Reborn America, this is my time

Chapter 207 Huge Hard (Happy Duck on Chinese Valentine's Day)

Ethan clearly remembers that, after the birth of the first generation of Apple, when Steve Jobs wanted to sell the machine, that immature Xiao Qiao wanted to use the low-price sales strategy to invade the personal computer market .At that time, Jobs regarded cheap chips as his trump card, and felt that cheap chips could lower the production cost of personal computers and allow them to gain more price advantages.

Jobs’ idea back then was actually not a problem. When the products in a certain industry are similar and most consumers can’t distinguish the attribute of Wumart, cheap price is their favorite.

However, this sales strategy only existed for one year. When Apple was formally established and sold the second generation of Apple to the outside world, the price breaking through four digits was definitely the ceiling in the consumer field.

The reason for setting the sky-high price is that Apple has something that ordinary computers do not have——

It meets people's needs.

At the very beginning, all computer manufacturers were on the same starting line. Even though the Altair 8800, the first commercial personal computer in history, was a bit of a rush, the gap between them was not that big. All manufacturers only knew how to make personal computers, but not How to get the general public to accept it.

But wait for Ethan Jones to use "Pac-Man" to ignite America, and repeatedly stated in front of the public that he made this game with Apple computers. At the same time, Steve Wozniak is also very powerful. When selflessly sending the 6502 assembly language that I modified to the whole country...

world--

changed!
Ordinary people before did not know what computers could bring them.

Now, everyone knows that Apple computers can make games!

Ordinary people in the past had no idea why they needed to buy computers costing several hundred dollars.

Now, everyone knows that Apple Computer has pointed out a bright road for them!
When the concept of being able to make money by playing games appeared, the public's demand for computers also appeared.

While waiting for Steve Jobs to add a game joystick to the new generation of Apple with great wit, Steve Wozniak wrote the code for "Snake"...

The behavior of feeding the rice to the consumers' mouths and reaping happiness as long as they swallow it makes Apple sell well!

Although this kind of behavior of first creating demand for consumers and then frantically making money from the demand is very common in business, how to accurately find the needs of consumers is the pain point of the whole process.

In the computer industry, software that can change human life is the basis for people to embrace computers. If this fact is put in decades, anyone with a little knowledge can tell it, but now In this era when information is not exploding, there may be people who have this kind of thinking, but their thinking will definitely not be as clear as Ethan's. This is not only because Ethan has past life memories, but also because the things that change human life have only just begun. Appear.

Playing with the Disk II, which was officially launched a month ago, this five and a quarter floppy disk drive made Ethan feel a lot of emotion. After coming to this world, the first thought that popped into his mind was to make a Te Niang's operating system, but because the technology did not allow and the environment was not up to standard, he gave up. The second idea was to make a computer, but when Evelyn said she would not, the project died.

Ethan originally thought that he would work hard in the field of video games that cannot be monopolized, but he did not expect that after going around a lot, he would have the computer industry that belongs to the wave of the times, he would also enter the chip industry, and he would even enter the storage industry. I voted, and now...

Those guys on Wall Street have come together?

Row!
Then let's see who is better, financial colonization or technological colonization!

And when there are not enough people around, it is inevitable to recruit talents. As for why you don't look for technical help at Stanford, but choose Bill Gates?

This is—

"William, Paul, welcome to Palo Alto, nice to meet you."

Three days later, on August [-], [-], Ethan Jones met Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who were drawn by Steve Ballmer, at the headquarters of the Destiny game.

Bill Gates, who was the same age as him, stretched out his right hand and shook Ethan firmly with joy, his freckled cheeks were full of unconcealable excitement.

Beside him, Paul Allen, who had the same beard as Steve Wozniak, was a little reserved. While shaking hands with Ethan, he also nodded slightly.

Ethan patted him on the shoulder with his left hand due to his technical style. After a brief understanding, the group entered the reception room on the top floor.Although Ethan had asked Steve Ballmer to convey his investment intentions and delegation ideas to the two when he sent out the invitation, but after sitting down, he chatted about other things.

"William, I heard your father was a lawyer?"

Ethan crossed his legs, leaned on the sofa, and looked at Bill Gates with a smile.

"Yes, my father is a lawyer. He graduated from the University of Washington with a master's degree in law." Bill Gates talked about his family background very frankly. "Now he is a partner in a law firm. , and is also the president of the Seattle, King County, and Washington State Bar Associations."

The unreserved narration made Ethan smile and nod.

Then he asked, "Your mother is a director of the First Intercontinental Bank in Washington State?"

