Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 799 Down's Law
"Did I hear it right?" John Akers, who was just about to pick out his own ear, had an incredible expression on his face, "IBM, which created the IBM-PC standard, abandoned its own standard and invested in its competitor—Fangyuan Personal The embrace of computer standards? Don, how dare you think about it!"

"It's not about daring to think, but being pragmatic." Tang Huan said leisurely, "Smart people don't say dark words, so ask yourself, is it necessary to persist with the current IBM-PS/2? As far as I know, you Among the many reform measures, including cutting 40.00% of production capacity, I am afraid that it will fall on the personal computer department that manufactures more and loses more."

John Akers retorted bluntly: "Even if IBM needs to adjust the personal computer department, it should choose the same line of IBM-PC compatible machines."

"Compared with the IBM-PC compatible and the Fangyuan personal computer, I don't need to say which one is better." Tang Huan shook his head and reminded seriously: "Mr. Akers, your current situation is very delicate. It’s not a secret anymore. In my opinion, the predicament that IBM is facing now is the result of historical accumulation. It is not someone’s fault. It’s just that you unfortunately caught up with you. Even if someone else takes this position. , and may not perform better.”

"It must be admitted that the reforms you have provoked in the past few years are a necessary step for IBM to get out of the predicament. But if you are kicked out, you will have to bear the infamy as a wedding dress for your successor; but if If you can stick around and get IBM out of the woods, then those offending jobs will be whitewashed as visionary in hindsight."

"Under such circumstances, you who have already achieved this step, shouldn't you be more aggressive? To hug the thigh of the IBM-PC compatible machine that IBM itself declared to be obsolete, isn't it tantamount to holding on to the handicapped?"

"Mr. Akers, please forgive me for being blunt, but if you don't become more sensible and pragmatic, you can still sit in your current position for half a year, which is too much time."

John Akers' face changed for a while, before he gritted his teeth and said, "Don, I received some doubts when I sold 20.00% of Intel's shares to you last time; if I give up IBM now- PS/2, and embrace the Fangyuan PC standard, are you sure, you are not pushing me in the direction of the abyss again?"

"What is there to doubt? I bid higher than Siemens. Wasn't IBM's cash flow tight at the time?" Tang Huan laughed dumbly. "As for this time, the patent dispute between the two of us has reached a very ridiculous level. It's time to reconcile. , and you can get a free gift - the authorization of the Fangyuan PC Compatible Machine, isn't that decent enough?"

John Akers stared at Tang Huan closely, and asked slowly: "But I still can't figure out your real purpose and the real benefits you can get, just like the value that Intel is showing now."

Tang Huan looked directly at the other party calmly, stretched out his fingers and counted: "I think, just as personal computers were the center of the IT industry in the 1980s, the Internet will be the major trend of the IT industry in the 1990s and even for a long time to come. Therefore, I hope that more Internet terminals will be Fangyuan personal computers and compatible machines; in addition, once the Internet is really popularized, the server running the background of the website will definitely be a popular necessity, and our patent disputes are mainly concentrated in the high-end field. If A settlement can be reached, and then everyone can travel lightly."

Having said this, Tang Huan did not forget to tease John Akers again, "The RISC microprocessor POWER that IBM has developed, as well as the RS/6000 series workstations and servers that use it as the CPU, are indeed very good. I guess this is also the case." IBM, which is best at operating the high-end market, has its future hope, but if you fail to withstand the current pressure and step down, then it will be someone else's performance."

As the dignified chairman and CEO of IBM, he had been suppressed by Tang Huan in terms of momentum. John Akers felt very depressed, so he retorted: "Tang knows IBM so well that he can take over from me and come to IBM." Become CEO."

"Unfortunately, I have my own company, and I'm already too busy." Tang Huan laughed loudly, "So, do you think my proposal is acceptable?"

"How can it be so easy?" John Akers showed a look of resentment on his face, "Don, you are like the first CEO of our IBM, Thomas John Watson the Great, with unparalleled authority. Even Wall Street chooses to fully trust, of course you can do whatever you want in the company!"

Tang Huan put away his smile, and reminded again: "I'll give you an oriental saying—a dead horse is a living horse doctor, and there is still hope if you try it out. Otherwise, before you implement this measure step by step, you may be behind your back." The reputation of the most failed CEO in IBM's history, sadly stepping down."

John Akers slapped the armrest of the sofa angrily, "Don, you don't need to provoke me with words. I do things in my own way."

"That's good." Tang Huan waved his hand, "Since we have reached an agreement, the next specific negotiations will be handed over to the following team."

……

It is estimated that the situation of John Akers has really reached the point of desperation, so that he went all out and gave it a go. Before the negotiation results were fully released, he briefed the media on the eve of the opening of COMDEX——IBM’s personal computer department, The shift to the Fangyuan personal computer standard has the meaning of creating a fait accompli first, so as to promote the change with the fastest efficiency.

This move naturally stirred up a thousand waves with one stone - IBM actually gave up its own personal computer standards and defected to the former competitor, the Fangyuan personal computer standard, which is too unbelievable!There must be some ulterior transaction in it.

The so-called answer soon surfaced—IBM is in the process of reconciliation negotiations with Fangyuan Computer, Zheru and other companies on the protracted patent disputes, and IBM's authorization of the Fangyuan personal computer standard is only one of the earliest. results.

John Chambers, CEO of Fangyuan Computer Company, said when confirming this matter: "The development of the Fangyuan PC standard is no longer the private property of Fangyuan Computer Company, but the result of the joint efforts of the entire Fangyuan PC Standards Alliance. Everyone welcomes IBM to join in, which will help users enjoy the convenience brought by a consistent hardware platform in the future, especially in the Internet era."

