Rebirth of the Tech Madman

Due to Tang Huan's influence, the start time of the chess plan was slightly advanced, but again due to Tang Huan's influence, the actual progress of the chess plan was slightly behind, so it was not much different from the original time scale.

The reason is that Zhe Ruwei developed a wide variety of function expansion cards, especially the program codes in the attached read-only memory, which brought certain troubles to the technical elites of ibm.

The term personal computer was first used for the computer developed by Xerox Center in 1972, and it has become quite popular so far.

The rise of personal computers is closely related to the characteristic cultural phenomena in the United States, such as anti-mainstream, and other countries can even copy mainframes such as ibmsystem/360, which shows that everyone has no shortage of elites and technology.

Given the economics of the original large group of avant-garde people, the first issue of cost would need to be addressed if the personal computer, opposed to the privilege of the mainframe, was to gain acceptance among them.

At this point, computers are not good, and neither is the ibm5100 launched by ibm in 1975. The basic model with a memory of b is priced at about 9,000 US dollars, which is unacceptable to the bitter public. , the price of the finished product is about 500 US dollars.

In short, big IT companies at this time are accustomed to relying on high-end products to maintain profits, while personal computers like toys only have a business model of small profits but high sales. They are naturally underpowered.

Since the previous ibm traditional design process. It has been proven that it cannot be used to design cheap microcomputers. Then the Chess Program project team with a special mission was allowed to bypass IBM's company rules to quickly provide a market product.

At first, the Xiangqi project team considered using the ibm 801 processor and the operating system developed for it at the ibm research laboratory in yorktown heights.

The 801 processor is at least an order of magnitude more powerful than Intel's CPU, and the supporting operating system is at least several years ahead of operating systems such as cp/m.

However, working collaboratively within IBM, which has a huge organization, does not have the convenience of being close to the water and getting the moon first, and various procedures such as application reports have been completed. Maybe it will be the year of the monkey.

It is said that IBM's products will have to wait at least two years after the design is approved before they can be launched on the market; and a more pessimistic statement is that it usually takes 5 years.

The maturity and prudence of the blue giant can be seen from this.

Strive to be a fast chess plan project team,

Only ibm's internal solutions can only be ignored to avoid many internal procedures that may delay the schedule, thereby greatly reducing its work difficulties.

Fortunately, IBM had a failed project named datamaster in 1978 that adopted intel 8080, which is of great reference value. It's just that it was actually formulated with a price as high as 20,000 US dollars, which made everyone feel a black line on their heads.

then. They simply put all their attention on the outside of ibm, especially those personal computers that have already achieved success in the market: Apple, Tangdi, Commodore, Atari... Various models of personal computers will be bought back and be sold. Take it apart and study it carefully.

The elites of IBM soon discovered that the CPUs used in these products are divided into two categories: Intel's intel8080 and z80; An improved version of .

Considering only the cost, the corresponding Motorola series has more advantages than the Intel series, but IBM, which has been battered by several anti-market monopoly lawsuits, is already very vigilant against various possible patent disputes from the bottom of its heart.

As a result, He was directly eliminated, and due to the maturity and popularity of cp/m, an operating system born on the Intel 8080 architecture, Intel was finally sent to the palace by the draft.

After determining the core microprocessor, the Chess Program project team began to design the overall system. At this time, the open slot of the Xiangqi and the exquisite cooperation of the Zheru function expansion card provided powerful functions, which aroused their strong interest. interest.

This year, Zheru's latest function expansion card is the sound card, and the next one is the mouse function expansion card. These technical achievements have impressed the technical elites of ibm, and unanimously agreed to include these functions in the chess plan.

Since it is research, private reverse engineering is unavoidable. During this process, the Xiangqi project team discovered that Zheru's function expansion card will cover the underlying hardware with an extremely delicate abstraction written in assembly language. The functional layer is stored in the read-only memory.

According to Zheru's public product information, this hardware abstraction function layer, called ie, can be called by partners for programming.

The technical elites of ibm were overwhelmed by the realization of such a technology, and then decided to expand this idea to the level of the entire computer.

In this way, the project team of the Xiangqi project was confused by Zheru's brand-new technical realization skills, and the progress was delayed a little without knowing it.

However, none of these ibm technical elites are simple. Once they understand the realization principle, the next thing is too simple for them.

