Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 540 Self-Contained Computer Special Effects

……

Due to the failure of the IBM-PC/AT hard disk, Don Estridge lost all the opportunity to seize the market obtained by monopolizing the Intel 80286.

Therefore, the structure of the personal computer market has almost been finalized, that is, the Fangyuan personal computer standard, which occupies two-thirds of the market share, is at the top of the list, while the IBM-PC standard is in the second place and keeps slipping, and The industry dominance that Big Blue used to dominate and grasp is gradually drifting away.

Fortunately, the threat from Apple is very limited. Although MAC has been busy for a while, its flashy nature is quickly revealed, and it cannot pose a substantial threat to IBM-PC.

As for other types of personal computer platforms, they must either disappear, such as BBC Micro in the UK, or NEC PC-9800 in Japan; Dali, Apple II GS, etc. changed their bloodlines and embraced the Fangyuan personal computer standard.

Compaq is the most representative company on the side of IBM-PC, but it and some IBM-PC compatible machines made by unknown workshops are essentially grabbing the meat from Big Blue's mouth uncontrollably.

More importantly, these wildly expanding companies on the IBM-PC platform are like scattered sand, while Fangyuan PCs are in an orderly manner, forming a joint force that can determine the direction of the industry.

Take the recently held annual Spring Developers Conference as an example. In terms of popularity, various alliance manufacturers are discussing the multitasking capabilities and multimedia features of the third-generation Fangyuan PC, and are also looking forward to the 32-bit development of the fourth-generation Fangyuan PC. trip.

Of course, in addition to the two standard competitions of Fangyuan personal computer and IBM-PC, there are also some fish that have slipped through the net, mainly concentrated in the field of low-end cheap computers, such as Commodore, which defeated Texas Instruments and had the last laugh, and the British AI computer in Europe. Kang computer as the representative of the local brand.

But it is foreseeable that these increasingly niche hardware platforms will not be swept into the dustbin of history for too long.

Tang Huan is very satisfied with the current step-by-step procedures of Fangyuan Computer Company, but he also pointed out to his senior executives: IBM is not the ultimate rival, and its success and failure are also conservative. of the personal computer industry.

What Fangyuan Computer needs to be wary of is that new forces may take advantage of certain emerging technology fields and take advantage of changes in the rules of the game to snatch the market from behind, such as 32-bit personal computers and equipment that are more suitable for the network environment.

Compared to Apple, which grew up like a bear child, Fangyuan Computer Company was trained by Tang Huan.I don't know how many times I have become mature and stable. There is no need to say good things twice, just click on it.

At this time, the news that the Intel faction of the semiconductor company Seeq, led by Gordon Campbell, planned to rebel and leave came.

Louis Gerstner, who has been in charge of following up Seeq's developments, asked Tang Huan for his opinion after the report, "How about I represent the board of directors to forcefully suppress it?"

"There is no need for this." Tang Huan waved his hand, "With the delay so far, the set of IBM-PC compatible chips developed by Gordon Campbell has lost the opportunity to make trouble. They want to leave Seeq Company, but they intend to operate without restrictions. Just develop the next generation of IBM-PC/AT compatible chips. The bustling world is all for profit, and the hustle and bustle in the world is for profit, and Silicon Valley is a place that advocates freedom, so let them go."

Speaking of this, Tang Huan smiled sarcastically, "If they really come up with something, they will buy it at that time."

"Then I'll rearrange the leadership of Seeq." Louis Gerstner nodded in understanding, got up and left, while Tang Huan fell into deep thought.

Some general trends are objective and unshakable, just like the increasing investment in the semiconductor industry, there will inevitably be a division of labor between design and manufacturing.

In the original time and space, Gordon Campbell rose in response to the situation. Aiming at the traditional "vertical integration" model of the semiconductor industry, he proposed the concept of "fabless semiconductor company + wafer foundry" model, which was quickly accepted by the entire industry. It has become a major trend in the development of the semiconductor industry.

Its most familiar successful examples are TSMC, which provides wafer foundry, and fabless semiconductor companies NVIDIA and ATI, which provide graphics processing chip design solutions.

