(DamThatRiver eventually grew up to become one of those "get what I want and get the hell out of the mall" kind of guys, and now prefers Super Pinball on the Super Nintendo.)

HP does not focus on BBY for their entire business model. HP (like Dell has been) is a major supplier of corporations -- globally. Apple barely has schools now, they are dependent on consumers more than ever before.

Apple is selling a lifestyle image more than their products, regardless of what they say... like Starbucks selling shitty burnt coffee in a nice cafe environment.

Any computer costing 399 is going to be crap regardless of the brand. That we can agree... but HP technically isn't selling a 399 computer in Bestbuy or other mainstream electronics store, that'd be a 399 Compaq now. You get what you pay for, generally.

The cheapest HP in store is typically going to be about 515 for the Slimline in the Bestbuy channel. Even that thing is going to come with 2 gigs of ram, a decent 2+ghz processor, 500 gigs of hardrive space and a 6150 nvida. It's a decent computer.

[consumerist.com]
[consumerist.com]

Just imagine the ones walking in this morning that didn't get the news, wondering who moved their kiosk.

I am far from an Apple fanboy. I was a lead at two different DDS locations and I am about as anti-Apple as you can get. However, bashing the competition NEVER resulted in good sales, and acknowledging your competitor's virtues often earned respect from customers and quite often a sale. I loved getting an Apple customer come up to me because I can turn them to Dell 9 times out of 10, unless they were a complete fanboy.

What I saw from customers was the ultimate devotion to all things Apple, especially when it came to customer service. Meanwhile, they often complained about HP and Compaq right to my face, mainly about their cheap systems they bought in Best Buy. On the other hand, we'd have people complain about our $799 1520 but then be perfectly fine with plopping down double that on a Macbook.
My point was not to praise Apple's product, but rather their approach. Yes you can find them in Best Buy but they are far from relying on that channel. Instead they focus on their store locations to do most of the work for them. Opposite to that is HP who mainly focuses on cheap systems in Best Buy, and then their customers complain when their systems don't work. Can you get a good HP? Sure, if you don't spend $399 on a computer. The same goes with Dell.
If Dell would have concentrated on Apple's approach instead of something like HP's, they might have been more successful and earned their customers back. Instead, they're just going to be another brand on another computer in an endless line of poorly displayed systems presented by badly misinformed sales reps in Best Buy.

Without this turning into a PC/Mac flamewar, I would like to say that iTunes/iPod was not innovative on Apple's part. Creative was first in the hard drive-based mp3 player. Apple made it pretty (e.g. made it sizzle) and sold the hell out of it.

iTunes was not the first media player to incorporate everything into one package. Microsoft, WinAmp...even RealPlayer (shudder!) beat Apple to that. Apple made it pretty and sold the hell out of it.

Luckybob43 got it right about Dell - sell cheaper, ship faster. Another market that China is gobbling up. That's a one trick pony that in the generic PC world (if they run Windows, they ARE a generic PC) has run its course.

Luckybob43 got it wrong about Apple though. They sell much more than sizzle. The iPod wouldn't be nearly the phenomenon it is without the iTunes store. Apple sells an entire package - capability that the consumer wants and can easily use. The fact that they take physical design and quality serious are just extension of their overall philosophy. It's one of the big things that "PC people" have never seemed to grasp. It's also one of the main reasons that Apple has always been one of the largest "PC" makers - even with their tiny overall market share.

@anonymous: I don't think Dell ever wanted to be equated to the Apple model of high-quality. Michael Dell found his niche in making computers faster and cheaper than the competition could.

The company has had its day in the sun. Its business model (just-in-time inventory management) is copied throughout all assembly-line industries, the PC has been commoditized and the laptop is nearly there. Innovation within the PC/laptop industry is swinging back towards technology/design. Dell can not compete in a market that rewards that type of innovation.

Apple's success is in it's marketing and design. There's no innovative technology (save for the iPod, but that's what, seven years old?) at Apple, but there are talented industrial designers and a top-notch marketing team. To borrow an old advertising idiom, they "sell the sizzle, not the steak".

Asus' recent success with the innovations within the Asus Eee PC, however, is something Dell could easily compete with.

HP spends a lot more money on R&D than Dell. Their customer service ratings by independent organizations are much much better than Dell. Their quality is generally higher than Dell, their design is updated, and, unlike Dell, they have Reps in major retail stores over the weekend that know a lot about their products.

As far as your apple fanboyism, I think this video was meant for you Anonymous:
[www.youtube.com]

@ooolam: Sure will. They never charged sales tax here in PA until these silly kiosks started popping up. Whoohoo!

Does it mean no more sales tax when I order from Dell?

Earlier, DDS kiosks could have up to four Dell employees (Dell Badged Reps) with the rest of the hours supplemented by Spherion. When I worked there, it was better to be a Spherion rep at an unsuccessful kiosk than be a DBR at a well-performing one, due to the half-assed commission structure.

Having spent almost a year and a half working these kiosks, it'll be weird walking through my mall and not seeing my kiosk. But then again, the pay sucked, the hours sucked and the cute chicks in the mall were all underage.

There's always Orange Julius...

No severence pay, I should say.

So I guess they're offering the severence deal because they closed them all? When they closed the one my friend worked at it just closed. He went to work, and had no job. No pay or anything.

And they just sent me coupons yesterday..