Mike Seminaro's Blog: A forum for the voices in my head

I just came across a feedback site that Dell is hosting which deserves some recognition. They have basically taken the Digg model and applied it to customer feedback. While many companies are using weblogs to talk directly to their customers, including Sun, I have yet to see any of them provide an publicly accessible website where customers can post any suggestion, no matter how unflattering, and let others vote on them. Give Dell some credit - it takes some guts to let your customers publicly discuss your shortcomings in an effort to find out how you can serve them better.

My favorite suggestion so far has been a plea for them to offer an option to pre-install Open Office on their machines instead of one of the Microsoft product suites. As of this writing, approximately 60,000 people have voted for this suggestion (and no, these aren't all Sun employees - we only have around half that many). The real question is "Are you listening Michael Dell?". Only time will tell if this is anything more than a P.R. stunt to assuage the rising tide of customer dissatisfaction with Dell products.

Well, I finally decided to get off my duff and start an external blog. It's been on my list for awhile, but the catalyst for action was a tag from Jon Greaves. If there is a better topic for a first blog entry, I don't know what it is. So, without further ado, here are five things about me that you probably do not know already.

1. I'm a HUGE sports nut. Okay, so a lot of guys like sports, but I think my affinity is stronger than most. My favorite sports are football, basketball, and soccer. I grew up in the D.C. suburbs and I always root for the Washington teams, with one notable exception. To all the other Cowboys fans out there: 2008 is our year!
2. If I could start life over again, I'd probably pursue a career in physics. Don't get me wrong - I love working with technology, but I just feel like there's gotta be something special about spending your working hours trying to unlock the mysteries of the universe.
3. My first job was delivering food for the Buffalo Wing Factory. I learned at lot at that job, including how to drive in snow and how much heat my mouth can handle. Can you handle the flatliner?
4. I currently reside in Manhattan on the Upper West Side. I love living in NYC - you never know what you're going to see.
5. My wife and I are expecting our first child in June. And while some of you knew that, I guarantee you didn't know that we're having a girl. I just found out for myself a couple of hours ago. We can't wait to meet the little princess, but for now we're just enjoying the calm before the storm ;-)