A company that can't figure out how to handle its inventory and channel properly does NOT go out on a merger shopping spree to look 'big'. Consumers have more inertia than companies. Bigger, is NOT, better. Inventory control is crucial. Dell knows what it's doing here, but Compaq is flailing about because it can't grasp this.
Consumers are the most erratic, fickle and outright risky market to venture into.
If you go into the consumer market, you need both radical innovation AND amazing marketing. Further, you say we shouldn't buy from those company's that don't 'get it'. Jesse, you never HAVE gotten it, yet we still read you every day. Still quite capable of being saved, but I don't see hope in sight yet. Dell serves enterprise customers through process innovation, Apple serves consumer customers through BOTH process AND product innovation.