Rebirth in America

Rand Corporation employees can input the program within five or six minutes, which is considered a very fast operation speed. Program input in this era was very cumbersome, and most of them used paper tape punching for input and output.

When Alex proposed a fair and just competition, Rand Corporation insisted that both parties use their own formulas and procedures. They thought that since they were familiar with their own formulas and procedures, they would be able to input faster than CPT Corporation.

What I didn’t expect was that the input method of the “first generation” was completely different from the previous punch-hole input method. Directly using the keyboard to input is many times faster than them. This time they were in tragedy, and their disadvantage in input was fully exposed.

"This isn't fair!" the Rand Corporation people immediately shouted, but no one listened to them.

Nonsense, isn't it better than the computing speed? Since the input and output of your own computer is slow, you can't blame others!

What's even more terrible is that the calculation speed of "Urivak" is much slower than that of the "first generation". The audience and judges present can clearly see that the calculation time of the two is very different.

The computing speed of the "first generation" completely surpassed that of "Urivak", and even a layman could see it clearly.

Finally, their calculation results came out. After the host got the note, he announced: "'Urivak's prediction is the same as that of the 'original'. They also think Eisenhower can be president, and he was also elected with 438 votes." ."

At this time, everyone was waiting a little impatiently and was not interested in the result calculated by "Urivak". They all understood that the "first generation" computer won, and "Urivak" lost.

Yes, Alex hoped for such a situation when he proposed fairness and justice. He thought that since everyone used the same formulas and procedures, the results would be the same. Then the competition is to see whose computer can calculate faster. For this aspect, he doesn't have to worry at all.

In this regard, Rand Corporation thought that in a fair and just competition, if they used their own formulas and procedures, based on what they already had, their input speed would definitely have an advantage over CPT Corporation.

You know, computers in this era all use punch input programs, which can take a long time to complete the input. If you type a wrong character during the input process, you have to start typing again. They directly put the prepared program notes into the computer for calculation, which can completely make up for the disadvantage of slow calculation.

Faced with such a result, the person in charge of the Rand Corporation also knew that his side was destined to lose. Sure enough, the judges quickly announced that the winner was CPT's "original" computer.

Even though he was mentally prepared, the person in charge of the Rand Corporation turned pale after hearing this. The audience at the scene also started talking one after another, and they had no objection to this result.

"A million dollars! A million dollars!"

"The RAND Corporation was so miserable. They lost a million dollars in one game."

"What's the point? I can make money by selling a few more computers."

"Haha, with the results of the competition like this, will anyone still buy their computers now?"

"You think they're cheating? Why don't you give me the money?"

"This will have a greater impact on their company's reputation. I am willing to admit defeat even if I am willing to give up one million US dollars. Who will dare to spend tens of millions of US dollars to buy their computers in the future."

“If no one does business with them, wouldn’t it mean they are going to go bankrupt?”

"Going bankrupt? That's impossible. It would have to be acquired by someone else."

"Acquisition? Why haven't I heard of such a thing?"

"I've heard about it too, but I don't know which big company wants to acquire it."

"Shh, don't tell others. My nephew works as a programmer at the RAND Corporation. He said he once saw the CEO of IBM coming to their company."

"I see……"

After Alex came up with the "first generation" computer, even giants like IBM were almost breathless. Not to mention the RAND Corporation. They haven't invented a transistor computer yet and are still resting on their laurels. Of course, profits are getting lower and lower, and fewer and fewer people are buying their products.

This game was not only seen by the audience present, but also by the audience in front of the TV. After deciding to compete with the Rand Corporation, Alex actively contacted major American media and secured some sponsorships.

CBS Corporation (CBS Broadcasting Station) broadcast the entire game and paid the cost of the game. After they aired the program, it immediately attracted many viewers. I just don’t know why, but when CBS reporters talk about this news, they always doubt whether their predictions are accurate.

"How can a machine predict something that hasn't happened yet? This is something that even humans can't do. Could it be that today's machines are already smarter than humans? I don't believe this."

