Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 531 The Apple on the Road to Death

"Don? Estridge, there is a misunderstanding in your thinking, too much emphasis on the importance of purely technical aspects, but it includes as small as the hard disk defect of IBM-PC/AT, as big as IBM-PC following in step with Fangyuan's personal The situation behind the computer is actually caused by poor management.”

Another executive interrupted suddenly, and almost pointed out by name, "Your ability is at best a department manager who can manage the situation in front of you, and you are not qualified to be a border official guarding one side."

"Do you think you know the personal computer industry well? Do you think that personal computers are really products with little technical content?"

Don Esterlich, who was furious at the squeeze, sneered, "As I said just now, Fangyuan Computer Company's personal computers are updated every two years. According to this trend, it is speculated that the fourth generation of Fangyuan personal computers will be released next year. Well, what kind of product will it be? Let me tell you, it will probably be similar to our mainframe, and it will be a 32-bit computer."

"Impossible, you are exaggerating. If Fangyuan Computer Company really wants to do this, it will seriously affect the market layout of its own high-end products online servers and workstations." The other side swore in denial.

"Then why don't you reflect on what's wrong with your own thinking?" Don Estridge raised his voice, "Our mainframes, since the System/360, have only undergone a comprehensive upgrade every ten years; and DEC The small computer VAX of Fangyuan Computer will be updated every three years; the servers and workstations of Fangyuan Computer are more flexible in configuration, and more detailed new models can be launched every year for the target customer group. In other words, the product line of Fangyuan Computer , it is designed to change according to needs, how can you worry about low-end personal computers impacting high-end servers and workstations?"

Don Estrich's aggressive tone immediately forced the other party to become speechless.

"The technical aspect of software is indeed becoming more and more important. I received a report submitted by my subordinates and studied this field." Finally, someone spoke on the side of Don Estridge.

"This report pays special attention to a software design architecture called Zeroe Application Programming Interface of Zheru Software - Zheru Application Programming Interface, or ZAPI, which belongs to a class of methods to organize program functions more effectively and reuse functions. "The most eye-catching ZAPI-based product recently is undoubtedly the Zheru Network Suite that supports TCP/IP. Third-party developers can freely call its implemented functions, thus quickly gathering a group of followers."

"The full impact of ZAPI needs to be further evaluated, but one thing is certain, Fangyuan personal computer MC68000 series and Intel 80286/8086 series, and even the early MOS 6502 series, as well as the acquired Z80 series of Tangdy Computer, are all The operating system level maintains consistency, and it can even be extended to the high-end Fangyuan server and workstation series.”

"IBM has a richer product line. If a similar system can be established, especially connecting IBM-PC and all mainframes at the operating system level, it will undoubtedly have an unlimited positive effect. My subordinates call this plan IBM Systems Application Architecture - System Application Architecture is SAA."

"Although this idea is very good, its implementation must involve a wide range of aspects and a huge amount of work. I think it needs further evaluation." Another person said conservatively.

"Okay, these specific issues about personal computers will be discussed in departmental meetings." John Opel interrupted the quarrel impatiently, "Also, in May, President Reagan will visit China and will sign a A series of commercial and trade agreements, bringing new business opportunities. But the problem is that our mainframes have been able to flow there unimpeded with only low-end models in the past few years, but recently, even the most advanced models have sluggish sales. Restricted by various national and industry standards that popped up all at once. On the other hand, the servers and workstations of Fangyuan Computer can be like ducks in water. For this situation, what good solution do you have?"

"Let the Asian branch find a way to develop the Chinese market." Regarding the business opportunities mentioned by John Opel, among the conservative IBM executives, there are always some people who are indifferent.

"The current Chinese market will not be attacked by local manufacturers like the Japanese market, and there will be no fierce competition in the US market. Such a relaxed environment will be handed over to Fangyuan Computer?" Other visionary people immediately express a dissenting opinion.

