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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stock bull who wrote (65261)	9/12/1998 5:49:00 PM
From: Dennis	Respond to of 176387

I checked out IDOT.com. I was impressed....seemed very straight forward and easy to use. Weird, I just mentioned to someone the other day on the thread that a company could just start from square one with an IPO. How long has this one been around. I saw a commercial today on TV. BTW, has anyone heard of SNAP.com???? Good Luck All

To: stock bull who wrote (65261)	9/13/1998 7:59:00 AM
From: WBC	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

I don't think that this is a direct competitor to Dell even though they exclusively sell over the Internet. It's seems more like a "Mom & Pop shop" clone manufacturer with a good web page. Their physical size, financial backing and management history look like they are in it for the short run. Thin margins is a short term strategy, especially for a start-up.

To: stock bull who wrote (65261)	9/13/1998 8:07:00 AM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Respond to of 176387

stock bull, I know a lot about competitors trying to enter this business because I worked closely with Power Computing last year (who in case people dont remember was an Apple clone maker - but irrespective of that they were the fastest growing computer company ever at the time). There are just too many subtle barriers to entry in this business which eventually exclude these new players - many analysts dont see it but it is there. For example at the time Power wanted to use the new tillamook chip in some products, but without the tremendous volume of a Dell or cpq you cant get any... and the scm systems are too expensive to implement from a smaller player so the automation isnt there, etc. and with the 4% margins you just cant be profitable. This is a big player, economies of scale business now and we've moved beyond the mom and pop boxmakers as real competition. Not saying they wont make it (on their own terms) but these companies are insignificant to Dell. Michelle

To: stock bull who wrote (65261)	9/13/1998 11:49:00 AM
From: mrknowitall	Respond to of 176387

stock bull - it is interesting, but I would assert that given the almost continuous growth of a market like computers, the opportunities for niches grow proportionately. As to their success, there are too many factors to list in a post, but I would say that any success in a small niche attracts attention of larger players and wanna-be copycats. Mr. K.

To: stock bull who wrote (65261)	9/13/1998 8:29:00 PM
From: Ken Beal	Respond to of 176387

Their interface is terrible. You have to keep clicking when you want to configure things, and that wastes bandwidth and annoys the user who keeps waiting for graphics to appear (even with a one-way cable modem). I like the Dell model a lot better, where you can have everything on the page at once and you select the options, then click reprice -- which minimizes bandwidth. My money's on Dell. Cheers, KenB PS Even better: write a Java applet to do the pricing, like carpoint.com has.