Gateway Inc. of Irvine Deemed No. 1 Epic Tech Failure of All-Time


Gateway Inc., which was founded in 1985 in Sioux City, Iowa (thus the cow logo), was flying high by 1991, with some believing it was poised to become the biggest and most popular personal computer maker in the world. But after a dodgy retail store strategy, the dot-com bust and moves to North South City, South Dakota; La Jolla, Poway and finally, with the 2004 purchase of eMachines, Irvine, Gateway today is regarded as the “No. 1 Epic Tech Failure of All Time.”
]

That's the opinion of CIO Insight, which has compiled a list of the top 10 flops. Here is the entry for Gateway:

1) Gateway
There was a time when many believed that Gateway would be the
biggest and most popular PC maker in the world. But soon after the
company tried its luck with retail stores, and then quickly discovered
that it didn't have the right enterprise strategy in place, it started
to die. Gateway lives on today in name only. But the vast majority of PC
buyers out there have no desire to buy its products.

Also interesting …

6) Microsoft Bob
Microsoft Bob was supposed to make it easier for users
to bridge the gap between the technical requirements needed to run a
computer and their novice skills. But in the end, Bob was a downright
joke that Microsoft was forced to discontinue after realizing the errors
of its ways.

Released in March 1995, Microsoft Bob was among the corporation's
most visible product failures. So what make it interesting? At one time
the project was managed by Melinda French, who you may know now as Melinda Gates.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *