Dell, the new GM

Couldn’t happen to a nicer company:

Shares of Dell fell sharply today and led the Nasdaq composite index down, a day after the world’s largest computer maker said quarterly revenue had not grown as fast as expected, even though earnings rose 28 percent….

The company said late Thursday afternoon that weak federal government orders and aggressive discounts on computers sold to consumers slowed growth in revenue…

Just ask magazines and burger chains and car companies: You can’t make a business out of discounts. It was a coupon that got me to buy my Dell. It was bad products and customer service that made me return it.