Apr. 15, 2008
Computacenter snubs Dell in SME hunt
Channel Register
Kelly Fiveash writes of why Computacenter, a computer services company based in Western Europe, has no plans of offering Dell products.
“Computacenter e-business director James Pelham-Burn told The Register that the company will continue working with all the “normal vendors” such as HP with whom the reseller has fostered a cosy, long-term relationship, but added that it was in no hurry to start selling recent channel convert Dell. He said: ‘I think Dell has recognised the value that the indirect channel brings to customers and they’ve recognised that they absolutely have to play there. You know their growth stalled and they found that there was a natural limit on what people were willing to buy.’”
Your electric vehicle is too quiet; Congress may force it to be louder>
Techdirt
Mike Masnick looks at what U.S. Congress may soon enforce on electric cars and why.
“Congress is now looking at requiring electric vehicles to make additional noise to stop people from driving so quietly. Apparently, the real fear is that pedestrians can’t hear these quiet cars, since we’re all used to at least a certain level of engine noise that just isn’t present. The whole thing seems rather silly. While the desire for safety is understandable, forcing these vehicles to make an unnecessary noise seems pretty extreme.”
Yahoo-Google agreement could drive up ad rates
Wired
Betsy Schiffman looks at a couple of the different possible outcomes involving Yahoo.
“Either it gets hitched to Microsoft after a long, drawn-out engagement, or it marries AOL and outsources its search to Google. Federal regulators will likely have a heyday with either scenario, but advertising veterans say a Yahoo-AOL-Google agreement could drive up search ad rates overnight. And that, of course, would increase regulatory scrutiny.”