In fact, this is also the node where the rules of the game that Tang Huan constantly emphasized changed.At that time, all kinds of cheap products will emerge one after another, threatening the display, audio, network and other unique chips that are in a state of making a fortune in their own hands.

It is estimated that only Tang Huan will be aware of this threat that will inevitably appear in the next three years.

However, for this upcoming revolution in the semiconductor industry model, Tang Huan did not take too many actions except to ask his subordinates to do research and evaluation.In his view, too much interference will disturb others and mess up their positions.

……

In addition to handling official duties, Tang Huan also cared about family matters, because his sons were becoming more and more capable of acting like monsters, and the education problem caused great headaches for his aunt Tang Yun and the women.

Seeing Deng Lijun, Lin Fengjiao, and Zhao Yazhi being tormented by their own sons with "why" and "shouldn't", Lin Qingxia, who was about to give birth, felt a little scared.

She asked Tang Huan worriedly, "Will our child be so difficult?"

"You have to see their cuteness from it." Tang Huan shook his head with a smile.

In the face of a large number of children with superintelligence, he was able to cope with it freely, and he was able to calm the situation. First, he directly came to a negotiation of equal dialogue, and then decided to hire tutors to complete the education link before middle school.

In fact, these little guys who were born with a golden key in their mouths need to learn how to respect people, and by extension, improve their emotional intelligence.

……

After working as the kindergarten principal for a few days, Tang Huan was about to leave for Asia according to the plan. James Cameron came to the door and invited him to watch the sample of the movie "Terminator".

Compared with the original budget of only 640 million US dollars in time and space, this version of "Terminator" has received strong support in investment, reaching 1200 million. For James Cameron, who has very shallow director experience, It's like a pie falling from the world.

As a reward for "a man who dies for his confidant", James Cameron, in addition to filming "Terminator", also helped D2 company achieve a huge improvement in special effects from the perspective of demanders, surpassing George Lu Cass' Industrial Light and Magic isn't too far off the mark.

This achievement is of great significance, and D2 has thus formed a complete set of special effects solutions including computer software and hardware.

With its own system of computer special effects, D2 first benefited DreamWorks, which has relatively low labor costs. For example, the mythological TV series "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" invested and produced by it has amazing visual effects. The Chinese-language TV stations in Malaysia and Canada were screened simultaneously.

In order to reward James Cameron for his special contribution, Tang Huan personally awarded 50 US dollars to the other party.

"Why did I hear the person in charge of Orion Films mention that your "Terminator" picture is very scary and violent, and the rating of the movie is very troublesome." Tang Huan asked casually in the car.

"No, it should be described as gorgeous, which is more appropriate." James Cameron tried his best to explain.

Now that the investment has nearly doubled, the visual effect of the movie "Terminator" naturally far exceeds the original version in time and space.

Another difference is that the actress who played the heroine, Sarah Connor, the target of the Terminator T-800, was replaced by Jodie Foster.

Affected by the assassination of US President Ronald Reagan, Jodie Foster had to apply for a semester off from Yale University in order to avoid the troubles caused by a large number of reporters interviewing her personal life. As a result, she had to repeat her studies for a year, otherwise she would graduate with a bachelor’s degree this year. up.

As a result, Jodie Foster's confidence in the acting career was greatly affected. When she accepted the filming of "Terminator", she hesitated, but because of Tang Huan's kind invitation, she agreed.

In this way, from the point of view of popularity, the cast of "Terminator" is very strong.

At the test screening, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jodie Foster were there, as was Michael Bean, who plays Kyle Reese, the human resistance fighter who protects Sarah Connor.

After hugging Jodie Foster, Tang Huan turned his head and joked to Arnold Schwarzenegger, "Mr. World, in the game theme park built by EA, the most conspicuous area of ​​"Conan the Barbarian" is Your statue."

"I went to see it secretly." Arnold Schwarzenegger, with a strong Austrian German accent, replied succinctly.

