Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 256
In this regard, Tang Huan also has no cheap and feasible solution. The current level of semiconductor technology is like this. He cannot rudely ignore objective facts like Jobs did with Apple III.

Fortunately, for arcade applications, these limitations are not so obvious. Not only can the MC68000's performance be fully utilized, but Zheru's latest developed display and sound modules are fully equipped.

Naturally, the price of Xiaobawang arcade machine is inevitably slightly higher than similar products on the market.

For Japanese companies like Nintendo, their products that are popular in the market, such as the original time-space red and white machine, are not technically advanced. The success lies in finding a balance between technology, cost and other factors. Otherwise, there would not be so many imitators, and they would easily carry out copycats in a similar manner.

Compared with it, Xiaobawang arcade machine seems to be in the danger of being outmoded, but Tang Huan has enough reasons to believe that as long as "content is king", this product will occupy a place in the market.

Because EA and Taidong have a wealth of classic game resources in their hands, and judging from the current porting effect, the operation, visual and sound experience provided by Xiaobawang Arcade is perfect, which can definitely make players feel fresh.

Most importantly, in addition to new bottles of old wine, EA has launched a brand new arcade game "Thunderbolt". When colleagues are still trying to figure out the horizontal scroll mode of "Donkey Kong" and "Mario", the vertical scroll shooting type Appeared, it can be said that "content is king" to the fullest.

Although Taidong's technicians are still optimizing and adjusting the handling, Sun Zhengyi can already feel the charm of "Thunder" in person. The shocking sound effect stimulated this expert to radiate red, and he kept shouting happily.

"This groundbreaking game alone is enough to make up for the disadvantage caused by the high price." Sun Zhengyi finally gave his evaluation, "It's just that companies such as Nintendo, Sega, and Namco are going to complain. .”

Tang Huan laughed, and murmured in his heart, "I care about their life and death," and said, "The smell of wine is also afraid of deep alleys, and Xiaobawang arcade needs your professional magazines to cheer."

"Of course it's no problem." Son Zhengyi smiled knowingly.

……

Sharp learned about Tang Huan's trip to Japan, so he invited him to visit, but Tang Huan saw that it was already mid-January, so he politely declined and kept it for the next time.

You know, the market for personal computers and video game consoles in the United States is booming.

The American media dubbed the Fangyuan computer and the Xiaobawang game console as two delicious desserts, while the slanderous IBM and Universal are trying to figure out how to take a bite.

The reaction of Fangyuan Computer and EA to this can be summed up as grievance and anger, which has won widespread sympathy from the outside world, while the industry is watching with cold eyes.

The field of personal computers is generally wary of IBM. Not long after Big Blue stated that it would launch a new generation of personal computers, it acquired 20.00% of Intel's shares.

Recently, Seymour Rubinstein leaked rumors that IBM wanted to acquire its own MicroPro International company, with the purpose of firmly controlling the word processing software WordStar, but in the end he rejected it outright.

All kinds of signs seem to indicate that Big Blue intends to catch all the current PC manufacturers.

Outsiders admiring and yearning for IBM's great reputation established in the era of monopolizing mainframe computers, while interested authorities detest and reject it.

This is why the Big Blue tree is attracting attention, but no one pays attention to Tang Huan's investments in Seagate and 3COM, and it seems to be very popular.

Everyone hopes that Fangyuan Computer can chop off the greedy hand extended by IBM.

Of course, this is all illusory support. Once a patent lawsuit is fought, it will cost money. You can only pay for it yourself, and don't expect others to help.

Fortunately, Tang Huan can afford this game.He could see very clearly that this patent lawsuit was just a foreshadowing of the personal computer standard war represented by bus technology.

As for video games, EA is in a much more isolated situation.

For example, Atari stated condescendingly that in a high-tech industry like ours, respecting patents should be a kind of nature.

The implication is, EA, you should quickly admit that your "Donkey Kong" has violated other people's copyrights.

Intellivision has a very surprised expression, there is such a thing, so please hurry up and buy my products, our game consoles and games are absolutely original.

As for Milohua, who was the first to invent the home electronic game console, due to the unsatisfactory performance of his Odyssey II game console and the failure of the patent lawsuit, he was stimulated to become cynical by the three latecomers who made huge profits - haha, EA, you have today too.

All in all, colleagues in the field of video games can't wait for EA, which dominates the market, to die quickly.

It can only be said that EA is also very popular.

During the meeting, Tang Huan unsparingly praised the crisis public relations ability of his subordinates who were united as one when he intended to let go.

"Everyone, development and growth is the last word. As for those guys who are jealous of our benefits..." Tang Huan snorted disdainfully, "You come and bite me!"

