Rebirth of the Tech Madman

These superficial routine affairs are not worthy of Tang Huan's own hands. He pays more attention to the deep-seated cooperation hidden behind the scenes. £∝,

One of them is to actively develop the camp of third-party hardware manufacturers connected to the second-generation Fangyuan computer through the ISA bus. From the technical background, besides the United States, Japan is naturally the second most important place to compete.

If arranged in order, then the first third-party hardware manufacturer is naturally Epson. Its dot matrix printer has almost become a standard output device since Tang Huan launched the spreadsheet software. During the peak period, the market share reached Sixty percent, attracted all kinds of envy, jealousy and hatred.

It is precisely because of this intimate relationship that Epson is included, which is suspected of making up the numbers and fooling people.

Moreover, with the great success of Epson, many manufacturers have entered this field one after another, and all of them have a high starting point, directly launching 16-pin products, which shows how fierce the competition is.

Fortunately, Epson's 24-pin upgrade product will come out soon, which can temporarily resist the crowd attack in the market.

However, Tang Huan could understand that the independent business could not continue, and the print head technology of dot matrix printers basically stopped here. Next, this kind of product competes for quality and features, such as the internal integration of Han Card.

This point in particular is very much in line with Tang Huan's current goal.

Just imagine, if most of the printers on the market use Chinese cards to provide functions such as Japanese character library, input, output, storage, conversion, etc., then the standards hidden behind Chinese cards will inevitably form a stronger voice.

No one would dare to overlook such a large investment. And forced to start anew. This is one of the great mysteries of market rules.

Since the dot matrix printer market is a piece of cake. It was inevitable to be eaten up, so Tang Huan simply opened his arms and called on everyone to adopt the parallel interface standard of Fangyuan Computer to produce printers for the second-generation Fangyuan Computer.

Just like in the original time and space, Apple launched , , —Apple certification to identify the external accessories produced by its authorized accessory manufacturers, Tang Huan also introduced a similar mechanism, ——Fangyuan Computer certification.

This gimmick is essentially a certificate of conformity, showing Fangyuan Computer’s approval of third-party products. Users will see the logo of Fangyuan computer certification on the package.

The deeper significance of this routine is that by sharing the brand value of Fangyuan Computer, third-party manufacturers will be attracted to surround themselves, forming a mutually beneficial ecosystem, and at the same time, they can use product standards to control each other.

In addition to dot matrix printers,

There are also equipment such as laser printers, scanners, disk drives, etc., including Canon, Sony, and other well-known companies.

It can be said that the Japanese's obsessive and fanatical drive to enter the US market has helped a lot invisibly.

As the number of manufacturers increased, Tang Huan was secretly happy. Unexpectedly, this trip to Japan turned out to be unexpectedly smooth.

During this period. The prototype of Tang Huan's custom-made home video recorder was sent over for evaluation, and if it passed, it could be produced.

Far more flexible than Sony's authorization, Tang Huan naturally didn't mind making suggestions after obtaining the patent he wanted.

Overall, home video recorders are currently unpopular in the United States, not from users but from Hollywood and major TV networks.

Because they believe that the videotape sharing method and playback function of home video recorders threaten the traditional copyright and profit model; and the video recording function of home video recorders makes TV station advertisements easily ignored...

Before the commercial value of the home video recorder has been fully demonstrated, the various parties have been talking about it for many years. In the original time and space, Sony also got into a lawsuit because of this.

Tang Huan didn't bother to pay attention to these twists and turns. The general trend of the market in the next two years is unstoppable, and there is time to tear it. It is better to find a way to actively intervene and share the profits.

Moreover, he basically does not belong to the party with vested interests. The only American TV station, ktvu, can be completely ignored. The combined market share of United Artists and MGM is still at the bottom of Hollywood. Not too much.

Therefore, Tang Huan changed his ways to let home video recorders hit the market.

He did not win by sacrificing image quality in exchange for time length like the original company in Time and Space. This offending method of forcing Japanese manufacturers to make technological changes should be left to the bosses.

The first thing Tang Huan needs to avoid is to reduce the risk of copyright. He cannot be targeted for this reason. He already has enough opponents.

To this end, Tang Huan slightly improved the format of the VHS video tape, adding noise to it.

When a home video recorder records a program from the TV, the picture quality will be affected to a certain extent; and when it is played, this noise can be used to distinguish whether it is a genuine source program.

One side understands the reasons for this plan very well, and even has a feeling of seeing the future of entering the US market, and admires the realization principle even more.

So, Tang Huan turned his head and authorized the technology to him, and implemented it in detail. The return made the other party ecstatic, and he immediately worked overtime and got busy, completely forgetting that this was a modified version of his own technology. .

It can be seen that innovation ability is very popular in Japan.

Tang Huan looked at the actual effect of the prototype and expressed his satisfaction.

The home video recorders of this era do not focus on visual experience such as high-definition, but on program interaction.

This market essentials will not be gradually summarized by the world until Sony loses in the video recorder standard war. Tang Huan, who has had a preliminary understanding, directly uses it with full confidence.

A home video recorder recording a show from a television that is of inferior quality to the original version shown on the television; a videotape of a movie played on a home video recorder. Genuine picture quality is better than pirated picture quality.

These two points. It's all on the prototype that was sent. got reflected.

In this way, Tang Huan had nothing to worry about, and directly mobilized the relevant departments of MGM, United Artists, and DreamWorks to place orders. The community is of a testing nature, and the latter is responsible for the sales network.

