Rebirth of the Tech Madman

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Microsoft's acquisition of Sybase is definitely a big event in the industry.

However, Mr. Richest Man, the behind-the-scenes promoter, still needs a short period of time to ferment the effect endowed to it before it can be truly reflected.

After all, on the one hand, the legal team of Philosophy Software, led by David Boyce, wants to polish the almost final trump card of effective competition in the software industry; The federal states that have been baptized by the mid-term elections also need to make a 180-degree turn after being focused on public relations.

Of course, even if the itinerary of shuttling through various states in the United States came to an end, it was impossible for Tang Huan to really be idle.

No, Jobs called and told him in a confident tone: IPod has been fixed, let's enjoy it quickly.

Calculating carefully, the richest man asked Jobs to make a digital music player for less than half a year, and Apple's efficiency is astonishingly fast.

It is not.

You should know: the technology of IPod was given by Zheru; the music content of IPod was given by Yanle Entertainment Group; the key components used in IPod, such as the LCD screen, lithium battery, and 1.8-inch micro-hard drive, are from Tang Kingdom. The supply chain; even some key personnel were introduced by Tang Huan.

As for the job content of Jobs, it is to make the operation of the product simple and user-friendly, and the appearance of the product tasteful, etc., and this is also his strong point.

On the point of endowing products with fashion elements that integrate technology and culture, the richest man trusts Jobs quite a lot. A major proof of the opponent's ability is that after returning to Apple Computer and taking over the power of CEO, the iMac, a new personal computer model launched by it, can be described as a literary style.

What's more, Jobs himself was a music lover.

Therefore, even when Tang Huan came to the headquarters of Apple Computer in Cupertino and found that he was preparing to officially release the IPod, he didn't blame this guy.

The richest man can be so indifferent, Jobs is depressed, I specially let you get the trial product at the end, and everyone before it was amazed, but why didn't you respond? Do you think there is something wrong?

Very good, of course very good... Tang Huan, whose expression was still calm, looked at the IPod in his hand carefully, and said playfully.

Jobs asked: Then you give an example, what is the advantage?

While playing with the IPod, the richest man replied casually: For example, this easy-to-operate adjustment dial; and the pure white of the body, earphones, connecting cables, and power adapter.

Jobs, who was said to be proud of everything, was complacent, but also a little bit guilty, Don, even if you are well-informed, you are too calm, are you so powerful that you have seen this book a long time ago? tester?

Recently, all kinds of troubles have come one after another, which may have lengthened my nerve reflex arc. Tang Huan put down his IPod and laughed.

This compact portable digital music player that can be put directly in your pocket is essentially a computer: in the 1MB flash memory, the micro-operating system loaded, after being successfully guided by the Holder embedded microprocessor, runs on the 32MB memory In it, all hardware devices including black crystal display, 1.8-inch hard disk, controller, lithium battery, and music content in the hard disk are managed.

Among them, thanks to the mature application of giant magnetoresistive technology, the capacity of the 1.8-inch hard disk is as high as 5GB, which can hold about a thousand pieces of digital music; and the large memory can read in more data at one time, reducing the cost of the hard disk, which is a big energy consumer. The power demand allows the battery to provide ten hours of working time.

Splicing these hardware and software together to become a portable digital music player is just a purely technical job. For the richest man, it is no longer a difficult task. He can easily form a team and do it; But to shoulder the mission of integrating high technology and fashion,

It is not so easy.

It must be understood that there is a big difference between the thinking of engineers and the thinking of ordinary users, which is one of the reasons why computers don't get close to strangers.

In fact, Jobs has been playing the role of bridging the cognitive gap between the two since the Apple Mac computer more than ten years ago.

Take the control dial of IPod as an example, all the operation processes are simplified to less than three steps, and the operation mode is also from the perspective of ordinary users, how can it be easy to use!

There is also the pure white that Tang Huan praised just now, which leaves a deep first impression on people, and it is not that simple.

Ten years later, ordinary people would be familiar with white earphones; but at this stage, black earphones are taken for granted.

The reason for this is inseparable from the long-term thinking inertia in the process. Just like the corners of the product need to be rounded, it also needs to go through an adaptation process of the mold.

All in all, Mr. Richest is very satisfied and full of expectations for this IPod that did not bring him a surprise.

Instead, he asked, What price did you set for the iPod?

At present, there is only this product with a capacity of 5GB, and the price is 399 US dollars. Jobs complained: Zheru's patent authorization, Apple accepts it in a package, can't you give it a discount? This can also bring IPod The larger pricing space is now equivalent to a Little Overlord game console.

Don't play tricks on me! The IPod project has been going on for so long. I don't believe it. You don't have a comprehensive understanding of the value of the digital music market. The richest man snorted, The US market at this stage, a year Nearly 300 million blank discs are consumed; the population of the United States is less than 300 million!

Tell me, how many people out there are obsessed with burning digital music onto blank discs?

A blank compact disc can hold about a hundred digital tracks, and an IPod can hold about ten times that, holding about a thousand.

Isn't this also a big selling point for your iPod?

Jobs did not give up and continued to complain: The form you mentioned is unauthorized use, and the IPod supports genuine music. Moreover, in the iTunes online store that is compatible with the iPod, users get 99 cents for every music they download. , 70 cents is the authorized commission from Yanle Entertainment Group.

Let's take a look at the sales of this year's Christmas season first, and then discuss the details of the distribution of these benefits. Tang Huan smiled unmoved: You have to put your mind right, Apple Computer's old business is personal Computers, and the IPod is like a free business that fell from the sky. The big deal, I personally help you sell the IPod.”

