Dell I -- And Did I Tell You I Made Charitable Contributions?

WSJ Business Tech blogger Ben Worthen rightly scratches his head about the fact that Dell issued a news release about being named tops in customer satisfaction for standards-based servers. Yes, such "news" is pretty soft in itself, but Worthen notes that it's downright bizarre to come forward with it at the exact same moment you announce you will be restating your results all the way back to 2003.

If you're a reporter, the tactic is either amusing or irritating, depending on whether or not you think you're going to be on time to pick up your kid from soccer practice. But if you're a flack, you see it as a downright shame. Held for the right time, the tops-in-service announcement might have gotten some pick-up, at least in the trades. But dropped in sync with a special 8-K about irregularities that claimed the old CEO and CFO quarter-shifting hides, it's destined for oblivion.

Jack empathizes, because the instincts are natural -- "Hey, we've got some good news, too. Let's get it out there to balance the story."

Or maybe it was just a natural reaction to recent customer-satistaction news on the PC front

But the logic falls apart when you notice the relative newsworthiness of the two announcements.

Worthen allows that it might be a function of two parts of the company acting unaware of each other's actions. If so, Dell's got "control" issues with more than just its numbers.

Stay tuned for more on the Dell restatement.