I’d hate to be that kid with the Dell.
From a Which? article comparing Windows 7 and 8 battery life across various notebooks:
The worst battery life on Windows 7 came from the Dell Inspiron 17R, which managed just one hour and 45 minutes of web time.
How can Dell be satisfied shipping crap like this? In 2012?! That battery life figure is just web browsing time, let alone watching videos. I feel sorry for every single individual who owns one of these machines.
Say what you want about Apple, they would never ship something this bad.
Speaking of Gruber, his take on the HP/Android situation matches mine. Quoting Taylor Wimberly, John writes:
It’s a bit of a Hail Mary pass for HP, which has fallen years behind its rivals in the mobile space. It’s also a big win for Google, which adds another powerful partner to the Android ecosystem.
And a loss for Microsoft. This might add some context to Microsoft’s recent investment in Dell — HP seemingly doesn’t see a future in Windows or Windows Phone.
Microsoft’s stake in the recent Dell buyout is starting to look pretty defensive.
Some interesting information about Microsoft’s involvement in Dell’s plans to go private have surfaced (pardon the pun). Peter Bright at Ars has the story:
According to one of the people involved, "under one scenario being discussed, Dell would agree to use Microsoft's Windows software to power the vast majority of its devices."
Given that this is how Dell already operates, it appears that Microsoft may be trying to prevent any radical reorganization or departure from the PC market. A desire to substantially alter the way the company does business, including breaking its dependency on PC sales, is believed to underpin Dell's desire to go private in the first place.
Maybe they should keep playing with Android. Who’s going to buy this thing?
Here’s another Ars piece, this time written by Sean Gallagher, talking about a new report suggesting Dell might be making some bold changes to turn the company around. It certainly needs it:
Dell has been moving gradually away from its consumer PC roots for the past five years. The company's desktop and mobile computer business has suffered in the global PC-buying slump of the last year. Its consumer segment has been losing money, while the enterprise business outside of PC sales accounts for a majority of Dell’s revenue. But the stock market has been punishing Dell as it has tried to shift focus. The company has lost 43 percent of its market capitalization over that time[.]
So, how’s Dell planning to fix these problems?
[R]elaunching Dell's desktop and mobile business around a brand-new product: a computing device the size of a thumb-drive that will sell for about $50.
What could possibly go wrong?
I think what’s interesting to take away from this story is what I said about the Surface just last week:
The surface, with its Apple-esque 30%+ margins, is a way for Microsoft to keep revenue and profit high, without manufacturers like Asus and Dell paying $50 a pop for a Windows license… Manufacturers who could easily switch to making hardware for Android — which lacks this hefty fee.