Digg does not have a monopoly on rating systems - i've just spent the last 15 minutes looking at Dell Ideastorm and Studio Dell. Withe Michael Dell returning to the company as CEO and these two Social Media sites Dell has gone a long way in a short time to re-writing the negative impressions of burning laptops and poor customer service/reliability of equipment. I think all of this is to Dell's credit and Credit is due to Dell for this. That's not to say I'd buy a Dell, but I think they've hit on a way for big corporations like themselves and IBM and HP, to be more accessible - to have a real 2 way interaction.
Here's some more info from Read/WriteWeb in Dell 2.0: Launches Digg Clone and Video Sharing Site
"…They've released a digg-like community site called IdeaStorm and a video sharing site called StudioDell. It's all part of Dell’s "Digital Media plan" and the new products are designed to increase the interaction between Dell and its customers.
Dell IdeaStorm lets users submit their ideas about improving Dell's products and services, and the community votes on the best ideas. It's described on the Dell blog as "a combination between a message board and Digg.com." There will be some reactionary digg bait from other blogs about how IdeaStorm copies digg (yawn!), but really who cares about that. As our series on international web apps has shown, every country in the world has at least one digg clone. The real interest is in whether Dell can successfully build a community here. I'd say they have a great chance, given how many people in the world use Dell products - and how controversial Dell is (the exploding Dell laptop stories, its checkered customer service history, and so on). So if anything, I'm expecting some heated comments in IdeaStorm!"
Very Cool! I wonder what B.L. Ochman is saying about this - I know she went through Dell Hell with her last laptop and swore never to buy a Dell again. Just curious.