As John Chambers said, the members of the Fangyuan PC standard camp may not be friendly to IBM, but they are definitely calm—let’s not talk about IBM’s qualifications in the Fangyuan PC standard camp. To start from scratch, the ups and downs of the history of IBM-PC alone prove that Big Blue is not good at managing low-end products.

Some were happy and some were sad, the IBM-PC compatible camp couldn't hold back anymore, and unabashedly reprimanded - this is a dirty deal between two giant companies in private, seriously disrupting freedom and fairness in the market order.

In the midst of this spitting quarrel, COMDEX Fall 1991 opened in Las Vegas.

It's no wonder that the IBM-PC compatible camp is jumping and cursing. Their careful preparations have resulted in an obvious cold reception at this COMDEX.

Instead, Fangyuan's workstations and servers, IBM's RS/6000 series workstations and servers, SUN servers and workstations and other high-end products have attracted much attention.

The so-called "high-end" is difficult to explain to non-professionals in a simple and general way, but an example can be used to describe it.

For example, the requirements for computer systems of major U.S. banks are: 365 days a year, the downtime should not exceed 5 minutes.

It can be seen that not everyone can do such demanding application solutions. In the past, only mainframes and minicomputers could undertake such tasks, but now relatively low-cost microcomputers can also handle it without any controversy. Here comes the top.

However, the most eye-catching technologies and products are Fast Ethernet, which has a transmission speed increased by 10 times, as well as supporting network cards, routers, software and so on.

Of course, as in the past, the COMDEX summit forum, where industry leaders are invited to give speeches, is the most professional and the most prestigious.What's more, the richest man, who hadn't shown up for a few years and left the limelight to others, also showed up.

According to predictions from all parties, judging from Tang Huan, a leader of Silicon Valley, in the past two years, his first speech at the COMDEX summit forum in the 1990s was very likely to revolve around the Internet.

This is indeed the case. Mr. Richest Man made a bold prediction at the beginning.

"This year, the number of computers that make up the Internet is close to 40; I believe that after five years, this number will exceed 5 million. In other words, the development speed is even faster than Moore's Law predicts the development speed of the semiconductor industry."

Scanning the whisperings in the audience, Tang Huan stretched out two fingers and said confidently: "This forecast of doubling every year seems too bold, but according to the two laws I discovered and summarized, there are still traces to be found. of."

"It is precisely because of the significant development achievements of the semiconductor industry under the guidance of Moore's Law that it provides a solid foundation for the computing performance necessary for the Internet."

"In the next period of time, maybe 30 years, the growth rate of the bandwidth of the Internet backbone network will be at least three times that of the computing performance growth rate, that is to say, it will double in about half a year."

"Let's look at a vivid real-life example. The backbone network NSFNET, created by the National Science Foundation of the United States in 1986, is used for the interconnection between universities. The transmission speed was initially 56kbps; in the summer of 1988, it was increased to 1.5Mkbps; In November when we held COMDEX, the transmission speed of 11Mkbps has already started to be put into service.”

"Among all of you here, the proportion of access to the Internet should not be low. You may wish to think carefully about whether you have shared your feelings about the Internet with your family, friends, and colleagues around you, and then unintentionally became propagandists who helped the Internet expand. "

After the warm applause subsided gradually, Tang Huan continued to explain his second research result.

"The continuous growth of Internet backbone network bandwidth means that it is more likely to promote the emergence of various new network applications and the continuous reduction of network user fees."

"Behind this, the law of value is indispensable. Just like a shopping mall, the more customers it cares about, the lower its operating costs and the greater its commercial value. The value of the Internet is most appropriately reflected by its user scale."

"The data analysis I gave is: the value of a network is equal to the square of the number of all nodes in the network, and at the same time, it is also proportional to the square of the number of connected users."

"This also means that the greater the number of users on a network, the greater the value of the entire network and each computer within the network."

……

The excitement of Mr. Richest Man's speech eclipsed the other speakers. The attention of the attendees and the media were all drawn to the concept of the Internet, and this word became increasingly popular.

This makes the interpretation of industry observers naturally have an Internet perspective when the patent disputes between IBM, Fangyuan Computer, Zheru and other companies reach a final settlement.

This reconciliation result is understood as: the two giants decided to abandon the dispute over personal computer standards that has become a thing of the past, and actively plan for the coming Internet era with a broader market.In particular, after IBM miraculously embraced the Fangyuan personal computer standard, although it was tantamount to admitting defeat, it was very embarrassing, but it jumped out of the quagmire of the personal computer standard dispute, and then had more resources to operate RS/6000 series workstations and servers. Emerging high-end products.

No matter how much you say it is false, the market's reaction is the most real - since Tang Huan's speech at the COMDEX summit forum, companies that have nothing to do with the Internet in the stock market have been favored by investors without exception, and their stock prices have continued to rise , including the sluggish IBM, also reveals a vitality.

It has to be said that John Akers' risky gamble has received the reward he wanted, and he has withstood the attack of the forces who wanted to oust him from power.

The chairman and CEO of IBM seemed to show that IBM's defection to the Fangyuan personal computer standard does not mean surrender, and he issued an impassioned challenge-the high-end field is what we are good at, and the real competition is also here.

Letting go of this hysterical Internet concept, following the vigorous promotion of industry leaders, has ushered in major good news at the national level.

(End of this chapter)