Dell has fallen far from its 1990s exalted grace. Wunderkind of the PC industry, Dell boasted the most desired PCs, the best manufacturing process, and great profit margins. Something went awry, and the company gained a reputation for poor quality, poor customer service, a total lack of innovation, and more recently, cheating customers.
When it became clear in early 2010 that Apple's iPad would be a runaway hit, Dell jumped onto the new trend, announcing the Dell Streak, a device larger than a smartphone but nowhere near the size of a tablet. It was to be similar to Nokia's E90: a personal communicator device that could browse the Web. In other words, it was a smartphone.
Using a nontablet version of Android, the Streak is a slow performer and is too small to be useful as a tablet, but too big to be as mobile-convenient as a smartphone. Dell still sells it, but the Streak is dragging on the side of the road, hoping to limp along until it can get some help. For Dell, that help appears to be a proper tablet using a proper version of Android, some time in 2011 -- just when everyone else releases theirs. We'll see if anyone gives Dell a second chance.
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