Dell is doing something right.
Monday, 1. December 2008, 00:46:19
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I've never bought a Dell computer, and really haven't spent much time considering them as an option. I've had no reason to discount them. But when I find a company I like, I stick with them until they give me reason to go looking. Outside of my $450 Acer laptop (currently running Hardy Heron), I've bought my computers from Gateway for a quite a few years.
In early 2007, Dell started IdeaStorm; a forum for users to make product and strategy suggestions that could be voted on by other users, and possibly implemented by Dell. When someone suggested they offer a desktop with Ubuntu pre-installed, the post became the rage on Digg, which is how I found out about IdeaStorm. Dell released the Ubuntu desktop, and their image was invigorated in the eyes of many geeks... like me.
However, there was no laptop available. So, I made the suggestion; here. Posted, incidentally, the day after I took the plunge and committed to using Ubuntu as my primary, daily OS. Mine wasn't an original idea - I just happened to be the first to submit it, I guess. It wasn't even a popular suggestion. My post got about 380 votes, whereas some of the more popular ideas have garnered 30,000-plus. Dell would have released an Ubuntu laptop eventually, based on the success of Ubuntu desktop sales - regardless of anyone's submission to the community site. It's just the next logical step.
I forgot about my post, as well as my virtual promise to purchase an Ubuntu laptop if one were offered by Dell. Two weeks ago, I got an email from the Dell Community, expressing appreciation for my providing an idea that was later implemented, and requesting my address. They wanted to send me something "we know you'll enjoy."
I assumed it was a scam, and went to the Dell Community homepage. I found contact info for the woman whose name closed the letter. I wrote her using the Dell email address from the site, and she verified the authenticity of the original email. I gave her my address, and told my wife I might be getting a shirt or pin from Dell. Of course, I secretly hoped for a computer delivered by a unicorn. What actually came was somewhere in between the two extremes.
FedEx rang my doorbell yesterday, and look what I got:
Thats a customized Parker pen (my favorite brand), with a nice box, and four shopping bags made from post-consumer waste.
Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical Ltd. and head of Ubuntu, said this summer, "I think the great task in front of us in the next two years is to lift the experience of the Linux desktop from something stable and usable and not pretty, to something that's art." In the same conversation, he talked of the iPhone and the role subdued hardware takes in spotlighting the operating system.
While Canonical provides technical support for Ubuntu, it's not a name many new converts would feel comfortable with. Canonical? Ubuntu? The first thing my wife thought of when she saw my IdeaStorm gifts, was that Dell could be very good for consumers new to GNU/Linux computing. She said, "I know Dell has good technical support." I asked her about Canonical, and she didn't recognize the name - despite her using Ubuntu exclusively for about a year-and-a-half. I hope an interesting partnership is developing.
Not only is Dell taking cues from us for design and business decisions, they are rewarding contributors with nifty keepsakes and some motivation to actively change our impact on the planet. I have a great respect for the minds behind this, and it reflects very well on the company as a whole. Nice one, Dell. My next
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WIDGETIZE
chaitanya krishnan # 1. December 2008, 09:59
VidaKillian # 1. December 2008, 15:47
Vida Killian
Dell IdeaStorm Manager
Donny # 15. December 2008, 19:30
And you are right about the importance of well known brands that stand behind a product. If someone wants a good reliable laptop with linux, and don't know much else about what they want, they will consider a Dell laptop with Ubuntu, posibly not having a clue what Ubuntu is.
John # 19. March 2009, 11:45
I haven't paid much attention to openSUSE - I have a 10.3 install that I don't really use anymore - but I wonder what they're doing for the cause.
I don't know if anyone can beat the Ubuntu community. Talk about grass-roots.
Donny # 19. March 2009, 13:07
When big companies step into a project it means that they values it enough and think it has a chance of success. People then just follow in their steps.
Ubuntu is pretty big, and they offer a lot. Most of all they offer stability, which is something people need very much - the knowledge that everything installed was tested to work fine when using official packages, and knowing there will be support for at least 6 months, or even three years with the long term distributions.