I ran across this article and found that Dell is teaming up to provide ADSL modems out-of-the-box. Any thoughts on ATHM teaming up with PC OEMs to provide cable service with the PC purchase??
joey
Dell Takes A Page From The iMac
Playbook
(09/23/98 11:28 a.m. ET)
By John Borland, TechWeb
Dell took a page from Apple's iMac marketing
campaign Wednesday, announcing a set of preloaded
Internet services aimed at getting customers online
quickly and easily.
The Round Rock, Texas-based company is teaming up
with AT&T WorldNet and Excite to simplify Net
access and to provide a customized Dell start-up Web
page.
And like officials at Apple, company officials are touting
their new computers as a painless on-ramp to the Web.
"One of our goals is to have Dell computers running 15
minutes out of the box, and connected to the Internet
five minutes after that," said Paul Bell, senior vice
president in Dell's Home and Small Business group.
The new Dell services are dubbed ConnectDirect and
will replace the traditional Windows start-up screen
when customers first set up their computers.
Users will be asked if they want to connect immediately
to the Internet and will be given a choice of ISPs.
AT&T's WorldNet will be the first option in the
program, but Dell said it will add other ISPs later.
Once customers get online, they will be taken to a
customized Web home page jointly operated by Excite
and Dell. The service will provide access to Dell's
online service and support, as well as Excite's search,
news, and entertainment features.
Dell will customize the Web start page in the factory, so
users in the home, small business, education, or
government markets will have their own versions of the
site, Excite officials said.
The companies did not release financial terms of the
multiyear deal. The agreement is the second Excite has
struck with a hardware vendor, following a similar
agreement to provide a co-branded start-up page for
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple.
Dell also said the company would begin offering
asymmetrical digital subscriber line modems as part of
the ConnectDirect service later this year. The computer
maker will conduct a joint marketing campaign for the
high-bandwidth connection service with SBC
Communications, officials said.
The computer manufacturer said it is betting the new
service will help attract new computer users to its
machines. Dell has far outstripped the rest of the PC
market in recent months, posting a 50 percent yearly
growth in revenue at its recent second quarter fiscal
report.
The ConnectDirect services will, at first, be available
only on Dell's Dimension line of computers.
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