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How Dell Thinks They've Made The World A Safer Place

Too Much Free Time

from the yeah,-that's-useful dept

Mon, Feb 23rd 2004 9:04am — Mike Masnick
While this has been joked about on various mailing lists and websites, the folks over at Silicon.com are now really making fun of Dell for asking their "big, dumb question" to anyone trying to buy a computer in the US: asking users whether or not the computers will be used with weapons of mass destruction. As you might imagine, if you actually want to buy your computer, it's best to answer no. Of course, folks involved in such production probably know this too and aren't likely to feel compelled to be truthful (and, also, are unlikely to be ordering directly from Dell). However, as the article points out, the situation in the UK is slightly different. There, they point out that they will not sell to those working on weapons of mass destruction (or genocide!) "...without the prior consent of the US or competent EU government." It certainly makes you wonder how they define "competent." It also makes you wonder about the "competency" of whoever put these questions on the site. Why bother?
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  • identicon
    BtG, 23 Feb 2004 @ 10:13am

    How I would love to call up Dell,

    get an order all ready to go and then have this transpire ...
    Dell: Are you going to be using your new PC to make Weapons of Mass Destruction?
    Me: Can you define 'Mass?' -- are we talking 10, 20, 100, thousands, millions?
    (get horrified answer from offshored worked).
    Me: Oh, well, then no. No I am not making weapons of *Mass* Destruction, at least not by *your* definition.

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Dr. Don Blake, 23 Feb 2004 @ 10:25am

    Dell's WMD policy

    Well, it's as laughable as asking you if you packed your own luggage at the airport or
    "What is the purpose of your visit?" at the border, but as Silicon.com states, "Dell's intentions are laudable." It's kind of a damned if you do, damned if ya don't kind of thing.
    Too bad they didn't offer any solutions to how
    it could be handled ... maybe corporations could have their own Black Op teams to track
    and retrieve machines found in enemy countries via GPS trackers in EVERY box sold ;-)

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Matt, 24 Feb 2004 @ 5:42am

    weapon of mass destruction

    well bang goes my dieting software

    [ link to this | view in chronology ]


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