Dell innovates for real

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 | commentary, news

dell-z Some meaningful innovation coming out of Dell. Its premium Latitude Z has:

a second on-board OS (Linux) and subsystem for instant-on computing:

“Some users Dell surveyed spent 70 percent of their time working in the instant-on mode. Microsoft is sure to take note of that figure. Windows has turned into a clunky, cup holder.”

(Then again, this sub-system is not integrated with the main system. Different OS, different file system, different apps. It’s like having a cheap netbook hacked into your laptop.

This all points to the still-unmet need of a truly instant-on system. I still await the time when our main laptops achieve the instant-on performance of the 1983′s TRS-80 model 100.)

a docking without cables, including inductive charging (is that energy efficient?),
wireless USB (sweet!) and:
wireless display interface (beat Apple to the punch)
a super thin enclosure (Zzzz)
an interesting black cherry finish (ooh aah)
“the right side of the monitor acts as a sort of touch-wheel, letting you scroll through application icons and start applications just by rubbing your finger along the edge of the laptop.”
It reportedly doesn’t work well in this incarnation, but the idea of having more touchable surfaces has potential. (Wouldn’t it have been more convenient to reach along the edge of the base rather than the edge of the display?)
a few other minor innovations

Good for Dell. These premium innovations can be perfected, reduced in cost, and trickle down over time to their lower end hardware.

Take this as a sign that the world is finally learning Apple’s lessons. Consumers will be better off. Product companies better be prepared for more intense competition.

My big question: did Dell pull all of this off in-house? Or did they enlist the help and vision of an external innovation agency?

2 Comments to Dell innovates for real

Steve Portigal
September 30, 2009

I saw (part of) a talk by Joseph Jasinski industrial design manager, Dell Experience Design Group last week at the IDSA conference and given his theme about how to bring design to the C-level in corporations and the success they’ve had doing that, I would expect that these major efforts were done in-house. design =/= Design =/= innovation, sure… but I think this is what he was talking about.

Michelangelo Capraro
September 30, 2009

i think this is great! they do have their moments, but it’s a shame they cant apply this across their entire suite of laptops. i purchased the fastest thing they offered a year ago, and its really so poorly made and buggy. hopefully the latitude line fares better.