Gateway Interview for One

Ahead of the announcement of the One, Gateway product manager Glenn Jystad answered questions from Electronista about the company's new all-in-one PC. The company gave us new insights into the design philosophy behind the One and whether it will stay tied to the US. It also answered one of the most pressing questions in the wake of the One's launch: how the Vista PC would fare against its most obvious competitor, Apple's new aluminum iMac. Read on for a transcript of the interview.

Let's face it: the One will inevitably get comparisons with the new iMac, even though both were developed without a direct influence on each other. What do you believe Gateway is doing with the One that Apple wouldn't (or couldn't) do?

We’re competing against desktops in general, not necessarily against Apple. The Windows world is a much more competitive space; we have to compete against a lot more products. As such, we have to offer the benefits of a traditional desktop – it has to be user accessible and offer lots of expansion, numerous ports and it has to be serviceable. With Gateway One, users can open it up and add a standard desktop hard drive – right from another PC. (The iMac has a limited number of ports and other than a proprietary memory upgrade, it is entirely non serviceable.)

The unique power adapter (which breaks out some of the computer's expansion ports) and a few other elements are definitely things we haven't seen before, or seen very often. Has Gateway made any changes to its design team or its philosophy to encourage this sort of thinking?

The power adapter’s unique design was a result of a strict commitment to the design aesthetics. The design called for ONE cable. We didn’t want to compromise that. One of the decisions we made was to differentiate between permanent connections (you have to accommodate these or you comprise the product) and temporary connections (users choice). So this power adapter is key to the overall design.

Is the One shipping internationally, or is it a US-only release? And will users be able to customize the system when ordering, or are the configurations we see what we get?

It will be available in other countries later in the year. There are 3 fixed configurations, it is not customizable.

The One is much sleeker than the earlier Profile 6 and targets places outside of the computer den. Is this a sign that Gateway wants to move more elements of its home PC line out of their familiar roles and shapes? Or will the One remain by itself for the foreseeable future?

The One will remain somewhat unique for the foreseeable future, but it represents a trend we expect to continue. We are definitely trying to move the PC from the back home office into more mainstream locations in the home. Part of the reason consumers purchase notebooks is because they can be placed in more convenient locations. But if they want a larger monitor than what’s available on a notebook, they’re stuck with a traditional PC design. This design offers the best of both worlds.

Thank you for your time.

By Electronista Staff

Post tools:

TAGS :