No matter what the CBS news said, people finally knew that the "first generation" computers were very fast and accurate. Suddenly, CPT Company's marketing department received a large number of order orders.

At the same time, some lawmakers are openly questioning the government's procurement plan. They cited data and said: "The price of the 'first generation' is only half of that of the 'national defense computer', but its computing speed is more than 10 times faster. As for the accuracy issue mentioned at the beginning, it is not at all It's just nonsense. Why should we reduce the number of 'first-generation' computers and increase the number of 'defense computers' when purchasing? Is there some shady deal in this that we don't know about?"

Once this doubt was exposed, it immediately attracted the attention of many news media. Reporters rushed to follow the unexpected news. IBM and the relevant purchasing managers were overwhelmed. Faced with the indiscriminate bombardment from reporters all day long, they were almost speechless.

The Carpenters were also very concerned about this competition, but they were too busy at work and did not go there to watch it in person. When the results were delivered to them, they immediately jumped with excitement.

"Great, really great! He truly deserves to be my son, and he truly deserves to be the fastest computer in the world."

At dinner that night, Angel specifically asked Alex: "Do you really want to donate that one million dollars to the Red Cross?"

"Yes, after all, this money is earned, and donating it is also donating Rand Corporation's money."

"You didn't say less at the beginning. A donation of US$500,000 would be enough. If you donate a million, that's a lot of money."

Regarding Angel's money-keeping mentality, Alex could only laugh and say nothing. But this is no wonder Angel. After all, she is the one in charge of finances. If she doesn't keep money, the company's money will be spent soon.

It took several months for this matter to gradually calm down. At this time, CPT's "first generation" computer regained a foothold in the market. No longer afraid of similar rumor attacks, people began to understand that "transistor" computers were actually no different in accuracy from "vacuum tube" computers.

At this time, there was news of acquisition or merger between IBM and RAND. They believed that only the two companies could resist CPT's expansion in the computer market.

It's just that IBM wants to acquire, while RAND just wants to merge. The two companies were at loggerheads, and soon the matter was no longer mentioned. This incident not only caused no losses to CPT, but also caused IBM and RAND Corporation to switch from offense to defense.

IBM is a company with a great cause and a broken ship that still has three thousand nails, so it is not afraid of the offensive with CPT. The Rand Corporation was different. It did not have the strength of IBM, and it did not want CPT to have advanced products. After experiencing this blow, it quickly lost most of its market share and could only survive.

What worries IBM and RAND even more is that the presidential election is getting closer. Now they are constantly paying people to find people, saying in many news media that the predictions of the "first generation" computers are very unfounded and unreliable.

In fact, that's what the general election polls are telling people. The media also overwhelmingly advocated that the Democratic candidate would eventually win. As for those who were optimistic about Eisenhower, there were only a few.

"Now we can only hope that the result of this election is not that Eisenhower was elected, so that we can counterattack CPT. Otherwise, the computer market will definitely be occupied by CPT's 'first generation'."

Both IBM and RAND Corporation were praying silently during the election. This matter related to their jobs, so they had to be nervous.

The result really made them feel that the sky was falling. Eisenhower was elected with 442 votes, which was very close to the 438 votes predicted by the "first generation", with an error of no more than one percent.

Faced with this result, the media changed their attitude one after another and made a 180-degree turn. They praised the "first generation" computer for being so good at predicting events. Even something as unpredictable as the presidential election is pretty close.

CBS TV even praised the "first generation" on the evening news. The famous program host Cronkite claimed that it was an "unparalleled electronic brain."

The success of this prediction pushed the "first generation" to an unprecedented position. Almost everyone was talking about it. In that year, the "first generation" began to occupy more than half of the computer market. This continued until more advanced and reliable computers were invented.

Both IBM and DeLand were forced into a corner. In the end, IBM got down and worked hard, vowing to develop a more advanced computer and wash away its hatred.

As for the miserable RAND Corporation, its market share dropped again and again. After a few years of struggling, it closed its computer business and shifted its focus to other industries. Fortunately, they are transforming quickly. In a few years, the entire computer market will be dominated by CPT companies!