Dull...No-more

My existing laptop has many stories to tell; only if you have those ears to listen…but how many stories could be created in its lifetime.  There is a saturation point for everything.  Meaning, my laptop does not have any new stories to cook up and I already got bored of listening to its existing ones ever since I bought it, (close to) past two years ago.  Specially, that scary failure of its DVD writer...and those infectious virus attack which are eating up all my files & folders despite of having valid antivirus protection.  So these days I am planning to replace my laptop with a new one.  Well, you should know I am not at all sentimental with my belongings, so I don’t really have any qualms in their replacements for a better deal…he he he

So my last weekend was spent in exploring the market for a better deal.  Now market research is something which most of the time fights with my impulsive purchasing habit…and strangely looses the fight…he he he.  Anyways, while entering an electronic shop, I strangely asked the attendant, “This one is supposed to be an electronic shop right?  I am looking for laptops.”  I asked that question because I saw few paintings on the wall of the shop which appeared to be some creative wall hangings.  The attendant smiled and pointed his fingers towards those wall hangings.  To my surprise, those wall hangings were branded with a Dell logo.  And when I checked it closely, those appeared to be the most creative blend of art, painting, fashion and technology.   And I was like…SURPRIZED…

You all know I have this strange habit of going deep into the reasoning of anything which surprises me a lot.  So I started my research with Dell Laboratories and their marketing strategy.  After going through several websites, magazines and newspapers, I learnt that the man behind this effort is Ed Boyd, one of Dell’s most unusual hires in recent years.  He is an industrial designer who worked earlier with Nike for designing their shoes and sunglasses.  The 43 year young Boyd is trying to make design an integral part of Dell, the personal computer maker long known for cranking out boring gray boxes which were perfect enemies of eye catching creativity. 

Dell is charging an extra premium of $75.00 from it’s customers for attractive designs which would even become customized in future.  This is on top of the basic $699.00 price tag for the company’s budget line portables.  Presently the designs are from Nigerian painter Joseph Amedokpo, South African graphic artist Siobhan Gunning and Canadian designer Bruce Mau.  I wonder, whether Indian artists have gone hibernating these days…he he he…The options for customizing the overall appearance of your future Dell laptops will go far beyond mixing scores of colors, patterns and textures with personalized photographs too.  In the world of computers, Boyd is using his successful Nike approach of letting people design their own sneakers.  He he he…

With the global economy heading towards slowdown and recession thereby forcing consumers to cut down their expenses, it will be a difficult situation to charge any sort of premium for cool designs.  Especially for companies like Dell that don’t have an established reputation for design.  But Boyd is hell bent on taking risks even during the turbulent times of market failure.  May be, that’s why I have started keeping one of my eyes on him to check how insanely creative he can be to generate those additional cash flows from the market, thereby reviving stodgy image of it’s company’s product.   Last year he hired an obscure graffiti artist named Mike Ming to create images for Dell products, a move that worried some of Dell’s straight laced staff.  He also signed off on an undersized keyboard for Dell’s first mini notebook PC, a decision companies founders clearly disagreed with.  However, the sales figures for these limited edition Dell products designed by Ming exceeded the consumer expectations and hence forced Michael Dell to give a green signal to Boyd for continuing his innovation stories. 

Boyd’s design staff has now grown to 120 people scattered from Austin to Miami to Singapore.  There are dozens of PhD’s in his group accompanying Engineering, Computer Science and cognitive psychology experts.  They all follow only one mantra – “Design isn’t just cosmetic.”  He he he…Goodjob Mr. Boyd. 

Although, these cool looking laptops might be a hit in the market and can be very visible in the MBA campuses and cafes, I would still go with those executive looks which actually gel with my personality.  I really don’t know if it would be the studio edition of Dell or some other brand, but I am really convinced by the innovative strategies Dell and Mr. Boyd has chalked out for the company’s image makeover.  Surely, it is Dull no more…he he he…try pronouncing Dull with an E effect in between...he he he…it is Dell from now on…