Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 223
Due to Tang Huan's influence, the start time of the Xiangqi plan was slightly advanced, but due to Tang Huan's influence, the actual progress of the Xiangqi plan lagged slightly, so it was not much different from the original time scale of time and space.

The reason is that Zheru developed a wide variety of function expansion cards for Apple II, especially the program codes in the attached read-only memory, which brought certain troubles to IBM's technical elites.

The term "personal computer" was first used for the Xerox Alto computer developed by the Xerox PARC Center in 1972, and it has become quite popular so far.

The rise of personal computers is closely related to the characteristic cultural phenomena in the United States, such as anti-mainstream. Other countries can even copy mainframes such as IBM System/360, which shows that everyone has no shortage of elites and technology.

Given the economics of the original large group of avant-garde people, the first issue of cost would need to be addressed if the personal computer, opposed to the privilege of the mainframe, was to gain acceptance among them.

At this point, the Xerox Alto computer is not good, nor is the IBM 1975 launched by IBM in 5100. Its basic model with 16KB of memory is priced at around $9000. The bitter public cannot accept it, and it is recognized as the first. Altair 8800 of personal computer, the price of the finished product is about 500 US dollars.

In short, big IT companies at this time are accustomed to relying on high-end products to maintain profits, while toy-like personal computers only have a business model of small profits but high sales, and their motivation is naturally insufficient.

Since IBM's traditional design process had proven ineffective for designing cheap microcomputers, the Chess project team with a special mission was allowed to bypass IBM's corporate rules to quickly deliver a marketable product.

Initially, the Chess project team had considered using the IBM 801 processor and an operating system developed for it at the IBM Research Laboratory in Yorktown Heights.

The 801 processor is at least an order of magnitude stronger than the Intel CPU, and the supporting operating system is at least several years ahead of the DOS operating system such as CP/M.

However, working collaboratively within IBM, which has a huge organization, does not have all the conveniences of being close to the water and getting the moon first. The procedures such as various application reports may have to wait until the year of the monkey.

It is said that IBM's products have to wait at least two years after the design is approved to go to market; and a more pessimistic statement is that it usually takes 5 years.

The maturity and prudence of the blue giant can be seen from this.

The chess planning project team, which strives to achieve a "fast" word, can only ignore IBM's internal solutions to avoid many internal procedures that may delay the schedule, thereby greatly reducing its work difficulties.

Fortunately, IBM had a failed project named "Datamaster" that adopted Intel 1978 in 8080. Wire.

Therefore, they simply put all their attention on the outside of IBM, especially those personal computers that have already achieved success in the market: Apple, Tangdi, Commodore, Atari... Various models of personal computers will be bought back, and was disassembled for careful study.

The elites of IBM soon discovered that the CPUs used in these products are divided into two categories: Intel's Intel 8080 and Zilog's Z80; The split engineers among the MC6800 R&D personnel made their own improved versions.

Considering only the cost, the corresponding Motorola series has more advantages than the Intel series. However, IBM, which has been racked by several anti-monopoly lawsuits, has been very wary of various possible patent disputes.

As a result, Zilog and MOS Technology were directly eliminated, and due to the maturity and popularity of CP/M, an operating system born on the Intel 8080 architecture, Intel was finally sent to the palace by the draft.

After determining the core microprocessor, the Chess Program project team began to design the overall system. At this time, the Apple II's open slots and the Zheru function expansion card's exquisite cooperation, thereby providing powerful functions, attracted them. keen interest.

This year, the latest function expansion card launched by Zheru is the Sound Card, which is the sound card, and the further one is the mouse function expansion card. These technical achievements have amazed the technical elites of IBM, and unanimously agreed to include these functions in the chess plan Come.

Since it is research, private reverse engineering is unavoidable. During this process, the Xiangqi project team discovered that Zheru's function expansion card will cover the underlying hardware with an extremely delicate abstraction written in assembly language. The functional layer is stored in the read-only memory.

According to Zheru's public product information, this hardware abstraction function layer is called Basic Input and Output System or BIOS, which can be called by partners for programming.

IBM's technical elites were amazed by this technical implementation, and then decided to expand this idea to the level of the entire computer.

In this way, the project team of the Xiangqi project was confused by Zheru's brand-new technical realization skills, and the progress was delayed a little without knowing it.

However, none of these IBM technical elites is simple. Once they figure out the implementation principle, the next thing is too simple for them.

