Dave Pollard writes a scathing report - My Dell Story - which reminds me of several of my own experiences trying to get "support" from PC companies. Going beyond his own difficulties, he challenges the wider impact of the industry

The big seven produce about 200,000,000 new computers each year, which on average end up in landfill sites in four to five years (the fastest growing and one of the most toxic components of our garbage problem). The vast majority are made from shoddy materials in third world countries like China, Malaysia and Singapore, by workers who get paid a few dollars a day, using components that wreak environmental havoc from slipshod and reckless mining and refining techniques. Why bother making a quality product when it will be garbage so soon anyway?

The phrase "customer care" is bandied about a lot by consultants, but I wonder how many organisations take the time to reflect on what care means.. what it's like to really care for a person, rather than devise tactics for short-term gratification on the one hand, followed by organised avoidance on the other.