I dunno, lately I've been doing some thinking and I realized that deep down there's something that I dislike about Gateway. I own one, and I guess I enjoy the product, but there's always been something I disliked that I couldn't put my finger on.
In my time of confusion, I turn to the community. Where did Gateway go wrong? By this I mean, what did they do to really drive a stake through their own feet. I know it was really good for some time, but I'm starting to feel that spark less and less. Anything they could ever possibly do that's new and innovative will probably be reverse engineered and made free anyways.
So yeah, that's my question. Go nuts.
Wait, I think I know what you're talking about.
You probably got your Gateway when it was the only viable solution and enjoyed it then... and now you see other alternatives. And I'm not talking about the fact alternatives are intrinsically better or not, it's just a matter of atmosphere.
I mean, Gateway feels like a vending machine.
You come, you have limited choice, especially if the machine wasn't filled recently and you can't request/discuss/complain/suggest anything, then you pay too much compared to a store (or compared to a free CFW which is, well, free), you're served, and they're done with you.
Free CFWs feel like your neighborhood's local store.
Just the same way you can just go to that store to discuss with your friends working there, you can
see the free CFW devs in gbatemp. You
see the progress they make while they're doing it. You can
discuss with them. When a new feature is coming, you know it, and then you can enjoy it as soon as it's ready, you don't have to wait for a full refill of the vending machine (Gateway delaying the update to add more unnecessary features such as their a9lh implementation when all we needed was a bin).
With Gateway, there is so little communication that you can feel left out. That may be what you dislike about them (not (just) the lack of features and stuff), and that's probably why you couldn't put your finger on it since it's something that they lack instead of something bad they could have done.