"Give me an investigative report on Fangyuan Computer's current operating situation in the Chinese market." John Opel, who couldn't get the exact answer, pointed at a few people angrily and ordered.

Then he turned around and asked Don Estridge, "Will the defect of the hard disk of IBM-PC/AT allow Apple's newly released MAC to take advantage of the loophole and steal the market share?"

Although he was somewhat displeased with Don Estridge, John Opel had no choice but to continue to rely on him because he was the executive who was most familiar with the situation of the personal computer market among the people present.

"No." Don Estridge replied affirmatively, "MAC is a flashy product. It is only equipped with 128 KB of memory and does not support hard disk. The power is obviously insufficient, which has become the biggest bottleneck of the GUI function. And , the application programs on the MAC platform are very scarce, only the drawing toolkit QuickDraw and the word processing software QuickWrite that it carries, and the annual sales volume of 75 units that Jobs boasted is a joke at all.”

"The memory capacity is low, just increase it; there is no hard disk, it should not be difficult to add one. Such a simple problem, Apple will not know how to solve it?" Don Estridge's opponents launched a mockery as always .

"Apple, you don't understand. To them, those unbelievable actions are just normal." Don Estridge glanced at the other party and replied lightly.

……

The advertisement "1984" made the whole United States remember MAC, and the success of the Macintosh computer conference also made Jobs' reputation soaring.

Many people take it for granted that in the next personal computer market, MAC will emerge suddenly and become the third pole besides Fangyuan personal computer and IBM-PC.

Naturally, subtle changes have taken place in Apple's internal power structure.

Jobs, who gained greater control, decided to merge the two departments of Lisa Computer and Macintosh Computer for unified management in addition to building a state-of-the-art factory dedicated to MAC.

Standing in front of the members of the Lisa and Macintosh teams, Jobs announced the merger plan condescendingly, "After the merger, all the top positions will be held by the leaders of the Macintosh department, and a quarter of the Lisa computer department One employee was laid off."

Scanning the murmuring crowd with mixed faces, Jobs continued grimly and candidly: "Obviously, your Lisa failed. You are a second-rate team, second-rate players. Many of you standing here are second-rate First or third class employees. Therefore, today I will let some of you go, so that you have the opportunity to work at other brothers in Silicon Valley."

The Lisa team, which was already in conflict with the MAC team, blew up the temple at that time.

Seeing this situation, Bill Atkinson, the developer of the drawing toolkit QuickDraw for the MAC platform, who also worked on the Lisa team and the Macintosh team, quickly pulled Jobs aside and whispered: "Steve, this The way the merger was done was not only callous, it was unfair. In fact, these guys worked really hard and they were brilliant engineers."

"No." Jobs looked directly at Bill Atkinson and replied firmly, "I have learned a very important management experience from the Macintosh team, that is, if you want to build a team composed of first-class players , then we must be ruthless. The reason behind this is very simple, when the team expands, if a few second-rate players are absorbed, more second-rate players will be recruited. Soon, there will even be third-rate players in the team.”

Seeing that Bill Atkinson wanted to persuade him, Jobs waved his hand, "Don't talk about it. The successful experience of Macintosh tells me that first-rate players only like to cooperate with first-rate players. In other words, first-rate teams cannot tolerate second-rate players. presence of the team."

Jobs opened his mouth about "second-rate team members" and closed his mouth about "third-rate team members", which completely angered the members of Lisa's team. Before the final layoff list was announced, some people angrily dropped their employee badges, "It's no big deal, believe it or not. , you can find your next home when you turn around.”

"You mean to go to Zheru, right? Then you won't give it away. Anyway, there are a lot of outdated products that we don't want here." Jobs sneered repeatedly, "You can only make a GUI system worth 10000 dollars. people, just get together."

……

EA has already moved to Redwood City, and Fangyuan Computer's headquarters in Mountain View City has also completed construction and is about to move there. Zheru is left alone in Cupertino, and finally it doesn't need to be as crowded as before.

