Dell iPod Remains a Dream for Now

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 12 Nov 2008

According to a Dell blog statement, the company will not launch an iPod-like device by Christmas, or any other time in the near future for that matter. With the winter holydays just around the corner, launching a new Dell music player would have made sense, especially if you consider that Michael Dell, the founder and brains behind the company, announced back in 2007 plans to make Dell products appealing again. The words that he used at the time were “product lust” – well, it seems that the lust has taken a turn for frivolity in the music player’s case.

Dell blogger Jay Pinkert had to come out and release the following statement: “As we said a few months ago, our strategy focuses on content offerings and delivery platforms that mix Zing software, remote access and pre-configured media bundles across all of our devices, including licensing agreements with entertainment distributors. It has never been about a music player,” simply because the rumors were getting out of control.

They say that if there is smoke, then there’s fire, and here is how that saying applies to the Dell music player rumors. Back in 2006 Dell stopped producing its popular mp3 player line called DJ Ditty. The following year, two things occurred. The first one is that Dell purchased software manufacturer Zing (better known for its video and audio live streaming software). The second thing is that Michael Dell came out and told the world that Dell’s music players will make a comeback. Put all these elements together, add a little pinch of winter holiday craziness, and a rumor is born.

The most interesting part of this whole situation is that Dell will continue working on the Zing software. Why would they do that if they have no plans to release a music player on the market? We could speculate that such a device will be released sometime in the future, just that no one (including Dell) knows when. We could also speculate that money is still poured into the software simply because it is there – Dell bought Zing and know it must use it, otherwise what would be the point of said purchase?


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