- 2005.02.08
Following
a link from Slashdot, I read "Dell
prices out of whack, security company fights back" at
InfoWorld, which contained this little gem:
"Reader Mark C. ... discovered something curious: Dell.com was
charging different prices for identical products. Depending on the
link he followed, the 256 MB SIMM cost either $88 (Small Business),
$99 (Home & Home Office), or $110 (Medium & Large
Business). A Dell spokesmaven says that's just the way they do
things: Each segment sets its own pricing, and consumers are free
to pick the one that's cheapest..."
Which inspired me to share with you a recently uncovered
corporate memo from Dell which we here at the Lite Side like to
call
Dell Price List for 256 MB SIMM
Price per module unless otherwise noted. Simply identify which
group you belong to!
$-500,000 - Bill Gates, keep those CIO's happy. We'll look out
for ya Bill
$-50,000 - CIOs of large companies
$-4,000 - CIOs of small companies
$-4.98 - Larry the Computer Guy who works for you part-time down
at the Suds Shack
$0 - Purchasers of a Dell
Confabulation
$1 - Any customer thinking of abandoning Macs for PCs
$1.98 - That guy who knows someone who works at Dell
$4 - Donut guy in the coach in the Dell back lot
$13 - Teachers
$22 - Guys Who Wear Wingtips to Meetings Involving the
Budget
$45 - Plumbers and other service professionals
$88 - Small Business
$90 - Windows XP users who have not applied SP2
$92 - Linux users
$99 - Home and Home Office
$104 - People who work at Home Part Time but Work at a Small
Business the Rest of The Time
$110 - Medium and Large Business
$159.99 - People who buy things from shopping networks
$290 - School IT Departments in districts with over 50,000
students
$429 - Users of Microsoft Bob
$549 - Me
$623 - Web shoppers not using IE
$942 - Mac Users
$1,100 - Steven the Dell Dude (thanks for nothing, pal)
$1,349 - Mac Users shopping via the Web, not using IE (in
addition to Mac tax of $942) because, after all, it costs more to
develop RAM for the Mac
$2,093 - Attorneys
$5,892 - Manufacturers of Windows-based sewing machines (per
gross)
$11,318 - U.S. Military (each, hardened against electromagnetic
impulse)
$1.2 million - NASA (purchased and launched about 15 years ago;
current value including inflation)
$8.5 million - Lottery Winners
$12.5 million - Office of Homeland Security
$98.5 million - Donald Trump
$785 million - Steve Jobs
