A few months ago, Michael Dell – the newly returned CEO of his eponymous computer company – said, “We are in the fashion business.” Yowza. Add another notch on design’s bed post.  


Now, according to the FT, Microsoft has issued a research paper with the unlikely title “Fashion meets technology: Welcome to the future of PCs.” The paper’s author, Nadine Kano, writes: “Product differentiation in the PC industry is getting harder and harder to achieve based on technical specs. People have always wanted power, speed and reliability, but these days they can get comparable disk space, processor speed, and Ram (random access memory) from many PC manufacturers. To get something unique, people are now looking for style.”  


Meanwhile, both the research paper and newspaper say that Forrester (perhaps borrowing a page from Virginia Postrel?) predicts that between now and 2012 will be the “Age of Style” for the consumer PC industry, with manufacturers weaving design considerations into every aspect of their business, including research and development, brand management, marketing and retailing. 

(HT: Svetlana Shtyster)

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