The project leader, Bill Lovo, is naturally confident in the elite soldiers he personally selected, and the result is also the same. After passing the technical reference and research stage, the project progress quickly caught up.

However, after seeing the newly collected information on the latest developments in the personal computer industry, everyone felt as if they had been slapped in the face and felt a little dizzy. Zheru had already registered so many patents related to personal computers?

Liu Ege Brecht, the chief system designer of the Chess Program project team, took out a page of information from the file and shook it, "I can be sure that Zheru is developing the next generation of personal computers. The patent of this ISA bus is only from It can be deduced from the brief description that it is used to open the slot and connect the function expansion card. The Altair computer of MITS originally adopted the bus structure called S100, but it seems that no one has used it in recent years. It’s just to pay attention to this technology, but unfortunately, we just happened to use it.”

"In this way, there is a high possibility of patent disputes, why don't you report it to the higher authorities immediately." An engineer suggested.

Bill Lovo shook his head, "My earliest plan was to directly buy computers produced by other manufacturers and sell them under the IBM brand, but I was rejected on the grounds that IBM must have its own personal computers. It can be seen that the high-level What is your thinking? If I report the possibility of this patent dispute now, what should I do if I receive an instruction to suspend the project?"

"Then the situation of our project team is even more dangerous." Hearing such an analysis, everyone talked a lot, with worried expressions on their faces.

Compared with the huge IBM, their project team assigned to the frontier, which is called a tribute to the Silicon Valley garage startup myth, is just an inconspicuous gravel. IBM does not know how many similar project teams will be withdrawn every month. As long as the management The committee wasn't satisfied, and even with the privilege of reporting directly to the president, it wasn't necessarily immune.

This research and development project finally got the official name of "Chess Project", and the machine they are developing also has the internal code name of "Acorn". Everyone is full of enthusiasm to let this microcomputer miraculously change the future of IBM. , so that I can gain both fame and fortune, and my name will go down in history. Of course, I can't accept the ending of giving up halfway.

"If it doesn't work, let's go get in touch with Zheru."

"The project has progressed to this level. What are we thinking about so much? Even if we want to file a patent lawsuit, the high-level executives will wipe their asses and pretend that they don't know about it."

Everyone has different opinions, and there is no consensus. Obviously, these elites develop one technology after another, but when it comes to intrigue and business warfare, they are typical novices.

However, Bill Lovo, who has entered the ascendant channel in IBM and has a bright future, does not belong to this category.

He pondered for a while, and finally made a decision, "Yes, we just pretended not to know about it. The company has employed so many lawyers in order to fight the anti-monopoly lawsuit, so they are not vegetarians."

Speaking of this, Bill Lovo threw the documents in front of him into the middle of the table, "Throw all these materials into the shredder, everyone should not be affected by any bullshit patents, and work according to the original plan, and speed up."

Glancing at his colleagues, Bill Lovo slowed down his tone, "I will ask the president to disclose a few words about our project to the outside world, which is an advertisement in advance to whet our appetite. After all, many companies in Silicon Valley always engage It is not uncommon for products to be released before R&D is completed, so as to collect advance payment. Of course, we are not for the purpose of collecting money, but to leave evidence. Our Acorn and Zheru’s ISA bus appeared The time is close, and there is no question of who copied who. In this way, everyone will not be under so much pressure. What do you think?"

"Will the president agree?" Liuegbrecht asked worriedly. He had put a lot of effort into this project and was most worried about gains and losses.

"Our chess project team was originally allowed to bypass the company's existing rules." Bill Lovo showed a sly smile on his face, "What's more, gossip about the chess project has already begun to circulate within the company, and it is not top secret. .”

Seeing that the confident Bill Lovo said the truth, everyone nodded in convincing, and a thought flashed in their minds, "The rumor that Lovo will be promoted is indeed true, just because of his commanding style, he is worthy of being promoted." The top management takes it so seriously.”

……

West Coast, California, Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale, Atari Headquarters.

CEO Recasa accompanied Warner President Steve Ross to inspect the company and returned to the office.

"I only saw the personal computer, and said yes, what about the next generation of game consoles?" Steve Ross showed displeasure.

"The third version of Atari 2600 is ready to be launched..." Recasa began to sweat on his forehead.

"I'm talking about the next generation of game consoles, not the optimized version of the current Atari 2600." Steve Ross interrupted the other party unceremoniously.