John Chambers and Louis Gerstner were discussing the work of providing IT solutions for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Charles Simeone came over and said: "Just now, the engineer who used to develop office software for the Lisa computer received an offer from Apple. There were calls from members of Lisa's team, saying that they had been laid off in large numbers, and asked if there was any recruitment intention on our side."

"What Tang said is really true. Apple, which is on the road to death, will have internal troubles every once in a while, or else it will be uncomfortable." Louis Gerstner shook his head with a smile.

"No one knows these freaks at Apple better than Don." John Chambers also laughed, "From past experience, people who leave Apple are not necessarily incompetent. On the contrary, they A rare and special quality is often shown in the body, that is, after the destruction of Apple, especially Jobs, the ability to work under pressure is very good."

"Is it just like before, I hired on the basis of merit? Anyway, I have a lot of projects to arrange. Maybe if I choose a group of R&D centers to be sent to Hong Kong, there won't be any resistance. After all, they were beaten down by Steve Jobs at Apple. Not lightly, classified as second- and third-class employees," confirmed Charles Simeone.

"Remember to bring a lawyer by your side for consultation." Louis Gerstner reminded: "After the release of MAC, Apple's wings are a bit hard, and it is drifting away from us, so be careful."

……

It has to be said that the Lisa team members were terrified by Jobs' brutality and ruthlessness in the process of merging the Lisa and Macintosh divisions.

The sales of Lisa computers are now almost negligible, and a large number of unsold products are backlogged in the warehouse, almost collecting a layer of dust.

The grand release of MAC has further extinguished the hope of Lisa computers to make a comeback after improvements. After all, the existence of the Lisa team is indeed unnecessary. Whether it is disbanded or merged, there is no blame.

But the problem is that according to Jobs' merger plan, the leadership positions of the new department do not have the share of the original Lisa team members at all, which makes those Lisa team members who are lucky not to be listed on the layoff list inevitably have doubts , extremely pessimistic about career prospects.

Ever since, when he heard that Zheru was willing to take over the dismissed Lisa team members, the Lisa department had not waited for the merger to be completed, and the tree fell down and the monkeys scattered, and the building was empty.

As a result, Zheru specially sent a bus and stopped at the gate of Apple to meet the group of people.

All of a sudden, there was a strange scene, people who were fired or resigned in twos and threes, holding the cardboard boxes, walked out of the gate of Apple, directly boarded the Zheru bus, and finally left in a mighty way.

Seeing this scene, CEO John Sculley felt a little uneasy.Even if the successful release of MAC has boosted Apple's morale, it can't hold back such demoralizing people.

Although the relationship between John Sculley and Jobs was still in the honeymoon period, he still complained about how the merger of an ordinary department was so messed up by Jobs.

So, John Sculley contacted John Chambers, the CEO of Fangyuan Computer, and said straight to the point: "Isn't it appropriate for you to take our engineers away by carloads?"

The two Johns communicated directly, and John Chambers replied with a smile: "That's because you are not used to it. How big Cupertino is, it is inevitable that our companies will be entangled in various ways. In fact, you can change the angle." Thinking, we are also helping our partner Apple to restore order."

"Order?" John Sculley muttered to himself after putting down the phone. He suddenly remembered the in-depth conversation Markkula had with him when he joined the company, in which he repeatedly mentioned the need to establish order at Apple.But looking at the current situation, it is really not optimistic.

After sighing, John Sculley went to see Jobs in person, hoping that his work methods would be gentler. Unexpectedly, the other party was as indifferent as ever, "These second-rate employees, let them go, it's no big deal."

Speaking of this, Jobs looked at the time, "I'm going to pick up Jennifer, she is so curious that I accompany her to watch the movie "Love the Flower" starring Tang Huan."

Jennifer? Egan is Jobs' new girlfriend. Not long after the MAC conference ended, Jobs went to someone's bedroom and installed a MAC, which shows how the two of them are at this stage.

John Sculley couldn't do bad things to good people, so he nodded helplessly and let Jobs go.

(End of this chapter)