For 23 years, Dell has been the leader in “configure-to-order.” When you by a desktop or laptop from dell.com you are in charge of your destiny – at least this small part of it. You can pick and choose any number of components. For some, this is the only way they will buy a PC.
Last year, Dell took that ability to customize a PC and added a “personalize” twist – you can still choose what goes “under the hood” but better yet you can also select your “paint job,” be it Flamingo Pink, Midnight Blue, or Mike Ming’s “Red Swirl.” Response has been enthusiastic – on average, seven out of every 10 laptops that ship out are a color other than basic black.
So, how can we improve on this whole “Yes! It’s mine!” theme?
Today, only on Dell.com, you now have the option of getting favorite music and movies pre-loaded on your new desktop or laptop. We’ve teamed up with some entertainment industry giants: Universal Music, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Bros., etc. to create “hand-picked” music and movies bundles that can seed an instant digital library. No need to download or rip CDs – it’s there the very first time you boot up your computer – just click on the “music” or “movie” icons on the Dell Dock and voila! your music and movies listings appear, neatly organized and ready to play! And here’s another thought – with a starting price of $25 for 50 songs, you get twice the music for your money versus other music services. The movie bundles are a bargain too – three (or four) movies, starting at $25. The bundles are grouped by series (e.g. all of the Matrix movies) or by genre – comedy (Who can resist the Blue Steel pose?), romantic comedy, and children’s movie bundles.
For those of you interested in some of the more seminal details: the pre-installed music are DRM-free MP3s, and so will play on the software or hardware player of your choice. The movies on the other hand are licensed – and this is where our other team member, CinemaNow, plays an important part: CinemaNow handles license management. The first time you play a movie, the system will contact CinemaNow and acquire the license to the movie. I strongly encourage you to do this for a couple of reasons – think of it as proof of purchase. Should something happen (heaven forbid) and you “lose” your movie, by having registered the license you have access to a backup. This leads to the second reason –with the license you can also transfer the movie to other PCs and devices – the number depends on the movies / studio – so read the fine print for more details on that.
Let’s see – anything else? Oh yeah, this is only the beginning. I know some of you are going to look at the bundles and think that maybe these selections aren’t quite up your alley. (What? You haven’t really checked out the nitty-gritty details just yet? Head to www.dell.com/musicandmovies now.) We understand this is about you – reflecting your tastes, your passions, your secret indulgences. We will be regularly adding to and refreshing our selections, and of course looking forward to hearing about what you’d like to see in the future.
(BTW, I’ve seen the “roadmap” and by the end of this year I expect we’ll “make you an offer you can’t refuse.”)
October 23rd, 2008 at 10:56 pm
You forgot the country music selection. Hint, Hint.
October 24th, 2008 at 9:40 am
I’m right there with you and the “M&M’ team has assured me they’re working with UMG to take care of this in the next update or so (your comment has validated making it happen). We are also investigating if/how we might be able to make these available after purchase, but don’t see that happening in the immediate future. Thanks for the feedback!
October 24th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Ann, I forsee Dell being able to download the music or create a disc to sell to consumers that already own a Dell pc. It could be set up using the existing service tag number. As far the movies it would work the same as you have stated above. The download or disc could install every thing needed including the desktop icons.