Dell, Microsoft team up to sell Red computers
Dell Inc and Microsoft Corp are teaming up to release a Product Red computer that donates up to $80 for every PC sold to buy and distribute AIDS-fighting drugs in Africa.
By Agencies |
SEATTLE:Dell Inc and Microsoft Corp are teaming up to release a Product Red computerthat donates up to $80 for every PC sold to buy and distribute AIDS-fightingdrugs in Africa. Dell will start selling three (Red) computer models -- twolaptops and one desktop -- running Microsoft Windows Vista on Jan. 31.
Depending on the model, thetwo companies will donate $50 or $80 to the Global Fund, which finances healthprograms in Africa. (Red), founded by U2 singer Bono and Bobby Shriver, works todevelop co-branded products with companies such as Motorola Inc,Apple Inc and Gap Inc , which then donate a portionof the proceeds for antiretroviral drugs. Microsoft said it expects "severalhundred thousand" (Red) Dell PCs to be sold in 2008.
The PCs, designed in part byBono, will be wrapped in a distinctive red casing and the Windows interface willfeature a red background and sidebar. "My job is to put some poetry in themachine, put some funk in the machines," Bono said in an interview with Reuters.(Red) has raised $53 million for the Global Fund since its founding in 2006.Bono, who expects to exceed that figure in 2008 alone, said the organizationlost some potential partners after a critical article in Advertising Agequestioned the effectiveness of the campaign.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates,who provided some of the seed money for (Red), defended the group, saying it hassaved lives that would have otherwise been lost. "I guess you can criticize evenlife-saving activities. I don't know how, but if somebody has a better idea than(Red) to save more lives, we are all ears," said Gates in an interview. "I putit in the category of a creative use of capitalism." The Dell products offeredunder the (Red) brand will be a XPS One desktop and XPS M1330 and M1530 laptopcomputers. The products will sell for the same price as the non-(Red) brandedcomputers offered by Dell.
Depending on the model, thetwo companies will donate $50 or $80 to the Global Fund, which finances healthprograms in Africa. (Red), founded by U2 singer Bono and Bobby Shriver, works todevelop co-branded products with companies such as Motorola Inc
The PCs, designed in part byBono, will be wrapped in a distinctive red casing and the Windows interface willfeature a red background and sidebar. "My job is to put some poetry in themachine, put some funk in the machines," Bono said in an interview with Reuters.(Red) has raised $53 million for the Global Fund since its founding in 2006.Bono, who expects to exceed that figure in 2008 alone, said the organizationlost some potential partners after a critical article in Advertising Agequestioned the effectiveness of the campaign.
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates,who provided some of the seed money for (Red), defended the group, saying it hassaved lives that would have otherwise been lost. "I guess you can criticize evenlife-saving activities. I don't know how, but if somebody has a better idea than(Red) to save more lives, we are all ears," said Gates in an interview. "I putit in the category of a creative use of capitalism." The Dell products offeredunder the (Red) brand will be a XPS One desktop and XPS M1330 and M1530 laptopcomputers. The products will sell for the same price as the non-(Red) brandedcomputers offered by Dell.
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