Filed under: Humor, iMac, Apple History
Gateway finally catches Mac 20th anniversary edition

The gadget web has been dutifully reporting the release of a new all-in-one computer from Gateway called the One (above right). Almost inevitably it has been repeatedly compared to the iMac. However, looking at the thing I can't help but observe that it doesn't look so much like an iMac as another Mac of fond memory: the 20th Anniversary Mac (above left). As a Mac guy I just can't help myself: good job Gateway, welcome to 1997!
[via MacNN]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Daniel said 8:30AM on 9-29-2007
Man, our we Mac fans that jaded, that when a PC manufacturer gets anywhere near doing what we enjoy claiming only Apple can do that we really have to dismiss it while call any reports that remark on any of it's good points "dutiful".
I enjoy the PC manufacturers nipping at Apple's toes every once and a while, keeps them honest.
As for the Gateway One, it's one big minus is Windows Vista, if it was running a better OS it might just nick some lower end iMac sales.
Reply
Leonard Nimrod said 8:43AM on 9-29-2007
@ Mat Lu,
You could have listed the price and tech specs.
It uses year old tech at slower speeds and charges you more for it than an iMac. Way to go Gateway!
An AppleInsider article from a few dAys ago has a nice writeup.
• http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/09/27/gateway_hopes_one_will_temp_would_be_imac_buyers_photos.html
Reply
jonas said 9:12AM on 9-29-2007
post like this hurts the tuaw brand.
Reply
Robert Mohns said 9:35AM on 9-29-2007
@Leonard: "It uses year old tech at slower speeds and charges you more for it than an iMac."
Sounds *exactly* like the 20th Anniversary Mac. I had one, and loved it, but I wasn't blind to the fact that it was based on a cheap, dated Performa logic board and was much slower than Macs that cost a quarter as much!
Reply
Fred said 9:38AM on 9-29-2007
I totally said the same thing when my work buddies showed me this computer
Reply
David Sanchez said 9:43AM on 9-29-2007
I find your comments some what cult-cliché, almost if you where really alive for that 1997 and owed a very expensive Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (often called simply TAM) for $7500 US, used common components and technologies readily available at that time, and suffered from being overpriced and under-powered.
One is totally the opposite, and for most mortals the TAM is unknown, a blip on the long gone relics, which brings to the point – There some design form factors that will resemble anything. I can think the one looks like an oversize’s ipod nano, but no, you compared it to a TAM – NEVER.
“One” is affordable.
Reply
Fred said 10:00AM on 9-29-2007
Hey Dave,
How bout we lighten up a little bit, hmm? You're attempt to sound like you know what you're talking about comes off just a touch pretentious, and a ton ignorant. If you're going to impress me with your wit, and candor, try proof-reading. You are correct in your thoughts on the TAM, it was overpriced, and fairly underpowered. But it is a good comparison for those of us who know older Macs (you know like people who read a Mac blog) as far as form factor.
Reply
Reason said 10:04AM on 9-29-2007
Am I the only one who thinks this thing looks _great_? Were I more Linux-inclined, I'd pick one up in a heartbeat.
Reply
Jim Hardy said 10:18AM on 9-29-2007
Oh come on. When did we al get so PC that we couldn't appreciate some satire?
Reply
weeee said 10:19AM on 9-29-2007
one thing i like about the gateway is how, according to the article, all of the cords and ports are on the external power adapter. say what you want, but i think apple will totally be aping that idea. fewer cords directly into the computer = apple's MO.
Reply
Mo said 10:42AM on 9-29-2007
I never thought I'd be in a position people save themselves a fair chunk of cash and buy an iMac instead.
(and yes, if you really want to, you *could* run Vista on that, too… quite why is beyond me, though)
Reply
mhale0 said 11:09AM on 9-29-2007
I think this machine looks pretty nice. The tech is a little dated (and the site boasts a hefty "3MB DDR2 Memory", so much for proofreading).
The site is so hard to use though! Really heavy, all flash, impossible to navigate.
Shiny black seems to be the new pink though.
Reply
Joe Maller said 11:19AM on 9-29-2007
my iPod is HUGE!
Reply
brian said 11:25AM on 9-29-2007
Lame. Not Gateway--this post. Arguments like this are irrelevant. When it comes to non-grossly-overpriced all-in-ones, Gateway had a flat panel on the Profile before the iMac did. (Compaq and Monorail also made all-in-ones with LCDs, too. The Compaq Presario 3020--with a 12" LCD--came out *two years* before the iMac even debuted--1996 vs. 1998. No sense mentioning the "luggables" that came out--I've got one with a B/W LCD screen and Windows 3.1.) And let us not forget that Sony had the nice, sleek VAIO 505 line (among others) years before the PowerBook G4 came out. OTOH, Apple did plenty of things before the PC world, to be sure, but there's enough credit/blame to go around that stories like this are just a waste of space.
Reply
Mat Lu said 11:58AM on 9-29-2007
I swear, it never fails. Try to be a little humorous and it's like the sky is falling.
Reply
john faitakes said 12:10PM on 9-29-2007
saw this yesterday at digital life in nyc, mot impressed. Up close ot is really sortof ugly and unlike the imac not comfortable to be in front of.using it just felt awkward
Reply
Lani said 12:30PM on 9-29-2007
In that split second of looking at the photos on my RSS - the iMac came no where near my thoughts as far as comparisons. I applaud Dell for coming up with something like this, but did anyone tell their marketing department, that design was just one element of the increasing popularity of macs.
You can already lock out the gamers and the younger buyers from this product. It goes against any, if not all arguments made by PC Users on why they choose PC over Mac. The thought of trying to upgrade these things, may prove to be challenging for that specific market. Wish them luck, however, I'll stick my imac - those PC's are really ugly. I just don't get their constant emphasis on chrome and black and bubbly exteriors. It's like repackaging the already bloated windows back into its overly bloated packaging.
Reply
Dan Parmelee said 12:43PM on 9-29-2007
So what if it looks like a 20th Anniversary Mac? It's about as far from one as you can get on principle. It isn't overpriced, is fairly powerful, isn't "limited production", and so on.
Let's be honest here -- there's only so many form factors a computer can ever really have.
Reply
Wheels said 2:38PM on 9-29-2007
"I swear, it never fails. Try to be a little humorous and it's like the sky is falling."
Get used to it, Matt. I never seen fans of anything be so against what they're fans of. The Mac fan base will eat itself.
Reply
tim said 4:14PM on 9-29-2007
mat, in with you on this, but its too bad people don't deck out its specs and price before trying to defend it.
Looks like we're getting some overflow from the win supersite
Reply