Dell VP Says: Have it Steve Jobs’ Way or Your Way

Nicole Martinelli ()

A personalized Dell laptop: better than "Steve's way?"

A personalized Dell laptop: better than "Steve's way?"

In a shameless rip off of the Burger King slogan, Dell wants customers to know you can have your computer, your way by personalizing it with some fugly case designs.

“You can have it Steve Jobs’ way or you can have it your way,”  Ed Boyd, VP of consumer experience design told journalists last week while promoting Dell’s Design Studio.

Launched in 2008, the customization program will boost its current offer up to 350 designs and patterns plus team logos and colors. The images are imprinted on the computer with a sub-surface image that penetrates the shell and wraps around the laptop — so the Dell logo is still visible.

Picture 3
Design Studio customization, which will go worldwide next summer, tacks $85 on to the cost of a Dell laptop.

Apparently, Boyd doesn’t think people who fancy a bit of customizing are smart enough to put some cool stickers on their Macs instead.

DON'T MISS
Scads and Scads of Shuffle Art

Via Technology Marketing

10 comments »

About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

If you're doing something new/cool that's Apple related, email her about it.

(sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)| Read more posts by .

Posted in Mac, News |

  • Joe-bin

    I started to customize a 74 Ford Pinto back in the day. I realized no matter what I did to pimp it out it still sucked. 3 words as I’m staring at my 2 months new Dell workstation…. Dells suck!

  • Henry

    Wow. I’ve done lots of case covers for users of all kinds as a sign shop manager, and we don’t even charge that much for a laptop case! It’s less than a square foot of ink and vinyl… The material is only $2.50/sqft with another $1.50 for ink and lam plus the markup, and it takes less than ten minutes to apply! What the hell are they charging for? That’s more the cost for your local shop to do a full tower + monitor wrap. :/
    What happens when they get tired of the design, do they have to send their system back, or are they SOL?

  • Charlie

    http://www.gelaskis.com

    Cheaper, and they’re Removable!

    I have one on my iPhone, my Mac, and my DS. LOVE em.

  • Aaron Barton

    Those customized Dells are hideous. Who would want something so garish when there’s a sleek and modern aluminum alternative that works better and is more reliable and user-friendly?

    I’ll stick with my Mac. I think Steve Jobs’ way is just right for me.

  • DellPHAIL

    The first one, is the ugliest sh!t i`ve ever seen.

  • Ictus75

    BARF!

  • Fuzzypig

    I assume these are the rejects?!

    Alright assuming you have something slightly less vulgar, they still look pretty tacky. Some people just have a need to draw attention to themselves but don’t have the guts to simply scream “Look at me! I’m sad and lonely! Love me! LOVE ME!”.

    You might pay a bit more for sleek, simple design as you do for our favourite brand, but sleek and simple will always be a timeless design idea!

  • Shawn Pero

    So have it Jobs’ way for free, or pay close to $100 to have a gross sticker. And people bash Apple for price gouging.

  • http://www.iancassel.com Ian Cassel

    Thats why everyone will just buy a zaggSkin which has the protection of Invisible Shield with full customization like Skinit.com. Debut in two weeks.

    http://iancassel.com/2009/10/10/zagg-poised-for-big-returns-in-2010/

  • http://sticviews.com Kat Farmer

    Why pay $85 for a permanent solution, when you can pay about $10 for each laptop skin at sticviews.com? I wouldn’t want to get stuck with one particular design, I like to change it up!