Scoble's Dell About Face

I gotta say that I'm a fan of Scoble. I like to think of him as Microsoft's Chief Blogging Officer since he likes to prod his colleagues into increased dialog through blogs. And as a corporation, I think MS is way ahead of everyone on that front. MSDN is a very valuable resource for a techie professional like me. From all accounts Robert has been the big cheerleader and I think it's been paying off for Microsoft's customer base.

That's why I was a little surprised to see Scoble posting today about Dell. Essentially reversing his previous position (and through various other posts) lamenting on Dell's closed door policy, needling them along the way. Now he's saying:

I think I was wrong to join in the pile on on [sic] Dell. It's not really fair to beat up a company for not blogging and life isn't fair anyway.

Life may be unfair but it doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue the discourse. Dell is the biggest PC maker out there and they have fallen way out of touch with their customers. Why should Dell be recommended moving forward? You claim their equipment "rocks" and you're a happy customer. However, and this is an important point, do you deal with them as a typical end user when it comes to sales and support?

I have found their support to be nightmarish like many other customers except when dealing with their business lines like the PowerEdge/Latitude/Optiplex. My company was a happy Dell shop until a couple years ago when their equipment became less reliable and their support became the excuse-generator rather than problem-solver. I've sought other vendors and have been much happier.

I no longer advise people to buy Dell equipment and their latest actions solidify that recommendation. Robert, if you're not answering your customer needs, why should you have the industry's leadership role? Microsoft seems to be learning this (in no small part by your efforts) so why are you letting Dell off the hook? Not to be conspiratorial but why the sudden change in feelings?