The project leader, Bill Lovo, is naturally full of confidence in the elite soldiers he personally selected. And so it turned out. After passing the technical reference and research stage. The progress of the project quickly caught up.

However, after seeing the newly collected information on the latest developments in the personal computer industry, everyone felt as if they had been slapped in the face and felt a little dizzy. Zheru had already registered so many patents related to personal computers?

Liu Gebrecht, the chief system designer of the Chess Program project team, took out a page of information from the file and shook it, I can be sure that Zheru is developing the next generation of personal computers. The patent for the isa bus is only From the brief description, it can be deduced that the computer used to allow the open slot to connect to the function expansion card originally adopted the bus structure called s100, but it seems that no one has used it in recent years. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this technology, but unfortunately, we just happened to use it.”

In this way, there is a high possibility of patent disputes. Why don't you report it to the higher authorities immediately. An engineer suggested.

Bill Lovo shook his head, My earliest plan was to directly buy computers produced by other manufacturers. I sold them under the IBM brand, but was rejected because IBM must have its own personal computers. It can be seen that, What is the thinking of the top management? If I report the possibility of this patent dispute now, what should I do if I receive an instruction to suspend the project?

Then the situation of our project team is even more dangerous. Hearing such an analysis, everyone talked a lot, with worried expressions on their faces.

Compared with the huge ibm, their project team, which was assigned in the frontier and called a tribute to the Silicon Valley garage entrepreneurial myth, is just inconspicuous gravel. IBM does not know how many similar project teams will be withdrawn every month. As long as the management The committee wasn't satisfied, and even with the privilege of reporting directly to the president, it wasn't necessarily immune.

This research and development project finally got the official number of Chess Project, and the machine they are developing also has the internal code name of , and everyone is full of enthusiasm to let this microcomputer miraculously change the future of IBM. In this way, I can gain both fame and fortune, and my name will go down in history. Of course, I can't accept the ending of giving up halfway.

If it doesn't work, let's get in touch with Zheru.

The project has progressed to this level. What are we thinking about so much? Even if we want to file a patent lawsuit, the high-level executives will wipe their asses and pretend that they don't know about it.

Everyone has different opinions, and there is no consensus. Obviously, these elites develop one technology after another, but when it comes to intrigue and business warfare, they are typical novices.

However, Bill Lovo, who has entered the ascending channel in ibm and has a bright future, does not belong to this category.

He pondered for a while, and finally made a decision, Yes, we just pretended not to know about it. The company has employed so many lawyers in order to fight the anti-monopoly lawsuit, so they are not vegetarians.

Speaking of this, Bill Lovo threw the documents in front of him into the middle of the table, Throw all these materials into the shredder, everyone should not be affected by any bullshit patents, and work according to the original plan, and speed up.

Glancing at his colleagues, Bill Lovo slowed down his tone, I will ask the president to disclose a few words about our project to the outside world. It is not uncommon to engage in the trick of collecting advance payment by releasing products before the research and development is completed. Of course, we are not doing this for the purpose of collecting money, but to leave evidence. Our and Zheru’s isa bus appeared The time is close, and there is no question of who copied who. In this way, everyone will not be under so much pressure. What do you think?

Will the president agree? Liu Ogebrecht asked worriedly. He has put a lot of effort into this project, and he is most concerned about gains and losses.

Our chess project team was originally allowed to bypass the company's existing rules. Bill Lovo showed a sly smile on his face. top secret.

Seeing the self-confident Bill Lovo speak clearly and logically, everyone nodded with conviction, and a thought flashed in their minds, The rumor that Lovo will be promoted is indeed true, and he is worthy of it just because of his commanding style. Being so valued by the top.

...

West Coast, California. silicon valley. Sunnyvale. Atari headquarters.

Ray Casa accompanied Warner President Steve Ross after inspecting the company and returned to the office.

I only saw a personal computer. What about the next generation of game consoles? Steve Ross showed displeasure.

The third version of the Atari 2600 is ready to be launched... Ray Casa started sweating on his forehead.

I'm talking about the next generation of game consoles, not the optimized version of the current Atari 2600. Steve Ross interrupted the other party's conversation unceremoniously.

Since Bushnell left, many technical backbones have also left one after another, so the development of the next generation of game consoles is a little behind, but the Atari 400/800 personal computer is very good, and the game performance is also very good. For a while, IBM has taken a fancy to it and intends to make us its OEM. Ray Casa, who was being trained, explained unwillingly.

