Rebirth of the Tech Madman

John Couch has been paying attention to the expressions of Tang Huan and others. He found that Tang Huan remained calm, but Charles Simeone and others showed disdain, and even discussed without any scruples, The Lisa computer comes with The operating efficiency of the program is so unsatisfactory, so it is even more pessimistic to develop programs on its platform.”

Hearing these harsh words, John Couch certainly felt uncomfortable, but the other party had a target, and he had something to ask for, so he had to endure it.

However, John Couch could also see that these subordinates brought by Tang Huan must be engaged in the development of the graphical user interface system.

Although the Lisa computer has obvious shortcomings, most people are amazed when they see the graphical user interface function of the Lisa computer for the first time, unlike Charles Simeone, who point and point.

The price of this system is not low. The memory capacity alone has reached 1mb. Tang Huan asked casually.

The price has been determined, $9,995. John Couch replied with a bit of bitterness. He also felt that the price of the Lisa computer was not very friendly.

Charles Simeone said bluntly: The graphical user interface of the Lisa computer is not indispensable to the enterprise market. The Lisa is pretty much a blank slate in this regard, and individual users may be more interested in the Lisa's graphical user interface, but its price of nearly $10,000 is enough to put many people off. For that money, Users might as well buy a Fangyuan laptop, which is really portable and functional.”

Tang Huan waved his hand. Stopped the high-spirited speeches of Charles Simeone and others, and said to the embarrassed John Couch: In all fairness, Lisa Computer, as a pioneer in the field of graphical user interface, has done a very good job, but some places are really not well thought out. . such as flexibility.

Pointing to the monitor screen, Tang Huan continued: You should expect the problem of operating efficiency of the graphical user interface operating system, so a solution with a solution should be to provide a coexisting environment as a buffer for conflicts. .”

Did Zheru do that? John Couch, who listened humbly, couldn't help asking curiously.

Tang Huan smiled noncommittally. Also, the hardware architecture of the Lisa computer is not modular enough, so it is not easy to reduce the cost.

The two 525-inch floppy disk drives of the Lisa computer are combined with a 12-inch monitor. The splicing is on the right, with the main chassis on top. It looks really compact, but the structure is indeed not as flexible as the Fangyuan computer’s display and the main computer are completely separated.

Tang Huan pointed to the two 525-inch floppy drives on the Lisa computer,

Shaking his head disapprovingly, Why does Apple still insist on producing this product by itself? It's not that there are no good external suppliers to choose from. I heard that your floppy disk drive has a lot of problems now.

Apple's line of floppy disk drives is called . It once played an important role in Apple's breakthrough in the market.

It must be admitted that it is indeed excellent, but it is not the only one. It has a lot of competitors with similar products in the market, and the initial situation is quite difficult.

Under Markkula's urging, Woz designed an exclusive floppy disk drive for him. With its excellent characteristics, it was a great success and greatly boosted the sales of the company.

that's it. Design and build your own floppy disk drives, as tradition. Succeeded by Apple.

The floppy disk drive designed by the project team is called; the floppy disk drive designed by the Lisa project team is called Twiggy, the same name as the supermodel who was thin for beauty in the 1960s. As the name suggests. The characteristics of this floppy disk drive can be imagined.

The problem with Apple's floppy disk drive is its stability. Even if you support a larger capacity, once the file data is lost, it doesn't make any sense.

Everything depends on the situation. The current floppy disk drive, Apple does not have to hold it in its own hands. Finding a supplier with mature and reliable technology, or further introducing technology for production, is better than self-development, and Apple is not bad. For this little money, a one-time investment is much more cost-effective than this kind of piecemeal prodigal.

John Couch, who was dizzy and dizzy, collected himself, and asked Tang Huan hopefully, Will Zheru still develop commercial software for Lisa computers?

Of course no problem. Tang Huan nodded affirmatively, But you have to understand that the software development of the graphical user interface is much more difficult, especially the interface information of the Lisa computer, we need to master it from scratch, and the development time It will take at least half a year.

We are mentally prepared for this, as long as Tang agrees to cooperate. John Couch, who is almost superstitious about Zheru's software research and development capabilities, can be regarded as hugging his thigh.

Now that Tang Huan has decided on the partnership, it is natural for Charles Simonyi and others to learn more about the internal structure of the Lisa computer.

Lisa computer has two main user interface modes and, the former provides users with a complete graphical user interface environment, and the latter is a program development environment based on text boxes, similar to the command line window in the original space-time system.

There's also a name, 77, for the seven apps it contains: and .

It is not difficult to see from these software functions such as word processing, calculator, drawing, etc. that the Lisa project team had ambitiously planned to catch up with all the applications, but now they have realized that the market demand is not as simple as they thought.

After waiting out Apple. Charles Simeone frowned and said: I've seen it. The application programming interface of the Lisa computer is not as systematic as our operating system. It's not friendly at all. I'm afraid the development time is not easy to control.

It doesn't matter, just treat it as a fellow researcher. I have learned from experience and lessons. My real purpose is to take a fancy to the people in the Lisa project team.

Tang Huan smiled faintly, It is said that Jobs' project will be launched in half a year, even if there is a delay, it will not exceed a year. Therefore, John Couch rushed to add weight to Lisa. He also resisted I can’t stand the power of Jobs’ stumbling blocks. At that time, the Lisa project team will definitely fall down and scatter.”

