell the shares.
Dellienwarel
Hey, don't confuse me with Darrel McBride-like references.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
Nice.
p okesperson-and-aliens please point your browser to this little gem.
And for some more humor-based-on-everyone's-favorite-weed-smoking-s
Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
See UserFriendly's take: http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20060326 :)
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Userfriendly has not been funny in like 5 years. I mean, how many times can you say "microsoft is stupid, linux is the best!" without it getting old?
I am expecting lots of comments about Alienware being probed by "Dell Dough".
All memory of those posts will not be erased from your memory.
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
ordering an Alienware will no longer be like putting in an order for a car in East Germany.
You mean even terrorist sponsoring countries like... *Canada* will be able to get Alienware computers now? Wow, that would be amazing, considering you can't get them shipped up here for love or money for some bizarre reason. All the people I know that have them had them shipped to some border town where they picked them up themselves.
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
1: Intel could Never buy Alienware and force them to become an Intel-only shop.
2: Dell Can buy Alienware because Dell is already in this business and attempting to compete at the top end with their own immensely overpriced ($9,900) system already.
3: It would have been worth it to Intel to give Apple a lifetime supply of Intel processors for Free just to silence their harshest x86 critic. (Maybe they have done exactly that, however, that's a theory for another day.)
4: If Dell switches Alienware over to Intel Conroe processors exclusively in a few months claiming that On This Day Intel is the best choice, therefore we are going to use them Forever Forward, this will not spawn any anti-trust suits because Dell is simply making a business decision.
5: Dell is now Intel's friend forever, and gets as good a deal with new processors as Apple is clearly seeming to be getting.
I know I left that tin foil hat around here somewhere.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Nah, I can't count the number of times I've seen people look at a mac, say "ohh pretty!" and go get one. Its true, I'm from a pretty rich suburb, but there's plenty of people who buy macs just cause they're hot.
with great power comes great...uh...opportunity
Whoa....why make up silly names when everyone knows Dell and Alienware together make Delaware. All we want is for ID software to merge with Yahoo, and we will have IDahoo! Now its all making sense, those state names were not based on native tribes afterall.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Observe: Java is slow and sucky.
I am trolling
Those machines look like crap. Dell is going to need more than that to compete with Apple.
Dell already sells something like 10 computers for every Macintosh sold. I don't think Dell is all that worried.
Heh, AC, your jealousy is showing.
Your first point seems to indicate that you're using the OEM software load. Wow, sure sounds like you've been "computing" for 22 years.
Why on earth would OEM vs OTS software matter? More importantly, why would this indicate anything about anyone's experience. My Dell issue can be summed up in two words: hardware problem.
Your second point.. Jesus, chill with the fucking USB devices. You only have so much power for the bus. Get a nice powered USB hub and stop bitching.
Since my HP laptop ran with a similar number of devices there is nothing to say I am doing anything wrong here. But I appreciate your wisdom-at-a-distance.
Also, if it can't handle this many devices, why have this many (7) USB ports?
Your third point, I will say, is a legitimate complaint. You should learn how to deal with techs, though. These are all common problems with computers. Someone who claims to have been in the game as long as you should know how to handle them.
The so-called techs are impossible to deal with -- total denial city. How does one deal with someone who totally denies that there is a hardware problem? Wait, that would be you too.
I come here for the love
Ever hear of a company called Sager? Paint their high-end laptops green, add $500 to the price and you've got an Alienware laptop.
ah, I can't count the number of times I've seen people look at a mac, say "ohh pretty!" and go get one. Its true, I'm from a pretty rich suburb, but there's plenty of people who buy macs just cause they're hot.
Your statement is self contradictory, "pretty rich suburb" and "plenty of people". Apple's 3-4% marketshare proves otherwise.
Even among Apple users your statement is nonsense. Most people who buy Macs do so because of Mac OS X, not as a fashion statement. Again, Mini's are the exception regarding "looks", however it's not about "pretty" it's about size.