The absolute self-confidence shown by the big boss infected everyone present and laughed heartily.

"It will take at least two months for IBM's personal computer to be launched, and the second-generation Fangyuan computer already has mature and reliable production capacity, and is gradually fully open for sale to personal and business users, so they are in a hurry Going to court and saying that your computer will be cheaper is to delay our progress." Tang Huan analyzed with sparkling eyes.

The reason why he was so confident was because multiple sources from within Microsoft said that the DOS needed by IBM was still being developed intensively, and people like Gates, Allen, and Ballmer were almost driven crazy.

"Although we strive to make Fangyuan computers enter traditional stores like home appliances, in fact, it is business users who can really promote the development of the personal computer market," Tang Huan continued to elaborate on his point of view.

Of course, this conclusion is also summed up by the initial success of the IBM personal computer in the original time and space.

"So, I hope that everyone will focus on cultivating successful application models in various industries when planning the market, so as to drive the needs of other users." Tang Huan glanced at his subordinates, "Luxury hotels in Las Vegas, San Francisco The insurance giant Pan America, universities on the west coast, and universities in the UK, and many more, are all achievements we have made. It is not difficult to see that using supporting software to make up for the disadvantage of the high price of the second-generation Fangyuan computer hardware, customers Still very appreciative.”

Under Tang Huan's detailed explanation, everyone present understood the next work more and more clearly. As for the harassment from IBM and Universal, it really gave them a feeling, come and bite me.

As the meeting came to an end, Chambers told Tang Huan that Robert Metcalf had conveyed an intention. Since they had not been able to meet with Tang Huan, the 3COM board of directors planned to come to Silicon Valley collectively.

"I was negligent." Tang Huan reflected on himself, "Don't make them work hard. I'm going to Washington to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new president, so let's go to the 3COM headquarters first."

"Alright, I'll reply to them right away." Chambers nodded.

After the meeting, Tang Huan hurriedly went to the R&D department to visit Woz. He was fooled by him and ran over from Apple to make barcode readers and radio frequency card readers.

The great thing about Woz is that he can use as few electronic components as possible to achieve the required functions, and has extremely high execution efficiency. The floppy disk drive on the Apple II is the best example.

Once Woz's interest in hacking is stimulated, he will burst out with amazing creativity. He has already solved the barcode reader and is currently working on the radio frequency card reader and writer.

"Don, if banks adopt these cards in the future, won't we have the opportunity to observe the information of those accounts?" Woz laughed happily.

Tang Huan is no stranger to this old man's whimsy. In the early years, he dared to use the blue box for stealing long-distance calls he invented to call the Pope of Rome. What a powerful and unconstrained style, bold and reckless.

The two were chatting enthusiastically, and Woz's assistant hurried over and reported that Markkula, Jobs, and Scott asked him to hold a board meeting.

"What is it that you have to come to me? I rarely participate in the affairs of the board of directors." Woz, who was disappointed, asked impatiently.

"I heard that there was a complete breakdown within the MAC project team. The conflict between Jobs and Jeff Raskin has reached the point where a face-to-face showdown is necessary, and the two can only survive together." The other party explained.

The chaos within Apple can be reflected in the complex relationship between various project teams.

The Apple II project team, which provides the company with the main source of profit, is considered outdated because the product production cycle is too long and the technology cannot keep up with the current situation.

At the same time, Jobs poached people from here from time to time and sent them to his own hill - the MAC project team.

The conflicts arising from this are intricate and complex, and it is common for them to look at each other disliked, and to say a few words of contempt.

"Steve's behavior is a little too much, it's really troublesome." Woz sighed, and took the initiative to talk about this matter with Tang Huan,

It turned out that since the MAC project team was targeted by Jobs, the good days of Jeff Raskin, the person in charge, have come to an end. His power has been emptied and his prestige has been hit. He has become the tragic figure of the year.

Once, Jobs told Jeff Raskin that the next day's technical presentation conference was cancelled, but only Jeff Raskin received this notification, and the rest did not receive such news.

As a result, the next day, Jeff Ruskin passed by the venue, amazed at how there were so many people, and unprepared, he was forced to give a speech on the stage, making a disgraced face and laughing generously.

Since then, the knot between Jeff Raskin and Jobs has never been resolved. It is estimated that today's board of directors will make the final result of whether the two will stay or not.

"I don't need to be there, I can also guess from their previous tone that Markkula and Scott will think that Steve, who is doing nothing, is more troublesome for the entire company, as he was removed from the Lisa project team before. The compensation for driving away, sacrificing Jeff Raskin, and letting the MAC project team drag Steve's energy." Woz shrugged helplessly, with this kind of internal political struggle in the company, he now I also understand Yi Er's expression.

