The PC industry is changing, fast, rapid, but it is not completely dead.
If eliminated Dell employees chiped in $10K+ each and few thousands of them started a company they could have put together tens of millions of dollars. Focus on one niche that they collectively have seen rapidly growing. They could approach many suppliers with an offer to pay certain percentage up front, the rest post-sale for inventory. Reach out to bankers to fund the outlay for inventory secured by company's inventory. Do all the setup on the QT as much as it is right now possible so that when you pull the trigger a press announcement makes a big splash. Initially limit this only to people working at home and plow money into a solid server infrastructure and a website that sucks less resources than Dell's current site.
Get everyone to take a very modest hourly wage with a set-aside for dividends once the company gains reasonable traction.
I have no idea how everyone feels about Dell right now. If both Suppliers and axed Employees want to stick it to Dell, this would be a window to do it in.
If they concentrate on the highest margin stuff, undercut a little, and give the kind of service you get from people whose income directly depends on it, they could leave Dell teetering on the brink. Dell would be attempting to staunch bleeding in losing lines, losing sales in winning lines and competing against a vigorous new competitor with zero debt, with a highly motivated workforce out to prove something. Dell, would be juggling enormous debt and attempting to execute with an entirely demoralized workforce wondering when the axe will drop on them.
Dell would likely attempt to stop floks from forming a competing company based on non-compete stuff signed by the employees they axed. However, the common-law right to earn a living wins over that sort of thing. Unless Dell pensions them off at full salary for the 3-5 year non-compete period, they would not be able to force employees from doing something commonplace like opening a store.
Not sure if this is like other noted scenarios I have seen, but if it is, lots of the people axed were the very good ones pulling the freight and lots of the people kept are brown-nosing enterprise weasels whose skills are limited to stabbing co-workers in the back and climbing the corporate ladder.
Once all the dust settles, the new enterprise could pick the bones of the bankrupt remains of Dell. Take back the name 'Dell' if it has any currency and name the remainder.
I honestly have no idea if Mr. Dell is hero or villain. Just painting a picture that might be a daydream for former Dell employees hitting the bricks right now.