Except for the Mini... oh and the iMac... wait, actually Apple doesn't sell any consumer desktop computers with a conventional look.
The Mini is the only exception and that has to do with size not style. You can't get much more conventional than an iMac, it looks like a flat panel monitor. That's a great thing, but it is not unconventional looking, it was not even a first from a major PC vendor. If I did not have a couple of good flat panels laying around I may have purchased an iMac rather than a Mini. The PowerMac, a fairly conventional looking tower. Sorry, aluminum and blue LED's don't change the fact that it's basically a rectangular box like most others. If anything it's closer to generic cases, simpler - more of a plain rectangular box, than more stylized cases from major PC vendors.
Car full of midgets!
By now you should have guessed...I'm your magic negro.
People who buy German cars like to be able to specify all the options and customise their car to their liking. They know they are paying more, but feel they are getting a car built just for them.
It is the same with Alienware. People who buy these computers want to customise them. They are high end, expensive, personalised machines - that's their niche. Buyers to not want just another beige box, or that might have well purchased a.... well, a Dell.
I don't make predictions, and I never will.
It's not like Micheal Dell is just tossing money here and there towards a canidate he likes. He spends the max he can on he RNC, Bush/Cheney. He put up millions for fund unregulated RNC events. Like the ignaguaral balls. Speaking of balls, he had the balls to write Gore in 2000 to tell him to not ask for a recount because it was hurting the country.
Sounds suspiciously like a ytcracker rhyme. 'Tis very lol whatever it is.
I have no idea why, but I absolutely love that - even if it is way OT.
+5 from me, if I could mod atm.
I've dealt with Dell from a number of businesses, large and small. Their customer support has always been good: not as good as the guy around the corner who owes me a lot of beer, sometimes, but always several steps up from their competitors. This is true even as they outsource more of it: they seem to be giving the "My name is Mahareesh, but you can call me Jack" first tier tech support enough authority to actually replace parts rather than forcing me through all the "have you done this Windows re-install trick?" on my Linux boxes.
I don't know where you're getting your Dell experience form, but they've been well worth the premium some folks pay for them in a production environment.
slashdot seems to be doing rather well...
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
1111 Race
12112
From repeat calls to Dell support. A totally wasted effort on my part I might add. They have their routine way to pretend to test/troubleshoot things that _just_happens_ to benefit Dell -- wow, what are the odds of that?!
Many others before you have "had good service" for their business PCs. And just as many have admitted that Dell's home PC support sucks.
One person privately emailed me to say he routinely has to damage Dell PCs in order to get Dell to fix them. Buyer beware!
I come here for the love
Yes, that's why the original iMacs, with the terribly crappy OS8, failed so miserably in the market-place.
.
Hmm, my sarcasm meter seems to have exploded.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
"It's Mac OS X that looks different and makes people buy Macs, not the case."
Yes, that's why the original iMacs, with the terribly crappy OS8, failed so miserably in the market-place.
You confuse Apple fanbois and marketing with actual consumers. Mac OS 8 may not be as shiny as X but many people preferred it to Windows. Even with the iMac rev A the advocates *of the day* talked about usability and price. It's look was retro 70s and while some folks liked the look it was *not* what was important to the vast majority of iMac rev A buyers. Things like cost and footprint we important, not bondi blue accents and curved cases.
I find that very hard to believe, mainly because I've used it extensively...
The iMac was vastly over-priced for it's specs, and nobody with remotely human-like hands could possibly use that dammed mouse.
You can say that all you want, but the reality doesn't bare you out. Every rational person remembers how the iMac was marketed on it's looks alone, how it sold better when offered in more colors, how Apple aggressively sued anyone else who came remotely close to imitating the design, etc. Never mind how much of a hassle it was for buyers when they found it couldn't read any of their floppy disks, it was completely lacking legacy ports, there were extremely few USB devices available at the time, etc.
So, I can't really imagine how you could possibly get the impression iMac sold so well based on anything other than looks.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Even if you were correct, which isn't the case:
AAPL 23-Dec-05: 73.35$
AAPL 24-Mar-06: 59.96$
Wich looks more like 20% to me ...
