They haven’t been allowing much customization of their computers for quite some time now.

Their laptops in particular have been effectively un-customizable for many years now and they only features you could change were accessories and colors.

This is completely predictable IMHO.

I’m surprised that they’re MOOving away from the web. Guess they plan to try retail sales only and let the cow chips fall where they may.

I’m not sure that I’d say they started as a “web-only” retailer. I bought a computer from Gateway around 1992 or so, when the web was only a couple years old and not in use by much of anyone outside of academic and scientific circles. It certainly wasn’t feasible to run a business strictly via the web back then.

I think a much more accurate way to refer to Gateway’s origins would be to say they were a mail-order only business. Dell also had pretty much the same business model at their start.

Wow, last time I purchased something from them was in 1996. Gateway sure has had it’s ups and downs, I remember when they opened up all those retail stores that only let you place an order, you couldn’t buy anything directly, now they are the complete opposite!