Regards,
Shri.

Loved the post! This is what makes public “content-management systems” so awesome!

Great post! I totally agree with you. I can’t believe the attitude of some bloggers I used to have respect for.

Great post – one which echoes some concerns that have been brewing in my own mind for some time now. I have come to know Scoble well and Steve Rubel on a virtual basis. In conversations with some of my closest blog buddies over the past couple of months, we’ve frequently remarked that the notoriety and influence these two (and other A-listers) have developed can be used well or poorly. Increasingly, I see the same signs of insularity and elitism creeping into their once-populist voices you discuss in your post.

It’s a pity really because they’re both very sincere and passionate guys. But they’re obviously not immune to “rock star” syndrome and their newfound popularity and credibility is in danger of being compromised by their isolation from the ideas they once championed. It strikes me, even as I write those words, how short a period of time has transpired since most of us started blogging (Scoble is the exception – he was one of the earliest champions of the medium).

I do agree with two of Jason’s thoughts though (disclaimer: I write for a number of his Weblogs, Inc. network of blogs). I think it would be a great move on Dell’s part to join Jarvis’s conversation by publicly replying in the comments on his blog and they should learn from the lessons Jeff is tying to impart to them.

He’s made the point a few times in his Dell Hell threads that he is fully aware of his bully pulpit and how he’s using it in this situation but, unlike the special treatment Scoble and Rubel suggest is the right way to address his complaints, he’s clearly trying to get what he paid for and feels he has not received. He is building a conversation with his readers and it’s a damn shame no one at Dell is smart enough to join in.

Finally, I agree with you completely that it was a huge ommission for all of these A-listers to act as though there was no history behind this situation. All of them preach about the power of the net to build a repository of shared information. It’s disappointing that none of them thought to do some research (in Jeff’s case before buying from Dell in the first place and for the others in looking into and referencing the back story).

You sound like a whiny America-hating Democrat.

Your support of Microsoft is excellent though, I don’t understand the contradiction.

But I think the point that many of these folks are making is not that they should be treated well, but that Dell should be savvy enough to be keeping an eye on what’s being said about the company online. There’s no evidence of that out there that I can see. Those who seem to advocate better treatment are perhaps skipping a step in their narrative — that Dell should at least SEE the fire and, logically, make attempts to put it out . . . or do something, anything.

Steve Rubel’s mantra is that companies should blog and be aware of the blogosphere. He probably felt he didn’t need to say that in this case; he jumped to the end result, from points A to C, which makes it seem like he’s advocating special treatment. What he’s advocating is that Dell be aware and be smart about their public relations, which they don’t appear to be.

Dell’s been in this situation for a long time. Whenever you talk to their execs, they always calmly say they are either a.) aware of issues and we’re taking steps to fix them, or b.) we’ve taken steps and they are getting better now.

But it’s not getting better. It seems to be getting worse. And what’s even worse — and what’s typical of a company that gets too big — is that Dell isn’t aware of it, and has gotten defensive about it. When it comes to customer service, that can be a death spiral.

Second, one thing EdBott.com has made clear over the history of his blog is that with search engines how all blogs are equal. The significant difference is among those who do the research and post interesting, factual, and thought-provoking content on their blogs as opposed to most — myself included — who use a blog as a journal or as a tool to merely opine. I presumed the former is considered an A-lister, but “Survey says!” it’s the latter.

Finally, I won’t write anything on my blog I don’t also share with the company or developer, and I’m constantly surprised at how many contact me for further feedback, negative or postive. Jeff, Steve, Jason, et al. are attacking the symptom, not correcting the underlying problem, as Ed suggests. Good customer service manifests itself not in treating “A-listers” differently, but getting Dell to fix problem systems. Since that doesn’t appear to be happening, nor is it causing Dell stock or sales to drop, your best action is to refrain from buying a Dell product the next time.

Laptops are such delicate things when it comes to heat and weight. I rather go with a company who has experience building them.

What Dell did here though was idiotic.

I want to clarify this post by adding that I feel all issues raised on blogs are important to address – especially if they share a commonality. In Jeff’s case, however, there’s no doubt he has a bigger megaphone, which ups the need to act with urgency.

I’ll stand by what I said. Writers — particularly if they work without an editor to draw things out of them — often address things in shorthand, presuming readers know the backstory or their overall mantra. I think in most cases that’s what happened here — but I WILL allow that too often tech writers get special treatment and some actively seek and expect it. That’s just plain wrong.

Jeff’s comment: “Their media people were not reading the media that matters…this page is already No. 5 in Google under Dell sucks.” This is implicit about him being A-List, but he’s saying Dell should be looking at what Google is saying other people think is important about Dell. That’s a marketing lesson. (You can interpret that as Jeff saying he’s important, but Google is saying that other people link to Jeff.)

Jason’s comment: I agree with you.

Scoble: This is a marketing comment Scoble is making. He’s not per se saying Jeff deserves better treatment. He’s saying that Dell could use someone who has a bully pulpit for marketing purposes by treating them better. Scoble’s comment is directed at Dell about Jeff, not inflating Jeff’s importance.

Rubel: Again, marketing advice.

I won’t engage in talking about A-list bloggers and their behavior. (I score as about a B-plus-list blogger from my Wi-Fi blog, and I get no special privileges, invitations, or other perqs. Just traffic and ad reveue.0

But most of this discussion is about how Dell could better position itself.

As for critizing Jeff because he bought a product from a major brand that dominates the industry–sure, he should have done more research. But goddamn it, it’s not his fault that Dell has apparently betrayed every bit of its commercial obligations to him.

I don’t want Jeff to get special treatment. I want Dell to read the Web and understand their business is going down the toilet.

I don’t own any Dells. I have an eMachines laptop that I love (from Aug. 2003) and two generic PCs (one Windows, one GNU/Linux) that I assembled from parts.

And these guys are allowed to vote!