Home video recorders are now generally priced at more than $1,000, so it is the most expensive product you can own. Before that, it was the trs-80 personal computer, which sold for several hundred dollars, and John Roach, the person in charge, couldn't help feeling a little bit on thin ice and trembling with fear.

The licensing of compatible machines for the second-generation Fangyuan computer is still a question that Tang Huan has been asked many times in Japan. He stated that he is still considering it, and I believe it is only a matter of time.

In fact, Tang Huan really didn't think about it. In the final analysis, Boss Tang felt sorry for this interest.

Perhaps, authorize the intel8086 branch of the second-generation Fangyuan computer for the low-end market. It is a good solution to keep branches for mid-to-high-end applications.

the idea. When Tang Huan visited Sony for the second time, when he was questioned on the sidelines, he made a superficial revelation, which immediately caught Akio Morita's eyes.

Tang Huan came to Sony this time mainly to see how the research and development progress of the 35-inch floppy disk drive with a capacity of 144mb ​​is on the ground.

Sony's existing specifications - 35-inch floppy disk drive supporting 720kb capacity, as an optional accessory for the second-generation Fangyuan computer, have received a good response in the US market.

After all, the 35-inch floppy disk that could even fit in your pocket was too attractive.

Of course, Sony, which has reaped the benefits, also actively participated in the certification of Fangyuan Computer.

The hospitable Akio Morita, like squeezing toothpaste, got the idea of ​​licensing the second-generation Fangyuan computer compatible machine from Tang Huan little by little. He thought he had seized the market opportunity, and his face showed pride from time to time.

Tang Huan played with Akio Morita for a while, and felt bored, so he planned to go to the next stop, Waseda University, and then return to the United States after finishing his trip to Japan, to attend the first half of dex exhibition, and he also had to go to receive a master's degree certificate up.

However, Yaskawa Hideaki sent a document with a solemn expression, and the above information slightly disrupted Tang Huan's plan, because he recently showed a prototype of the 16-bit personal computer-9801 developed by himself.

From the introduction of hardware specifications, the cpu used by -9801 is an intel8086 with a frequency of 5mhz. It is equipped with 128kb memory when it leaves the factory, and it can be expanded to 640kb.

In addition, -9801 is equipped with 2 μpd7220 display controllers, one of which is used for text display, specially processing English and Japanese characters, and the other generates video graphics signals. This machine can display 8 bit color.

As far as the underlying technical details are concerned, -9801 is in a class of its own in terms of 16-bit system bus, I/O interface addressing, memory management, graphics output, etc.

After reading the document, Tang Huan couldn't help frowning. Although he had been prepared in his heart, he still felt tremendous pressure when the matter came to an end.

First of all, its strength makes people feel dreadful. Its status in Japan's industry is almost similar to that of giant companies such as IBM and Bell Systems in the United States. Almost everything within its business scope can be designed and produced by itself.

This is the top six Japanese semiconductor companies that are now competing with the entire semiconductor industry in the United States.

The crazy energy of clamoring always 10% lower than competitors' quotations will be a pain in the first half of the year wherever you put it.

A single company can't afford the self-inflicted means of hurting people supported by the state.

Intel was forced to a dead end in this way, and had to switch its main business of memory to CPU.

Therefore, if -9801 fights a price war, the first-generation Fangyuan computer, which is extremely compatible, will definitely be defeated, and the intel8086 branch products of the second-generation Fangyuan computer will also be significantly affected.

The shipments of these two types of products occupy the bulk of the overall sales, especially the former, followed by small profits but quick turnover. The key is that they have driven the popularization of Hanka applications.

If this layout is impacted or even fails in Japan, then Tang Huan will suffer a great loss, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it affects the whole body.

Tang Huan paced back and forth, thinking about it, and realized that not only was he superior in hardware, but also the publicity stunts in software were also extremely provocative, and he could even think of some points for it, such as Japan's unique independent Developed personal computers, support Japanese and so on.

This kind of human harmony advantage, without being taught by others, you will definitely think that they can't be stupid.

Japan, with an island mentality, has always been very xenophobic. Tang Huan released EA video games through Taidong, and sold Fangyuan computers through partners such as Epson and Sharp, all of which are adapting to the unique ecological environment here.

Compared with the menacing ones, Fangyuan Computer really doesn't have any decisive advantages except for its technical victory.

In market competition, the so-called technological victory is not an absolute magic weapon for victory, as can be seen from many failure cases.

As long as -9801 achieves the functionality in the eyes of users, it can offset the technical superiority advantage of Fangyuan Computer.

However, Yaskawa Hideaki sent a document with a solemn expression, and the above information slightly disrupted Tang Huan's plan, because he recently showed a prototype of the 16-bit personal computer-9801 developed by himself.

From the introduction of hardware specifications, the cpu used by -9801 is an intel8086 with a frequency of 5mhz. It is equipped with 128kb memory when it leaves the factory, and it can be expanded to 640kb.

In addition, -9801 is equipped with 2 μpd7220 display controllers, one of which is used for text display, specially processing English and Japanese characters, and the other generates video graphics signals. This machine can display 8 bit color.

As far as the underlying technical details are concerned, -9801 is in a class of its own in terms of 16-bit system bus, I/O interface addressing, memory management, graphics output, etc.

After reading the document, Tang Huan couldn't help frowning, although he had already thought about it (to be continued...)u

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