Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 850 Tang's richest man is partial to Intel
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"I believe that you can understand what kind of product Network_Computer is just through the literal meaning." Looking around the dark crowd, Larry Ellison used all his speech skills and said in a tone of voice: "Then you must want to I asked, the advertisement that caused a sensation all over the world has already been released, what about the product?"

Seeing everyone nodding, Larry Ellison smiled slightly, "I have set up a special company to operate NC, and the current progress is very smooth. According to the roadmap, starting this month, partners including professional media We can get NC products for evaluation and initial use; at this year’s COMDEX Las Vegas Autumn, NC will be officially released and fully shipped.”

A reporter asked curiously, "I haven't heard any rumors about NC before. May I ask, is it a secret project? Which companies are involved in the research and development work?"

"For such an important product, of course we must strictly keep business secrets." Larry Ellison nodded affirmatively, with a look of pride on his face, "The research and development of NC is independently completed by Oracle. However, we do not intend to monopolize this It is the crystallization of wisdom, but we are going to share the relevant specifications for free, and promote the development of NC with colleagues.”

The next question began to be sharp, "NC's marketing this time is very targeted. Does it want to replace the PC, or more precisely, represent the Fangyuan personal computer in the personal computer industry? If so, then what? Compared with the PC that has been developed for nearly 20 years, especially the Fangyuan personal computer that has been developed for more than 10 years, what is unique about NC?"

"Metabolism is a law, what's wrong with it?" Larry Ellison asked rebelliously, "As for the uniqueness of NC, it is obvious that it conforms to the prospect of Internet applications. After seeing NC’s physical products, or getting NC’s technical white paper, it will be clear at a glance.”

"As we all know, the No.1 person who promotes the development of the Internet is Tang. It is also he who developed the Fangyuan personal computer and single-handedly created the current microcomputer industry structure. Tang has done so much for the development of the Internet, but he has not designed one specifically for the Internet. For specific computers, is there really a need for NC to exist? In addition, after Tang brought the Internet to high popularity, NC suddenly came out to kill PCs, could it be for speculation? "

It has to be said that the unexpected scale of the media present also caused the supposed "order" to get out of control-the reporters' questions did not take into account whether the parties would feel embarrassed.

Larry Ellison, who originally had a wide-ranging heart, was suddenly angered.

You know, he is not a good stubble.In the past few years, Oracle and Sybase have become sworn enemies on the Unix platform, which directly triggered a scolding war between the executives of the two companies, which has become a major scene in Silicon Valley. The expression of individuality is greatly appreciated, which further fuels the arrogance.

Hearing that the reporter belittled himself so much, Larry Ellison forgot his demeanor at that time, and retorted: "It seems that you are a fan of Tang, but I don't know what position he gave you and how much salary he gave you, so that you can be a big fan of Tang. How can you speak for him like that?"

Whether this reporter is a fan of Tang Huan, other people don't know, but a hot topic is about to pop up, but everyone can see it, and they are all ready to capture the most exciting moment.

The reporter who was ridiculed certainly refused to show weakness, looked straight at Larry Ellison and said, "I have my own professional qualities, but are you going to avoid my question?"

"Why should I avoid it?" Larry Ellison sneered. "Could it be that the development of the Internet is the result of Tang alone, and everyone else is a decoration? When I entered the industry, Tang didn't know where he was!"

"But now, Tang is the richest man in the world..." The reporter deliberately said half of what he said, but even if he didn't say it, others could guess the meaning below.

When the host of the press conference saw his boss, even his favorite hairstyle was messed up by the stimulation, he hurriedly said with experience: "Next question."

"I haven't finished answering my question yet." Reluctantly, the man who made up the knife was forced back to his seat by the staff.

Larry Ellison suppressed his anger, and said slowly: "I think, there is one point that you should not object to. That is, Tang now belongs to the vested interests of PC."

Looking at the people in the audience, Larry Ellison emphasized his tone, "Under such circumstances, is it difficult to understand that Tang ignored the Internet's call for NC?"

The outside world only sees the scenery of Silicon Valley, but in this holy place of high-tech entrepreneurship, it is unknown how many people's dreams are shattered and companies go bankrupt every day.

Larry Ellison has been able to fight to this day, and he is among the ranks of successful people. Of course, he is not an idler. After these words, many people really bewitched and nodded thoughtfully.

However, Larry Ellison didn't dare to play too mysteriously and play tricks, so he took the initiative to lead the topic and revealed: "The minimum hardware requirements of NC are - to have a pointer device including a mouse, and the display can reach 640x480. resolution, support text input, audio output, etc.; the minimum requirement for software is that it must be able to support communication protocols based on TCP/IP, and a series of standards in WWW, email, multimedia, security, etc. "

"All in all, NC is born for the Internet, which can not only significantly reduce the cost of purchasing IT hardware for enterprises, but also greatly reduce the burden of daily maintenance of IT systems."

"Because the most complex and important data processing has been completed by the Oracle server; and the task of NC is to present the results to end users in the best way."

……

Larry Ellison and Oracle's ambition to challenge the existing IT industry game rules has been clearly seen.

The media, which are scrambling to report and exaggerate, naturally want to ask companies such as Fangyuan and Zheru Software, which are targeted, how they will react.

It just so happened that Tang Huan held the first official media briefing for the listing of Zheru Software Company, giving reporters the opportunity to inquire further, "Tang, what do you think of Oracle's advertisement that says 'PC is dead and NC should be established'? "

"Hehe..." The richest man waved his hand, "That's my opinion."

