For a while there, companies were pushing technology on people and people were buying it. Now the consumer is really in the driver's seat. Now it's more of an overall solution: How can technology make your life better? How can it save you time?
I was fascinated to see that if you knew what you were doing, you could sell a $3,000 computer system over the phone.
There are hundreds of competitors in the direct marketing of computers. We have been very successful because of quality, price, service and the way we treat the customer.
I mean, you don't get a chance to buy a company like Gateway, you know, at or near book value very often.
Customers don't care about rivalries between corporations, they care about getting the best value for their money.
We've got tremendous equity in cow spots and in the name Gateway, so this isn't anything radical, but you'll see us getting more sophisticated in our marketing efforts.
We started putting '2000' at the end of our name. That was in 1985, and 2000 seemed very futuristic.
We think the right categorization for digital devices is something you hold in your hand, a mobile-type product, and something you sit two feet away from.
When you fall short of your internal forecast, two things happen: Costs go up as a percentage of sales, and margins go down.
I don't subscribe to the idea that everything moves to the network. Theoretically it's possible that everybody will use little hand-held devices to access the Internet, but I expect more of a hybrid environment.
Intel's a great company, and Microsoft is a great company. Everybody seems to do a lot better when there is competition.