Then what should we do now? Watching the Little Overlord game machine running at full speed and making a lot of money? Steve Ross stared at Ray Casa and questioned.

Ray Casa was about to be suffocated by the aura of dominance emanating from his boss, so he could only bite the bullet and continue to explain, There is no way for this, we are the same as the little bully game console , no need to open up your own game platform. This most important source of profit is completely in your hands, but those technical backbones who leave know the details of the hardware of the Atari 2600. They even set up a company called Activision The game development company specializes in making games for the Atari 2600, and I am going to sue them to make a good start for charging licensing fees in the future.

How much money can this bring? Steve Ross snorted angrily, After all, it's nothing more than some so-called difficulties. You are a professional manager. Apart from complaining, you can take Can't come up with a solution?

Of course. Ray Casa quickly changed his bitter face to a flattering smile, Currently, the arcade business has not been greatly affected. As for home game consoles, as long as the speed of game release is accelerated and the status quo is maintained, then the company's overall The profit situation is still good. After the next-generation game console Atari 5200 is successfully developed, we can fully grasp the game console platform again only through a small trick that is not compatible with the current Atari 2600. However, This process takes time.

Then how much time do you think it will take? Seeing that the subordinate was almost forced, Steve Ross slowed down his tone.

About a year. Ray Casa looked at his boss pitifully, When the Atari 2600 was developed, you should have heard of its difficulty.

Although Steve Ross is a generational tycoon in business, he is a stick in terms of high technology. Basically, he has to believe what Ray Casa says, but when he thinks that it will take such a long time for a year, he Just scratching your heart with a hundred claws, wouldn't the Xiaobawang game machine make a lot of money.

Could it be that this Little Overlord game console is really so unstoppable? Steve Rose's tone was obviously full of jealousy.

Ray Casa spread his hands helplessly, Engineers like Bushnell who started their businesses in Silicon Valley often have excellent technical skills, but the company management is a mess. But Tang Huan is an exception. His Cupertino headquarters has expanded extremely rapidly. , but it has been running in an orderly manner. It is said that after Intel's Andy Grove went there several times, he was greatly impressed by the orderliness there. No, I just got a reliable news that EA's game Donkey Kong is still hot, and the sequel Mario is about to be released, and this summer vacation is almost everyone's home game.

Steve Ross took over the document in Ray Casa's hand, glanced at it casually, Donkey Kong? Why is the name so familiar?

Don't you think of the movie King Kong? Ray Casa laughed dryly.

Yes, it's a movie. Steve Rose's eyes lit up, Huo Di stood up, and walked out, while leaving a sentence, Don't send me off, think carefully about how to do the work at hand well.

Boss, why did you take the file away?

Ray Casa opened his mouth subconsciously, then quickly closed it again.

Forget it, just send this great god away.

...

On August 1st, Friday, the third stop of Deng Lijun's second round of North American tour began at the San Francisco Municipal Auditorium.

This indoor stage was built in 1915, and the 1920 Democratic National Congress was held here. From 1964 to 1967, it was also the home court of the NBA Golden State Warriors basketball team.

This performance not only showcases Deng Lijun's star appeal, but also reflects the local reputation that Tang Huan has worked hard for more than a year.

With Tang Huan's secret support, the newspaper basically covered Fang's Newspaper in the entire San Francisco Bay Area, sparing no effort to launch a comprehensive publicity.

Live performances at Lincoln Center in New York and Los Angeles Music Center, a press conference on the appointment of UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador, and a ceremony for awarding cultural exchange medals by assistant mayors of the two cities... A series of photos show Deng Lijun's recent public activities in full In front of the local Chinese.

As a result, today has almost become a festival for the Chinese, and the San Francisco Police Department specially stepped up patrols for this purpose, and the San Francisco Municipal Auditorium, which can accommodate 7,000 spectators, is full of seats.

These audiences mainly came from San Francisco, Oakland, and other places in the Bay Area, and some even chased them from Los Angeles. The stage was filled with flowers sent by them.

There is also an exaggeration. In addition to the local Chinese media, TTV also sent an interview team from Baodao all the way, but was stunned by the lively scene in front of them.

How can a singer who has been banned for more than a year still have such a high popularity after his comeback? (To be continued..)

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