The questioner didn't react for a while, rubbed his ears subconsciously, and said to himself, "Could it be that I was too tired from traveling these days and was temporarily deaf, so that I missed Tang's answer?"

He didn't realize it until he heard the laughter from his colleagues next to him—it turned out that the modal particle was Tang's reaction.

The person hurriedly asked: "Tang, if NC replaces Fangyuan's personal computer, the living environment for most of Zheru Software's products will disappear. Do you have a way to deal with this huge threat?"

"It seems that if I don't say something else, this media briefing will probably make everyone doubt about the future direction of the industry, and then it will be impossible to talk about investment." Tang Huan shrugged, "Okay, we will Take the time to discuss technology."

"This NC that popped up suddenly should be derived from an old concept - 'thin client'. Its idea is to pass all data processing through the network and hand it over to the server, or more precisely, the Oracle database system processing."

"I think it won't be a problem to give me at least an 'A-' score for my understanding of NC."

"According to this, I would like to ask the following questions for everyone to think about."

"First, all data processing is uploaded to the Oracle server through the network, and the results are then downloaded to NC. Although it is an ideal model with the lowest system maintenance, what is the resulting network data throughput?"

"After years of hard work, the access speed of the commercial Internet in the United States is now about 28.8kbps."

"I believe that as more and more people understand and use the Internet, this indicator will increase significantly. But to what extent can it be consistent with the pressure NC puts on the Internet?"

"Second, in terms of hardware form, NC is equivalent to a subset of the functions of a personal computer without a hard disk, and then the price can be reduced to 400 US dollars - equivalent to the price of a home video game console. But it can be used as a How much more attractive is a general-purpose computer than a video game console? How much more attractive than a full-featured personal computer that costs around $1500?"

"The history of personal computers, counting from the Altair generation, is almost 20 years old, and Fangyuan personal computers have also evolved for 5.5 eras. Although they have replaced traditional minicomputers and mainframes in many application fields, so far, We haven't seen signs of being able to completely replace each other."

"Compared with minicomputers and mainframes, how much innovation PCs have has basically formed a consensus for more than ten years; while NC absorbs the nutrients provided by PCs, it obviously remains to be seen. .”

"I really dare not say how long I have been in the computer industry, but I personally have good reasons to believe that it is unrealistic for NC to replace PC in many fields. For example, in factories and other application scenarios that require very high real-time performance, in entertainment And other application scenarios that require very high computing burst capabilities—and so on, so I won’t list them one by one.”

"To sum up, it is not difficult to see that the conceptual significance of NC is greater than the practical significance, PC will continue to live nourishingly, and the ecology of the software industry will remain stable."

"Of course, Zheru Software has never stopped its pursuit of innovation, and it has also calmly faced up to the various application changes brought about by the development of the Internet. Investors don't need to worry about this."

……

The media has unearthed countless information from the eloquent answers of Mr. Richest Man, and used them to make use of them--the flood of reports reflects this point.

"Ellison said - when I entered the industry, Don didn't know where I was; Tang responded - I really dare not say how long I have been in the computer industry, but my understanding is deep enough."

"Don satirizes Ellison—NC is just a flashy hype gimmick, and its real purpose is to promote its own Oracle database system."

"Tang hinted that the real rival of the $400 NC is not the PC, but the home video game console—this is exciting, you know, Sony has just launched the Playstation in a book and entered this market. "

"Trammel, a Fangyuan PC compatible manufacturer that focuses on the low-cost computer market, just sent a newest $800 home computer to the "PC_Magazine" magazine, and put it together with the NC prototype In the evaluation, the results of the Norton computer test system are very interesting, the former is more than 3 times higher than the latter."

……

There are various interpretations, which invisibly display the impetuosity and hostility accumulated in Silicon Valley during its enthusiastic pursuit of capital over the years.

Larry Ellison, like a Spanish bull who was driven mad by the red cloth, showed his horns and chased Tang Huan. I can understand Tang Huan's hostility and disdain for NC, because NC threatened his Fangyuan personal computer and Zheru software.

The richest man who cherished his feathers did not pay any attention to this problem. Because the other party was not on the same level as himself, several vice presidents under him spat at him.

However, Tang Huan still calmly took countermeasures against the gradually becoming clearer NC.

So far, companies including Sun Microsystems, IBM, Compaq Computer, Apple Computer, and Netscape Communications have expressed clear interest in Larry Ellison and Oracle's NC specifications.

In terms of hardware implementation, NC is also divided into Sun Microsystems School, IBM-PC Compatible Machine School, Apple Computer School, and Oracle's own authentic school that uses ARM architecture processors.

It has to be said that in today's eyeball era, scolding is also a very good advertisement - NC has already become famous.

At the high-level meeting, Tang Huan clearly instructed John Chambers, "Don't really underestimate NC, which looks flashy - the cash reserves of Fangyuan Company are just to deal with such market changes that are unreliable. .”

John Chambers replied knowingly: "I will secretly increase the subsidy for PC compatible manufacturers such as Trammell, and trample NC to death in the cheap and low-end market."

Tang Huan laughed loudly, "It's too obvious to be trampled to death. It's better to become a burden for those guys."

Their chatter and laughter truly reflected the ability of Fangyuan Company, which is planning for a rainy day, to strike later.

But things are changing, and there is no absolute foolproof.

Intel's hot-selling microprocessor, the Pentium, was suddenly exposed to a bug, which triggered a crisis. The richest man had to coordinate hundreds of millions of dollars of resources to help him wipe his ass, which attracted the media " Very eccentric" discussion.

(End of this chapter)