In 1983, the bodybuilder officially became a U.S. citizen.Concurrently, he earned a bachelor's degree at Wisconsin State University.

At this stage, its most successful performance in movies is naturally MGM's "Conan the Barbarian", and now it has taken over the filming of "Terminator", which can be said to have a deep relationship with Tang Huan's Hollywood company .

After the pleasantries, the film began to be screened soon. The plot was basically the same as the original version, but the special effects were indeed as James Cameron said, so luxurious that people almost ignored the violence and horror in it.

Seeing the Terminator with only the upper body left, but still crawling towards Sarah Connor, trying to terminate it, Tang Huan said: "This demo is really enjoyable to watch, but I won't help you put pressure on Orion, I will I believe in their professional ability in film scale and rating."

Seeing that Tang Huan broke his mind, James Cameron shrugged helplessly and replied depressedly, "Okay, I will listen to their opinions on the editing."

Tang Huan smiled slightly and said soothingly: "I can understand that every time the director gives up a shot, it feels uncomfortable like a programmer's code being marked as obsolete, but "Terminator" can win more viewing opportunities. "

Seeing that James Cameron listened, Tang Huan changed the subject and asked, "Why do I feel like the Terminator didn't speak much in the movie?"

Jodie Foster chuckled, "In the whole movie, he only has 18 lines, which adds up to a total of 65 words."

"I could have had one more, because I had difficulty pronouncing the 'Ill' in 'Ill be back' at the beginning, and I wanted to ask the director to change it to 'I will be back', but he ruthlessly refused." Arnold Schwarz Singer added on the sidelines.

"But you still said 'Ill be back' smoothly." Tang Huan laughed, and then said playfully: "Mr. World, please believe me, this line will become a sign, and you will say a lot in the future Second-rate."

……

The box office of the movie "Love the Flower" in Xiangjiang reached 3500 million Hong Kong dollars, and in Taiwan it exceeded NT$5000 million. Such a hit, naturally brought Deng Lijun's reputation to a new height.

The first stop of its "15th Anniversary Concert Tour" was held at the Hong Kong Hung Hom Stadium. For eight consecutive games, the tickets were sold out early, and the total number of spectators was more than 10.

According to the plan, the next stop of the "15th Anniversary Concert Tour" will be Singapore and Malaysia.Businesses from all walks of life in Singapore and Malaysia, including nightclubs, heard the news and rushed to Xiangjiang to inquire about the news at the Peninsula Hotel, where Deng Lijun stayed, and tried to invite this popular singer to come to "show" to show off. Take the opportunity to improve your style, so as to drive popularity.

But to their disappointment, Deng Lijun politely refused all of them on the grounds that the schedule was too tight.

These people were not reconciled, so they waited in the restaurant, trying to find a turning point. As a result, there were many people with the same thoughts, and a group of colleagues gathered invisibly, and they exchanged information unconsciously during the greetings.

……

"This Ms. Deng is so arrogant. We were very sincere and offered her $4000 to attend the opening ceremony, but she refused with one sentence."

"Tch, do you know how much our Golden Horse Nightclub in Kuala Lumpur is asking? The daily salary is 12000 US dollars, but it's not a failure."

"US$12000 is nothing. The terms offered by our Singapore Apollo Nightclub are US$20000, plus air tickets."

……

At this time, a manager from Baodao interjected with disdain, "Your news is really closed. Ms. Deng has consciously reduced her participation in such business activities. Didn't you read the newspaper? The net worth is more than [-] million US dollars, and the [-] or [-] US dollars that you open and shut up seem to be a lot, and you have to play the emotional card to show your sincerity, you know?"

"That's true, the richest man in the world is really mean to his own woman."

"Hey, there are probably quite a few women who are even more eager to get close to the richest man in the world."

……

These guys were chewing their tongues, and the younger brother who was in charge of inquiring about the news came to report panting, "Miss Deng got in the car and went to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It is said that she is going to attend the celebration dinner for the relocation of Qinhe Group's headquarters."

After hearing the news, everyone looked at each other and blurted out in unison, "It seems that I still have face!"

(End of this chapter)