In what seems like an interesting and already-proven idea, Dell today announced the launch of IdeaStorm, a site where Dell customers post suggestions for Dell products and services and have users vote on them. Yes, that’s a Digg-clone.
Already, in its first day, the site has gained more than 300 submissions, 4000 votes (2317 going to one idea itself), and 350 comments. Categories include everything from Desktops and Notebooks to Healthcare. Whether Dell will actually use the feedback it is presented with remains to be seen, but I can tell you now this is one awesome and free way to research and listen to customers they would’ve otherwise paid thousands for.
What seems interesting to me, though, is that an idea which Kevin Rose must’ve thought-up four years ago and seemed cool to him at the time, is making its way across so many industries and fields — could he have even imagined that four years later the company which possibly made his laptop will use his idea to gain customer feedback? In any case, it’s interesting to watch Fortune 500 companies play around with Web 2.0 ideas and use them to their advantage.