"Since Bushnell left, many technical backbones have also left one after another, so the development of the next generation of game consoles is slightly behind, but the Atari 400/800 personal computer is very good, and the game performance is also very good. For a while, IBM took a fancy to it and planned to let us become its OEM." Recasa, who was being trained, explained unwillingly.

"Then what should we do now? Watching the Little Overlord game machine running at full speed and making a lot of money?" Steve Ross stared at Recasa and asked.

Recasa was about to be suffocated by the overlord's aura emanating from his boss, so he could only bite the bullet and continue to explain, "There is no way to do this. We are the same as the little overlord game machine. There is no need to open up your own game platform and fully control this most important source of profit, but those technical backbones who left know the hardware details of the Atari 2600, and even established a game called Activision The development company specializes in making games for the Atari 2600, and I am going to sue them to make a good start for charging licensing fees in the future."

"How much money can this make?" Steve Ross snorted angrily, "After all, it's nothing more than some so-called difficulties. You are a professional manager, and you can't get rid of it except complaining Come up with a solution?"
"Of course." Recasa quickly changed his bitter face to a flattering smile, "Currently, the arcade business has not been greatly affected. As for home game consoles, as long as the speed of game launch is accelerated and the status quo is maintained, then the company's overall profitability will be improved." The situation is still good. When the next-generation game console, the Atari 5200, is successfully developed, we will be able to fully grasp the game console platform again only through a small trick that is not compatible with the current Atari 2600. However, this The process takes time."

"Then how much time do you think it will take?" Seeing that the subordinate was almost forced, Steve Ross slowed down his tone.

"About a year." Recasa looked at his boss pitifully, "When the Atari 2600 was developed, you should have heard of its difficulty."

Although Steve Ross is a generational hero in business, he is a mallet in terms of high technology. Basically, he has to believe what Recasa says, but when he thinks that it will take such a long time for a year, he will be [-] Claws scratching my heart, isn't the Xiaobawang game machine making a lot of money.

"Could it be that this little overlord game console is really so unstoppable?" Steve Rose's tone was obviously full of jealousy.

Recasa spread his hands helplessly, "Engineers like Bushnell who start businesses in Silicon Valley often have excellent technical skills but poor company management. But Tang Huan is an exception. The scale of his Cupertino headquarters has expanded extremely fast. But it has always been running in an orderly manner. It is said that after Intel CEO Andy Grove went there several times, he was very impressed by the orderliness there. No, I just got a reliable news that EA's game "Donkey Kong" The residual heat is still lingering, and the sequel "Mario" is about to be released. This summer vacation is almost everyone's home field."

Steve Ross took over the document in Recasa's hand, glanced at it casually, "Donkey Kong? Why is the name so familiar?"

"Don't you think of the movie "King Kong"?" Recasa laughed dryly.

"Yes, it's a movie." Steve Rose's eyes lit up, Huo Di stood up, walked out, and dropped a sentence, "Don't send me off, think carefully about how to do the job at hand well."

Boss, why did you take the file away?
Recasa opened his mouth subconsciously, then quickly closed it again.

Forget it, just send this great god away.

……

On August 8st, Friday, the third stop of Deng Lijun's second round of North American tour began at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, which is the San Francisco Municipal Auditorium.

This indoor arena was built in 1915, and the 1920 Democratic Party Congress was held here. From 1964 to 1967, it was also the home court of the NBA Golden State Warriors basketball team.

This performance not only showcases Deng Lijun's star appeal, but also reflects the local reputation that Tang Huan has worked hard for more than a year.

With Tang Huan's secret support, the newspaper basically covered Fang's newspaper in the entire San Francisco Bay Area, and spared no effort to launch a comprehensive publicity.

Live performances at Lincoln Center in New York and Los Angeles Music Center, a press conference on the appointment of UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador, and a ceremony for awarding cultural exchange medals by assistant mayors of the two cities... A series of photos show Deng Lijun's recent public activities in full In front of the local Chinese.

As a result, today has almost become a festival for the Chinese, and the San Francisco Police Department specially stepped up patrols for this purpose, and the San Francisco Municipal Auditorium, which can accommodate 7000 spectators, is full of seats.

These audiences were mainly from San Francisco, Oakland, and other places in the Bay Area, and some even came from Los Angeles. The front of the stage was filled with flowers sent by them.

There is also an exaggeration. In addition to the local Chinese media, TTV also sent an interview team from Baodao all the way, but was stunned by the lively scene in front of them.

How can a singer who has been banned for more than a year still have such a high popularity after his comeback?

(End of this chapter)