I don't agree with the article. The author talks about reducing the attack surface, yet there's nothing you could do against Dell abusing its control over the laptops it sells.

The author is saying that Dell would have to "literally install malware on their computers. Dell’s stock would plummet".

Oh, like how they installed a root certificate in the local trust store? How is that any different from malware and where is Dell's stock plummeting because I'm not seeing it.