Tang Huan, who was personally testing the performance of the card reader, smiled noncommittally. He didn't want to mess with the bad things inside Apple, and it was thankless.

"Tang, come with me. Anyway, you haven't seen them for a while." Woz, who was a little depressed by the assistant's urging, wanted to take Tang Huan as his companion.

Tang Huan looked at the card reader, then at Woz, and thought that the sample developed by this guy was better, and for this reason, he had to accompany him, or else he would be unhappy , What should I do if I drop the pick?

……

After arriving at Apple's office, Tang Huan clearly felt the solemnity of the atmosphere. Even the greetings from Markkula, Scott and him seemed listless.

"Steve, are you really not going to try to get along with Jeff again?" Markkula was making the final persuasion.

"The problem is that it was proposed by Jeff Raskin himself, the MAC project team, there is me without him, there is him without me." Jobs snorted.

"Then let Jeff Raskin go on vacation." Scott sighed and offered his suggestion.

Last time he agreed to expel Jobs from the Lisa project team, now it is necessary to ease the relationship between them, Jeff Raskin has inevitably been sacrificed.

"That's fine, let us make this decision, don't disturb other people, otherwise, it will be another trouble." Markkula was having a headache, and just hoped that from now on, Jobs could calm down. .

"On vacation?" The corner of Tang Huan's mouth twitched slightly, and he thought that this is really a deadly tactic of releasing military power with a glass of wine in ancient and modern times.

Jobs, who got what he wanted, raised his chin slightly, and his eyes fell on Tang Huan, "Since Tang is here, let's talk about the proposal."

"Please tell me." Tang Huan looked at the other party with interest.He came here to make soy sauce, mainly to prevent Woz from being distracted, and to finish the rest of the work on the radio frequency card reader in one breath, but unexpectedly, he still caused trouble.

"The second-generation Fangyuan computer will definitely be the focus of your future work. It is better to transfer the patent and technology of the Apple II function expansion card to Apple so that the Apple II can be integrated and developed into a follow-up model, thereby extending the product life cycle." Jobs Staring into Tang Huan's eyes, he seriously stated the so-called proposal.

It is no exaggeration to say that when the second-generation Fangyuan computer was fully opened to commercial and individual users in the US market this month, it was immediately bought back by colleagues for slice research.

Literati look down upon each other, and it is inevitable that there will be vindictiveness among colleagues.

But from a technical point of view, everyone is still very convinced of the second-generation Fangyuan Computer.

At the same time, a consensus was quickly formed in the computer professional media that the second-generation Fangyuan computer was a commercial computer, and cost and price factors made it difficult to popularize it among individual user groups.

In other words, the second-generation Fangyuan computer will not have much impact on the current US PC market structure. Its main direction of attack is the blank area of ​​the current price gap between PCs and minicomputers.

Whether this kind of product positioning will be too high or too low to please everyone has formed two diametrically opposed views.

Conservative people in the personal computer industry believe that the second-generation Fangyuan computer is very likely to be popular; but those who have obtained a full set of software for the platform in addition to the second-generation Fangyuan computer hardware are very optimistic. Functionality, exactly what business users expect.

But in any case, the second-generation Fangyuan computer has not significantly squeezed the living space of various manufacturers in the current personal computer market, and naturally it will not be as hated as IBM, which vowed to launch a new generation of cheap personal computers.

Everyone who is calm, can therefore calmly look at the second-generation Fangyuan computer, thinking that it is a good choice for the future development of personal computers, and quickly learn from it, so as to deal with the chaos in the personal computer market that Big Blue will soon cause.

Apple also has a similar idea, but because of the complicated relationship with Tang Huan, there is more room for manipulation.

The first generation of Fangyuan computers squeezed the Apple II out of the Far East market, and even fruit counterfeit products such as "oranges" and "mangoes" were wiped out in the bud. Coupled with Zheru's various Apple II function expansion cards, Apple The company realized that the Apple II's capabilities could still be enhanced at current cost levels.

Therefore, Jobs and others focused on a series of Apple II function expansion cards developed by Zheru. If they are directly integrated into Apple II, they will definitely become the king of 8-bit personal computers in the US market.

Moreover, as long as Zhe Ru is willing to help, this process will be completed easily.

You know, now Apple is a bit sluggish in launching new products, Apple III has failed, Lisa and MAC are both ambitious to make the GUI a must, and it is doomed to have no results in the near future.

The Apple II, which came out in 1977, has not had new products since the launch of the improved model Apple II Plus in 1978. It doesn't even support direct input of lowercase letters, which is obviously a bit old.

Seeing that the time has come to 1981, Apple should have a new move.

(End of this chapter)