ShadowRAM, Sept. 12, 2005

Ingram usually gives VARs $50 for a “free night on the town” meal one night at VentureTech. This week, it&s donating the money to help the hurricane victims, a total of about $25,000. Ingram&s Justin Crotty got an ovation when he made the announcement.

Also at VentureTech, IBM&s Frank Vitagliano and HP&s John Thompson traded barbs in what has become an annual rite of passage. Thompson showed a photo of his head superimposed on Arnold Schwarzenegger&s body, noting “he&ll be back” at the 2006 invitational. Vitagliano fired back: “These days I think you have more friends in this room than you do back in the office.”

Last week, Citigroup Smith Barney hosted its Global Technology Conference in New York. We planned to be there, but Citigroup has shut out the media because of what it claims is downright rude behavior by reporters. Imagine that.

Pop quiz, all you “TVLand” junkies: What was Gilligan&s first name? … Time&s up. Gilligan, played by Bob Denver, who died last week, had the first name of Willie. (By the way, we hear Gilligan&s Island is one of the early test sites for Intel&s WiMAX technology. But we couldn&t confirm it&s being powered by the Professor riding a stationary bike made out of bamboo.)

CSFB is apparently fed up. The company sent an open letter to Novell&s board demanding big-time changes, including new management. Analyst Jason Maynard penned the missive. CSFB owned 1 percent or more of Novell shares as of last month. According to The Wall Street Journal, Maynard said execution under CEO Jack Messman has been poor.

Dell continues to get hit from many sides—bloggers who have been scoring Web site hits complaining about customer service and analysts who&ve been complaining about Dell&s profitability.

But if you were counting on any of that changing Dell&s strategy, think again. After a quarter in which Dell&s revenue disappointed many, executives promised they would take a good, hard look at Dell&s pricing structure because, they admitted, it may have been too aggressive. How&s this for a good, hard look? As of last week, Dell was still giving away 19-inch LCD monitors with purchases of desktops that were already bargain-basement. Dell folks may be following that old adage of losing money on every LCD but making it up in volume.

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