Sharky Extreme: In your experience, what is unique about the ATI team?

Dave Orton: ATI has a unique and forward-looking team of winners who are aggressive, hungry and innovative - and they never lose their focus on the customer. These core values and competencies are all largely the legacy of our founder and leader K.Y.Ho - I've got big shoes to fill, but I'm committed to K.Y. and to the ATI team to keep us growing.

Sharky Extreme: What do you think you bring to ATI personally?

Dave Orton: Obviously my work with Bell Labs, GE and Silicon Graphics gave me invaluable experience in developing a pretty solid management style. I've developed a"soft-hands-on" management style and leadership skills that also come from my team background. I also bring a technology background and a bit of market savvy in terms of where we should be going, and how to get there successfully. So in terms of developing strategy and helping ATI to keep delivering an outstanding array of hot products, I think I am in the game.

One bit of wisdom that has always served me well is the belief that you should always hire people who are smarter than you. Some people might say well, that's easy enough to do in my case (ha, ha)...but the point is that when you have great people around you, you are forced to keep raising the bar. That keeps you challenged and growing, both as a professional and as a person.

Sharky Extreme: The graphics market is so competitive, with price wars and companies dropping into and out of the game. How do you see things unfolding, both for the industry and for ATI?

Dave Orton: The graphics market moves at light speed today. And the gamers out there, as you know, are a pretty demanding and savvy bunch. They play a big role in driving our efforts to keep moving ahead with faster and more feature-packed technology. ATI's goal is to always be first out of the starting blocks, with amazing new products that you just can't ignore. But unlike some of the one-hit wonders in the industry, ATI is in the race for the long haul . . . the race is fast, for sure, but it is long. ATI has the speed and sex appeal of a sprinter, and the endurance of a marathon runner. ATI has what it takes to stay ahead of the pack and win the race, however long it is.

Sharky Extreme: You're originally from ArtX; what will ATI gain from the acquisition of ArtX, and what is in it for consumers?

Dave Orton: This joining of forces creates a terrific one-two punch. ATI and ArtX bring together some of the world's biggest and brightest engineering talent - a group of real pros who are putting their heads together to keep taking ATI Radeon technology to new heights. The combined entrepreneurial spirit between the two groups is mind-blowing and we are going to make our share of noise in the market - I promise.

With the acquisition of ArtX, ATI broke into the home video game entertainment market with hot graphics technology that blazes totally new dimensions in performance for the Nintendo GAMECUBE. Consumers can look for that on store shelves in the summer of 2001.