The Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group
912 Stratford Dr.
Champaign, IL 61821
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: nunya@bidnezz.com
CUCUG and The Amiga Web Directory are pleased to see the long wait associated with simply knowing who the new owners will be is finally over. While it's a little early to judge just what Gateway 2000's long-term plans are for the Amiga, there are a number of very positive things that can be said.
First, Gateway has financial resources and as far as we know, is financially stable. They enjoyed sales of $5.04 billion with a 5% after-tax net income last year, a record for Gateway. Secondly, this is a company--unlike Commodore--that is not afraid of marketing and advertising computers. Their voluminous print ads that dominate the computer magazines are clever and eye-catching. Their recent television spots are also entertaining and display the companies products in a very positive light. Gateway just may spend a few dollars advertising the Amiga. This alone will be a strong, positive dynamic in the Amiga market.
Maybe even most importantly, regardless of what you think about Wintel boxes, Gateway is known for a very high-quality product. While they have had some problems handling exponential growth (they at one time had one of the worst product support scores but have performed a complete turn around in that area), their products have never seemed to be compromised. We can probably look forward to high quality from Gateway.
But as Amiga Report's Jason Compton points out, we should not grow too euphoric at this point. The deal must still pass muster with German regulators and we still do not yet know Gateway's long-term plan for the Amiga. But, all signs do point in mostly positive directions.
CUCUG welcomes Gateway to the Amiga family and hopes that this signals the rebirth of our favorite computer of all time.
Amiga Web Directory