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> The man who became famous selling computers more cheaply over a newish thing called the internet As is well known Dell started this out of a dorm room in 198

by gist 8y ago

> The man who became famous selling computers more cheaply over a newish thing called the internet As is well known Dell started this out of a dorm room in 1984 and was successful and famous well before the Internet ...

jhayward 8y ago
I'm assuming you mean wide-scale commercial internet service providers and the world-wide web application(s). The internet existed long before 1984.
- gist 8y ago
  'Wide scale commercial' is what is implied in the article. I don't think Dell sold many computers over the 'internet' that existed in the 1980's. [1] Edit: Here you go (wikipedia): "PC's Limited advertised the systems in national computer magazines for sale directly to consumers, and custom assembled each ordered unit according to a selection of options. This offered buyers prices lower than those of retail brands, but with greater convenience than assembling the components themselves. Although not the first company to use this model, PC's Limited became one of the first to succeed with it. The company grossed more than $73 million in its first year of trading. In 1987, the company dropped the PC’s Limited dba to be Dell Computer Corporation and began expanding globally". [1] I used the arpanet so yes I know about the timeline.
jedberg 8y ago
Their revenue and stock price was basically flat until 1996, when they launched their website with direct sales on the web. Then their revenue skyrocketed. It's fair to say that they didn't really get famous until they started selling on the internet in 1996.
- gist 8y ago
  > It's fair to say that they didn't really get famous until they started selling on the internet in 1996 Simply (and with due respect) not true. What are you defining as 'famous'? Michael Dell was definitely famous prior to the internet. Here is an article from the New York Times in 1992 (July 1992). Besides I specifically remember him and stories about Dell from the 1980's. (I am probably much older than you are is my guess..) https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/05/business/the-executive-computer-michael-dell-says-he-s-more-than-ready-for-a-good-fight.html https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/05/business/the-executive-co... Further the article states that sales were 1.7 billion in 1992 (in 1992 dollars that is way more 'today').

by gist 8y ago

jhayward 8y ago

I'm assuming you mean wide-scale commercial internet service providers and the world-wide web application(s). The internet existed long before 1984.

gist 8y ago
'Wide scale commercial' is what is implied in the article. I don't think Dell sold many computers over the 'internet' that existed in the 1980's. [1] Edit: Here you go (wikipedia): "PC's Limited advertised the systems in national computer magazines for sale directly to consumers, and custom assembled each ordered unit according to a selection of options. This offered buyers prices lower than those of retail brands, but with greater convenience than assembling the components themselves. Although not the first company to use this model, PC's Limited became one of the first to succeed with it. The company grossed more than $73 million in its first year of trading. In 1987, the company dropped the PC’s Limited dba to be Dell Computer Corporation and began expanding globally". [1] I used the arpanet so yes I know about the timeline.

jedberg 8y ago

Their revenue and stock price was basically flat until 1996, when they launched their website with direct sales on the web. Then their revenue skyrocketed. It's fair to say that they didn't really get famous until they started selling on the internet in 1996.

gist 8y ago
> It's fair to say that they didn't really get famous until they started selling on the internet in 1996 Simply (and with due respect) not true. What are you defining as 'famous'? Michael Dell was definitely famous prior to the internet. Here is an article from the New York Times in 1992 (July 1992). Besides I specifically remember him and stories about Dell from the 1980's. (I am probably much older than you are is my guess..) https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/05/business/the-executive-computer-michael-dell-says-he-s-more-than-ready-for-a-good-fight.html https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/05/business/the-executive-co... Further the article states that sales were 1.7 billion in 1992 (in 1992 dollars that is way more 'today').