Jobs's eyes lit up and he said, A sales promotion like the Iridium phone?

The richest man waved his hands dumbfounded, You are making things difficult for me...

Jobs thought for a while, then changed his request and said: Apple Computer and Yanle Entertainment Group have been negotiating fairly smoothly with respect to the provision of digital music content; but the Beatles' music licensing, there is no clue. Don , come out and help me get rid of them yourself.

Tang Huan, who was overwhelmed by the disturbance, asked helplessly, Don't the Beatles belong to your heart like Bob Dylan? It stands to reason that your enthusiasm for work must be very high. How could it be so? Return without success?

Jobs showed embarrassment on his face, and muttered resentfully: It involves some agreements in the early years, and now I can't figure out the relationship.

It turned out that this was really a matter of Chen Zhima rotten millet.

In the late 1970s in the dawn of the personal computer era, Apple Computer, which rose like a star, had a relationship with the Beatles because of name infringement.

At that time, the Beatles had been famous for many years, and their copyright was managed by Apple Music Company, and the next level was London, England.

Obviously, Apple Music felt that Apple Computer had offended itself, so it filed a lawsuit.

The final result is: Apple Computer Company lost $80,000 to Apple Music Company, and reached a ridiculous agreement that seemed serious and naive at the time, but now it is extremely ironic, that is, the two parties promised not to enter the other's business field.

In this way, in the past nearly twenty years, everyone has lived in peace and harmony.

But now, here comes the fun.

The musicians of the Beatles have never entered the computer field, but Apple Computer, which can sell computers, has strayed into the music field in an incredible way.

Well, let's talk about business, let's negotiate terms!

It doesn't take much thinking to know that although he has restrained himself, he still doesn't forget that Jobs, who from time to time regards himself as an anti-mainstream, and the executives of these traditional major record companies are simply people from two worlds, and they can't get along at all.

The richest man frowned, and pointed to the core of the problem: In my opinion, this is not a normal bargain. The essence is that other record companies except Yanle Entertainment Group have not considered how the record industry is. The transformation to adapt to the new situation, and even the attitude towards digital music is as hostile as it was towards video tape.”

Jobs shrugged. This kind of difficult stage is exactly when you go out.

Tang Huan shook his head resolutely, Now I don't have the extra energy, nor the charm you described, to persuade them.

The same sentence, the facts prove everything.

If the IPod sells well in the first quarter of its official release, proving that this digital music business model is feasible, then the initiative will fall into your hands.

At that time, these arrogant and rigid-minded record company executives will definitely turn around and come to your door.

Of course, they may also follow our model and start anew.

However, it doesn't matter. We have the first-mover advantage, and we can directly crush these ignorant guys to howl like ghosts!

Seemingly thinking of interesting scenarios in the future, Jobs showed a mischievous smile on his face, Okay, then wait to prove everything with facts! It's just...

Speaking of this, Jobs sighed, Without the Beatles, I always feel less taste.

Be content! Tang Huan snorted impatiently, A Bob Dylan still can't satisfy your idol complex?

People like Bob Dylan who play music and can win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mr. Richest Man will definitely not leave Columbia Records, and later Sony Music, already in his pocket.

Jobs' admiration for Bob Dylan can also be classified as one of his characteristic tastes, and he can be called one of the few big-name fans of the other party.

Conversely, Bob Dylan's attitude towards Jobs can only be described as indifferent and lukewarm.

Like Mr. Richest Man, this person was selected by Time magazine as One Hundred People of Time: The Most Important People of This Century, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature more than ten years later in the original time and space, which is enough to prove that he is in business. When you own this brand, how wise you are.

The way Bob Dylan handles his relationship with Jobs, a big-name fan, is somewhat similar to Yan Guang, a famous hermit from the Han Dynasty in ancient China, to his former classmate, Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, that is, no matter how much this big-name fan expresses his admiration Keep your distance.

As the saying goes, distance produces beauty and distance produces mystery, which in turn allows the relationship between each other to start well and end well.

For example, on February 24, 1985, Jobs, who had not fallen out with John Sculley and was kicked out of Apple Computer, invited Bob for his 30th birthday party. · Dylan came to perform, but was politely declined by Bob Dylan.

As a result, Jobs took this situation as a result of Bob Dylan's personality, and he was not annoyed at all, and he still admired it.

Among the series of campaigns for the release of the iPod, Jobs made a special arrangement specifically for Bob Dylan, his idol, that is, to package all of Bob Dylan’s old songs in the iTunes store. Together, it's on sale for $199.

You know, this move has great benefits for Bob Dylan.

No matter how awesome Bob Dylan is, that is the past tense, and Jobs is helping Bob Dylan win over young fans.

It has to be said that Jobs invisibly stole Tang Huan's operations on Deng Lijun and so on.

Sure enough, after Mr. Richest Man presented Bob Dylan, Jobs felt relieved immediately, and continued to honestly and meticulously prepare for the IPod conference.

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On Friday, October 23, 1998, the secretly developed IPod was publicly unveiled at Jobs's characteristic iconic product launch event.

Apple Computer also slyly wrote a sentence on the invitation letter, Reminder: This is not a Mac.

After the technical parameters of the product were introduced, it was time to unveil the product.

This time, the personable Jobs did not walk up to a table as usual, and lifted the veil covering the product, but said, I happen to have one in my pocket.

Then he reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a glaring white machine: It's got a thousand songs in it, and it just fits in my pocket.

After saying this, Jobs put the iPod back in his pocket.

Immediately, the amazed audience burst into applause.

Mr. Richest Man, who also applauded, said with emotion in his heart: It's not easy, but I'm finally able to make a lot of money in a stable way!

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