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The other not-that-nefarious explanation is that laptop brands with the exception of Apple tend to be not that great at merchandising their products. That's wha

The other not-that-nefarious explanation is that laptop brands with the exception of Apple tend to be not that great at merchandising their products. That's what retailers do really well. If selling direct to consumer is only a small fraction of overall sales, having a great consumer experience is strictly not a priority. If a lot of your sales come from corporate or academic IT departments, having a great catalog website for consumers is not a priority.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
That's a great point. Banking UI's tend to be disastrous partly because banks think IT is for 'back office' - not part of the product. So it always mundane. Does the minimum.
- j-c-hewitt 8y ago
  It shouldn't be a shock that most of the people who buy something like Lenovo or current-day Dell are not individual consumers buying a single laptop. So the experience for individual consumers is not that great. Their best customers are IT departments ordering 200+ units at a time. Go on Amazon, Newegg, B&H, eBay, or other higher quality computer retailers as an individual shopper and you will probably have a better experience buying any of the brands mentioned in the parent article. It might even be easier to buy direct from the manufacturer on eBay than it would be to use their own website and it's probably easier to get a Paypal refund than a refund through the manufacturer's own website. One reason why Apple has had such incredible success in capturing market share is because they focused on creating a better direct to consumer experience. That is also why Dell had some great success when Apple stumbled in the late 1990s. They had an awesome eCommerce experience and great technical support.
  - sonnyblarney 8y ago
    Dell sells enough laptops directly to consumer that it should be a good experience.

4 ms·

The other not-that-nefarious explanation is that laptop brands with the exception of Apple tend to be not that great at merchandising their products. That's wha

by j-c-hewitt 8y ago

sonnyblarney 8y ago
That's a great point. Banking UI's tend to be disastrous partly because banks think IT is for 'back office' - not part of the product. So it always mundane. Does the minimum.
- j-c-hewitt 8y ago
  It shouldn't be a shock that most of the people who buy something like Lenovo or current-day Dell are not individual consumers buying a single laptop. So the experience for individual consumers is not that great. Their best customers are IT departments ordering 200+ units at a time. Go on Amazon, Newegg, B&H, eBay, or other higher quality computer retailers as an individual shopper and you will probably have a better experience buying any of the brands mentioned in the parent article. It might even be easier to buy direct from the manufacturer on eBay than it would be to use their own website and it's probably easier to get a Paypal refund than a refund through the manufacturer's own website. One reason why Apple has had such incredible success in capturing market share is because they focused on creating a better direct to consumer experience. That is also why Dell had some great success when Apple stumbled in the late 1990s. They had an awesome eCommerce experience and great technical support.
  - sonnyblarney 8y ago
    Dell sells enough laptops directly to consumer that it should be a good experience.