"I heard that Mrs. Graham has a very good relationship with your mother?"

"Uh——" This question caused Bill Gates to elongate his voice. After a pause for a few seconds, he shook his head and said, "Ethan? Can I call you that?"

"of course."

"Okay Ethan." Bill Gates smiled at Ethan and said, "My mother is indeed the director of the First Intercontinental Bank in Washington State, and she is indeed the chairman of the Washington Post." Mrs Graham's friend, but these descriptions are not enough to describe her completely."

At this point, he paused, as if he was sorting out his thoughts, but it was more like looking for the starting point of the story, "My mother's grandfather was once the president of the National City Bank of Seattle and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. director, so this also led to my grandfather, my mother's father, successfully inheriting these bank-related resources."

"When these resources came to my mother, her directorship at the First Intercontinental Bank in Washington was just one of her many identities, in addition to her membership in the United Way of America, the University of Washington, Directors of Bell, General Property, etc. . . . "

"Papa-papa--" Ethan clapped his hands with a smile.

Although Bill Gates used a very peaceful declarative tone when he told Ethan about his family background, but that post, which was like giving the name of a dish, made Ethan want to hit someone when he heard it.

That's right!

The reason why Ethan chose Bill Gates is because this guy has a strong background!
Looking for a common man to chart tomorrow when the enemies standing across from him now are Morgan Guaranty, Ford Family Foundation, Carnegie Pension Fund?
Do not make jokes……

Even if normal people have the courage to fight against these big families, they don't have the ability to overcome difficulties. This ability does not refer to knowledge and technology, but that no one can shield them from the wind and rain.

In his previous life, Ethan knew that starting a business was difficult.

And in this life...

Forget it, don't mention it.

After listening to Bill Gates' narration, Ethan turned his attention to Paul Allen again.

Regardless of whether it is in his past life memory or in the current data search, Paul Allen is a technology geek who loves technology. His parents are library staff at the University of Washington, and their income is indeed more than ordinary people , but at most it is considered a middle class.

Let alone Bill Gats, not even Steve Wozniak.

Of course, Ethan would not discriminate against him because of this.

After all, in terms of his own background, he is better than his classmate Steve Jobs.

Perhaps it was because after the background was revealed, the distance between the two parties could be brought closer. After chatting for a while, the atmosphere in the reception room suddenly became much more accommodating. At this time, Ethan also brought up the serious business.

"I believe Steve has given you both my thoughts."

"So... are you willing to accept my investment?"

Ethan looked at the two with a smile.

His question also made Bill Gates and Paul Allen look at each other, and then Paul Allen said, "Ethan, thank you for your attention, to be honest, when Steve told us, We were very surprised when you wanted to invest in us."

"Because in the past few years, the person who has made the most headlines in our country's major media should be you. Your game has brought happiness to countless people, and your investment has made Apple a great success. Therefore, when we learned that , when you are interested in us, we are very excited."

"But at the same time, we are also very confused. We don't know why you should invest in us."

"We also use Apple's products, and we ask ourselves that we can't make a better product than Apple. Steve Wozniak is an absolute genius. We admire his creativity in the field of electronic engineering. , At the same time, the code he wrote is also very powerful."

"With him here, what Apple needs are some technicians who can complete hard tasks, and the works of William and me...may not be suitable for Apple?"

Having said that, Paul Allen stopped.

He turned to look at his companion.

Bill Gates nodded in agreement with the carefully worded words.

And that logical, neither humble nor overbearing words and deeds surprised Ethan a little.

Because in his memory, Bill Gates was the real helm of Microsoft and the tyrant of the software empire, while Paul Allen was the engine of the aircraft carrier, providing power for the aircraft carrier's voyage.

But now...

Paul Allen to speak up for negotiations?

Interesting!

The upside-down personality made Ethan smile.

Keeping the odd situation in mind, he then asked, "What do you think I want you to write? A BASIC interpreter? An assembly language interpreter for the 6502?"

"Uh... isn't it?" Paul Allen said with a smile, his eyes flickering: "If you found us before June, then we would definitely think that you came to us because you wanted us to write a language explanation for Apple. but now, I think you might need DOS?"

In the Internet era, the introduction of DOS by major encyclopedias refers specifically to the operating system developed by Microsoft for IBM personal computers, but in this era, this thing literally means Disk Operating System. .

The history related to it can even be traced back to [-], when IBM launched a disk-based operating system, and its characteristic is that it requires a disk drive.

The reason why Paul Allen said that if Ethan had approached him before June, they would have thought Ethan wanted an assembly language interpreter was because the Apple II didn't have disk drives back then, but when When Apple introduced the Disk II...it all fell into place.

