Dell's cloak of secrecy over-extends itself

AS JOURNALISTS we're often asked to sign some sort of non-disclosure agreement (NDA) agreeing not to write about products until their launch date. But when Dell asked us to keep our gossiping mouths shut until March 2012 we nearly choked on a complimentary canape. And while bits of vol-au-vent hurtled across the room, we wondered if this the longest NDA ever to be attempted?

Well, almost certainly not. We're pretty sure there are people who deal with the likes of Apple and Google who have promised never to talk to anyone, about anything, until the rapture. Of course, if Dell had used the words rapture, we could have got around the contract the next time that American tells us we're about to sucked off to heaven.

We hate NDAs, frankly. If you don't want people to know about your product, then don't show it to a room full of people whose job it is to tell people about things they've just seen. And, if you embargo something until 2012, you can guarantee that by the time the NDA lifts everyone will have forgotten about your product anyway. That rather defeats the purpose of telling anyone about it in the first place, doesn't it? µ