So the highlights of our Dell visit yesterday were a trip to the production facility, which is just a mind-numbing configuration of belts and boxes shooting around in all different directions is some type of organized chaos, and a 45-minute drop in Q & A by the one and only Michael Dell. Very cool and very interesting.
Unfortunately, this is one of those wierd new Web moments where I don’t really know how much I can write about what he said. We all signed non-disclosures, and while nothing he said had much to do with future Dell product lines or new ideas, I’m still unsure about what’s good blogging ethics in terms of writing about it here. (Anyone have any direction?) So here are some admittedly tepid observations and comments.
All in all, it was just really interesting to get to spend a few minutes with someone who, like him or not, is one of the most successful businessmen in history and who obviously could have a big effect on what we are able to do in our classrooms.
In general, however, our visit hasn’t pushed my thinking as much as I had hoped it would. In terms of what Dell is offering these days, it’s been quite an eye-opener, and they do have some serious vision for “Intelligent Classrooms” and the like. And it hasn’t all been sales pitch in the guise of “we want to know what you think.” But the solutions they offer aren’t very realistic for a large number of schools, at least not at this point.
More today and then a flight home tonight. By then I’ll have over 500 posts to read in the edblogger section of my Bloglines account. Oy.
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