According to Paul Allen and Bill Gates, what Ethan wanted was the system.

Because Apple launched APPLE DOS at the same time as Disk II a month ago, and that system...is just so-so.A display error in the code appeared shortly after release, which led Apple to re-release a repaired version within the last month and let people who previously bought the Disk II send the machine back to be repaired by their staff for free .

Not only that, as far as they know, Apple DOS does not seem to be written by Steve Wozniak. Because of the development of hardware, Steve Wozniak has no time to write the system at all, so they just Outsource this work.

And when APPLE DOS itself is an outsourced product...

Find another team to outsource the next version, that would be natural, right?
They can take this job, but what if they sell the company's shares in order to take this job?
this……

To be honest, they are a little hard to accept.

The probing words made Ethan nod his head, "Okay, I understand what you mean."

He waved his hand and said, "Because William is here, you will never lack cooperation."

"Let's not talk about Apple, even if it's IBM's list, you can get it."

"So you are not willing to sell your shares for a project of Apple."

"I can understand."

The straightforward words made the two people present a little embarrassed.

Steve Ballmer, who had been sitting by and listening, kept his mouth shut.

He can understand his friend's thoughts, but he also knows that his boss is not a guy to mess with!
And just as he was thinking about how to remind his friend, Ethan had already stood up.

He dragged out the whiteboard he had prepared, took an oil-based pen, and smiled at the three people in the audience like a teacher in class, saying: "Your guesses are very clear, but the problem is, I want you to write something. It's not actually DOS. I'm not interested in that stuff, and I haven't researched it."

"I call you here this time, hoping that you will develop something for me that can bring convenience to the public. My inspiration... comes from life."

"Usually, the things I come into contact with the most in my work are reports, various reports, including production, operation, finance, and investment..."

"Although the data displayed in these reports are very intuitive, allowing me to understand the company's operating conditions at a glance, but it is very troublesome to fill out, and it often gives me a headache."

While speaking, Ethan raised his right hand and drew a table on the whiteboard.

Then, he casually wrote out several sets of numbers.

After finishing, he wrote the formula where he needed to summarize, and when he was halfway through writing, he seemed to find that he had made a mistake, so he raised his hand and erased it, and then rewrote.

When the new formula appeared, the black background in the original frame made the three people on the scene frown.

They feel as if they have discovered something.

But unfortunately, Ethan didn't give them a chance to speak.

After writing the example, he said——

"Steve should know one thing. Last year, when Rockefeller wanted to invest in Apple, Steve Jobs made the accountant work overtime for several days in a row before giving me the report for that year."

"I know that the preparation of financial statements is a very painful process, because it involves a lot of calculations. Although many calculations are the simplest addition and subtraction, when there are more numbers and columns, the repetition involved And fineness can be a headache."

"So, at that time, I was wondering if there is a piece of magical paper in this world."

"There will be various forms built into this paper, and when people enter the actual data into it according to the meaning of each form, the results that people want will appear in the bottom column."

"When I searched around, it suddenly occurred to me that a computer might be able to do this."

"Because the fundamental meaning of his existence is calculation."

"Before, people couldn't imagine this kind of thing because computers were so expensive."

"But when the personal computer industry appeared, when most people could afford a computer costing hundreds of dollars a piece, the convenience brought by technology was born, right?"

"I don't know if you guys can do this, but I do know..."

"You're very interested in it, aren't you?"

When Ethan covered the oil-based pen and looked at the three of them, the stunned expression made him laugh.

That's right!

He didn't think about what kind of system he was going to make from the very beginning!
In other words, the operating system can change the pattern of the computer industry, but it cannot have a huge impact on the status quo of the computer industry in a short period of time!
Because no matter how good the system is, it must be ecological!
And when the idea of ​​needing to change the world has been firmly controlled by Ethan...

Spreadsheets are the software he wants to do most now!
Because all companies will want this thing;

Because all schools will buy this thing;

Because this thing can make complex calculations easier;
Because this thing can fundamentally bring convenience to people.

And when huge market demand is created by them...

Wall Street wants to seize the market with hardware?

Ah--

The idea is beautiful.

But unfortunately...

You have no chance to think about it in the future!
　Note: ①Paul Allen is not the kind of gentle person in the news reports. He pulled Bill Gates to start a business. He even found and bought the system sold to IBM. He just looks more kindness. ②In reality, it is the electronic form that changed Apple's fate against the sky. VisiCalc seems to have sold 100 million copies, and the revenue in the 80s exceeded one billion US dollars.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)