Don't Overlook Dell's Desperation in Retail Move

Business Week, like many, did not do this. It ended up with a pretty vapid and positive take on the strategy. The first quote it used is from a press release -- a Wal-Mart ode to how great things will be, a little ditty about how the companies expect high "consumer feedback and purchase response."

"Purchase response" is classic, useless jargon. And not the right words to set this news against. But Business Week goes on breezily, taking its cue from the press release in talking about how the move will be great for all involved.

Crows Business Week: "The move helps Wal-Mart bolster its electronics business and gives Dell a new venue for PCs outside of the faltering direct-sales arena."

The Associated Press, which also does not use the appropriate verbal measuring stick, did not know what to make of the move. It planted both feet firmly in the air with this classic example of the on-the-one-hand-on-the-other-hand form of journalism that gets you no closer to the truth than a throw of the dice.

Its headline, apparently after the interviewing of a grand total of two analysts: "Analysts Not Sure Dell's Retail Plans Will Lead to Improved Profitability." If you think that headline was the definition of ambivalence, the article presses the point: "Lehman Brothers analyst Harry E. Blount in a client note was ambivalent."

Harry, my boy, this is the sort of business endeavor or partnership that is going to either work to save a company or fail miserably. There is no way to nuance meaning out of this. Anyone who cannot form an opinion on this one deserves to have his work outsourced to someone who can at least competently flip a coin.