AAPL still looks like the better investment compared to DELL:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=1y&s=AAPL&l=on&z=m &q=l&c=DELL
And to explane the ACs joke to you: He/she was referring to Michael Dell who in 1997 answered the question what he'd do to save Apple: "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders".
This year Steve Jobs sent an e-mail to his employees, when Apples market capitalization surpassed that of DELL on January 13: "Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn't perfect at predicting the future. Based on today's stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve."
...ordering an Alienware will no longer be like putting in an order for a car in East Germany.
Hopefully they'll offer better support. An analogy: Alienware support is to Dell support like a Lada is to an Alfa Romeo. Sure they can both suck, but at least the wait for repair is shorter for the Alfa. I know someone who owned not one, but three Alienware units. The first declared 'lemoned' and replaced. The replacement spent 6 weeks of it's 52 week warranty period at repair. After the warranty was up, the machine became unusable due to overheating. Unbelievably, he went for another. A month after the warranty was up on this one, the LCD quit and they would not repair it. As a responsible admin, I spent countless hours on the phone with them, being referred back to the website for answers, etc., try this and call us back, etc. At least with Dell I got a call center with specific questions that ultimately lead to a resolution even if it took two pots of coffee.
A friend of mine got one of these a while ago. I went to the site and ran through the configuration process to see how much he had paid. I was amazed/aghast to see that one of the options was a "high performance" power cable with "super pure" copper or some such nonsense. They were either $30 or $50 dollars and were a recommended option. These people have no shame. Or may had no shame, it is no longer an option. The alien ice $200 fan for your vid card is still there though... At least you get a cool alien looking grill with your $5 fan.
So, I can't really imagine how you could possibly get the impression iMac sold so well based on anything other than looks.
Mac user/dev since '83 (not a typo, was an Apple II dev so grandfathered into Mac dev program), knew dozens of *users*, ignoring programmers, who bought iMac rev As, I'm going on what they said. Similar stories from retailers. I also tracked the newgroups and forums at the time, similar info. It was price, a great deal on a Mac compared against previous Mac systems. The fact that it was not price competitive against PCs was irrelevant, these people wanted a Mac. It's also irrelevant how Apple marketed the iMac, those commercials were as much to resuscitate Apple's image as they were to sell iMacs. What the marketing people tell you is not reality. People may comment on the look but that is not why they put down their money, they wanted a relatively inexpensive system to run Mac OS. The small footprint was also a factor.
Ok, you excited fanboys, let me drop a final reply on this.
-Nobody is predicting (not me anyway) AMD will be "dead" as result of new Intel microarchitecture.
-All of the critisism of the AnandTech is weakened (in my mind) by the lack of recognition, no matter what nits you want to pick about the level of comparison to the AMD FX cpu that the Conroe is a very competent, competivive design that a sensible vendor might choose to use over the FX.
-Dell has been pretty sucessful with an all-Intel strategy and if (all hyperpole and macho chest thumping aside) Intel's new stuff is comperable or better, why would Dell change if they've indicated they would only do so if they aren't getting what they need from Intel. If they have not done so already and Dell thinks the playing field is about to be leveled -why would they go AMD now?
-Time to do that would have been about a year ago if it was going to happen at all.
So you believe, despite people saying they wanted one because of the looks, they actually wanted one because of other reasons they didn't realize?
I think not. You'll need a lot more evidence than that to convince me (or anyone else, I'm sure).
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
So you believe, despite people saying they wanted one because of the looks, they actually wanted one because of other reasons they didn't realize? I think not. You'll need a lot more evidence than that to convince me (or anyone else, I'm sure).
No, I am saying those who bought a rev A iMac for looks were a small minority of rev A iMac purchasers. That the dozens that I personally met, that people selling Macs in retail, that people advocating Macs on usenet and other forums, considered price/performance relative to older Macs to be far more important. People often commented on the look but it was not a major factor for the vast majority.