The Lisa is a product developed by Apple with huge investment of resources. How could Jobs avenge his personal revenge without looking at the big picture? Charles Simeone was a little suspicious.

Of course not on the surface, but if you give it a kick in the dark, the Lisa computer is enough. I am the same as John Couch. I also feel the hostility of Jobs towards the Lisa computer. Just wait and see. Tang Huan Laughed sarcastically.

...

Not long after Tang Huan arranged the affairs of Lisa Computer, he was invited by Trip Hawkins to EA for a meeting.

The results of the 1981-1982 financial report have basically come out, and the situation is so complicated that we must carefully discuss how to deal with it.

Zheru's erp system, of course, will be vigorously applied by the company. EA's business all over the world is aggregated to the US headquarters step by step through floppy disk modems and telephone network communication satellites, not just annual reports. Reports such as quarterly reports are also more responsive than peers.

EA's annual operating income is close to 4.1 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 40% over the previous year. Accomplished the intended goal.

Arranged in order of contribution, the businesses are home video game consoles, arcade machines, personal computer games, and others.

The ranking is the same as last year, but we know that the growth rate of the home video game console business, which has been booming in North America, has slowed down significantly. This is the result of the early education function of the game console and the positive stimulation of the global promotion in the second half of this year.

In addition to the feedback from the grassroots. There is also news from the industry that the home video game market seems to be unsold. Trip Hawkins said with a complicated expression. Some people analyze that Commodore Texas Instruments' cheap personal computers are too impactful, and some people think that the market may be saturated.

Although EA is well prepared to meet the industry's Great Depression. However, as Tang Huan predicted early on, the home video game market in North America would inevitably collapse after brutal expansion. Trip Hawkins was not willing to really appear. He was really reluctant to part with such a good market.

Tang Huan carefully read every item of data on the report, and after confirming that only the home video game business in North America had declined, he breathed a sigh of relief.

No matter how big the cake is, there will be a day when you finish eating it. You just want to open some. Tang Huan put down the report and rubbed the space between his brows.

Last year, we rushed to release financial reports ahead of other peers. Will we do the same this year? Trip Hawkins asked after a wry smile.

Try to delay it as much as possible. It's best to wait for Warner Mattel to show up before we show up. Tang Huan pondered for a while, I believe that other companies in the industry must have a harder time. Since the market is not going well, then the dwarf If you pull out the big one, who will fall the least.

That must be interesting. Trip Hawkins laughed knowingly, Investors see that Atari, which ranks second, and Mattel, which ranks third, are no longer good, so they will naturally be lenient to us, who rank first. Some, maybe there will be unexpected surprises because there is no pessimism as imagined.

I hope it's a pleasant surprise. Tang Huan nodded, then changed the subject and asked, Atari is developing the et Alien video game, what's the situation now?

I don't know, Atari is strictly guarding against death, and there is no relevant news. Trip Hawkins was a little uneasy when asked, Will this be a variable?

Then it depends on Atari's current technical strength. Tang Huan spread his hands, no matter how good the trick is, it depends on God's cooperation.

...

Publishing financial reports is a mandatory task for listed companies, and no one can rely on it.

Tang Huanzheng was thinking that the global game center would inevitably move to Japan, so Mattel was the first to announce its financial report, in which the growth rate of the home video game console business was very unsatisfactory.

Mattel, which ranks third in the industry, is far behind Atari, which ranks second, not to mention the comparison with EA, which ranks first.

Therefore, although Mattel's performance disappointed investors, the impact was very limited.

When Warner announced its financial report, the situation was different. Among them, Atari's annual operating income was just over 1.3 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 40% compared to the previous year.

This result stung a hornet's nest. You must know that last year Atari predicted 60% or even higher in high spirits.

The words are still in my ears, Atari has not completed the task, so Warner's stock price fell immediately.

Seeing that there were already people passing by, ea calmly released its financial report, which was also a growth rate of more than 40%, which disappointed investors, but it was in line with its own prediction. No big talk like Atari.

Just as Wall Street was discussing how the top three players in the home video game console industry were sluggish, an earthquake suddenly struck Atari, and CEO Recasa was investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Recasa sold 5,000 shares of Warner stock, suspected of insider trading.

Now that he was targeted by the Supreme Emperor of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Recasa had to take the blame and resign, losing the position of CEO of Atari.

Hearing this news, Tang Huan was very different. Recasana is a senior manager with decades of experience in the workplace, how could he make such a low-level mistake. Could it be that Atari has been too unbearable to make him lose confidence?

To say that Atari's biggest failure this year is the Atari 5200 it launched. In the case of incompatibility with the Atari 2600, the game development progress of this platform is extremely backward, and there is no support for the new hardware platform at all. Game of Thrones was suddenly compared to another game console released at the same time.

But this is not enough to make a veteran in the workplace so obsessed. Tang Huan, who was greatly puzzled, let alone be confused.

Recasa's unexpected sacking caused confusion at the Warner headquarters in New York, and they hurriedly searched for a new Atari CEO, but it was not so easy to find a suitable candidate all of a sudden.

As a result, the leaderless Atari once again dragged down Warner's stock price, and I don't know what it looks like when Steve Ross is furious. to be continued

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