Rebirth of the Tech Madman

Just like in the original time and space, the company Jobs founded was called NeXT, and he specially invited the famous graphic designer Paul Rand, who is already 71 years old this year, to design the company logo.

You must know that the license of Paul Rand's work in the IT field has already been contracted by IBM early. Fangyuan Computer Company failed to invite it as it wished before, but Jobs relied on his stalking efforts to grind Big Blue into agreeing to release it. up.

This also reflects from the side that now that Jobs is flying solo, no one will be afraid to look into his eyes.

Paul Rand, an old man full of personality, was quite right with Jobs, and after a chat, they concluded the deal. As a rule, Jobs paid $100,000.

Don’t think that this fee is not a big deal—first of all, without Apple’s backing, Jobs has to pay for it himself; second, this is Paul Rand’s rule. Whether you like it or not, it's worth $100,000.

In other words, the money that Jobs spent was a bit of a gamble, and in the end there was a high probability that the $100,000 would be wasted because it was not what he wanted.

This is where the value of a master lies. Even if you are dissatisfied, you can spit on a golden nail, and the value will never be shaken.

Fortunately, Paul Rand designed the trademark NeXT for next, which is very suitable for Jobs' appetite-the word is divided into two lines and filled on the side of the cube, only the e is lowercase, Standing out from the whole word, it is interpreted as education, excellence, and Einstein's mass-energy equation e is equal to m times c to the power of 2.

From the trivial matter of the trademark, it is not difficult to see that Jobs' paranoia has become more and more serious.

When I heard the other party proudly showing off: Big MAC is also NeXT computer, the shape will be a perfect cube, each side is exactly equal to one foot long, and each corner is no more than 90 Spend.

Tang Huan grinned secretly, thinking: Isn't this just looking for trouble.

Anyone who knows a little bit about the common sense of process design will understand. It is relatively difficult to produce a perfect cube, because most of the molded parts are not purely right angles, but slightly more than 90 degrees, so that the parts can be easily released from the mold.

in addition. The existing circuit board design fit naturally into the traditional cuboid shape, and nothing was found to be out of place; changing to a square made it self-defeating.

Some practices gradually formed in the process of industrial mass production,

It is all due to long-term accumulated practical experience. Although it is not impossible to change, it is necessary to seriously consider whether the various costs are worth paying.

The current computer industry is in a stage of brutal expansion. It has not yet reached the level of homogenization to the extent that it is necessary to play with personality to show brand differentiation, and the focus of user needs is stronger and faster.

To put it simply, the main contradiction in the current IT industry is function, and form and other factors should be placed behind, but Jobs insisted on function adapting to form, which is putting the cart before the horse.

If you are half a step ahead, you are called advanced; if you are one step ahead, you are called first; if you are two steps ahead, you are called pioneer; Your name is Mr. Lie.

Jobs disliked that he hit the wall hard enough. Tang Huan originally thought that the other party would become rational and mature because of the major setback of being kicked out of Apple, but now it seems that this is not the case.

Tang Huan thought about it and felt relieved. Jobs, who left Apple, is currently working alone. In the new company he created, he is the unique boss, who can fully release all his nature. For better or for worse, freedom is unrestricted.

It was entirely predictable that the NeXT would be a flashy product, much like the original Mac. But it has to pay for the flashy, and continues to suffer heavy setbacks from market failures.

As a result, the current Jobs is still embarrassing and needs a series of gorgeous failures to temper. Anyway, he pays the bill himself, so let him fend for himself.

So Tang Huan made up his mind. With an attitude of listening more and talking less, he was noncommittal about Jobs' boasting.

Needless to say, for a long time, Jobs hated Tang Huan, who was indifferent to his personal charm, but he could only endure it because he nagged for a long time, in order to get Tang Huan's help and resist the pressure from Apple.

Although Apple has voluntarily withdrawn the Big MAC project, it cannot tolerate this resource being sucked by Jobs in vain and turned into a NeXT computer.

Jobs tried his best to argue that NeXT computers belonged to the category of personal workstation products and would not conflict with Apple's personal computer product line; but its target customer groups were major universities in the United States, which overlapped with Apple.

Moreover, the group of people who broke up by no means amicably knew each other very well. Markkula, Arthur Locke, John Sculley and other important figures in the Apple company knew exactly what kind of shit Jobs was. How dare you believe him? oral guarantee.

Tang Huan, who had figured out Jobs' true intentions, didn't want to spread the muddy water at all, nor was he willing to develop any supporting software for the other party's platform.

In the current field of workstations, there are already participants such as Fangyuan Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Valley Graphics, and Sun Microsystems on the west coast of Silicon Valley, as well as competitors in more areas including the East Coast that are not under his control, such as Jobs and NeXT Jumping in and stirring up the wind and rain is quite annoying.

In the end, Tang Huan had no choice but to suggest with a bright attitude: You and Apple have such a fierce confrontation, after all, there is no way out. After all, breaking the bones and connecting the tendons is your start-up company, and outsiders are watching it as a joke. You might as well seek out-of-court settlement. The conflict of NeXT computer can be alleviated by delaying the launch of the product, anyway, the development of the project will take some time, the conditions are favorable and free, and you can show your sincerity.”

Seeing Tang Huan's earnest gesture, Jobs knew that he had been spitting in vain just now, and he hated it. His reality distortion field could even make the IBM elephant give in, but it couldn't really influence Tang Huan's heart.

But Jobs could only bear with it. No matter how unwilling to admit it, he admitted in his heart that Tang Huan's achievements were higher than his own. I can only try my best to ignore the embarrassment of having a hot face sticking to a cold butt.

After hitting a soft nail with Tang Huan, Jobs turned his lobbying target to Woz, hoping to draw him into NeXT and reunite the combination of Apple's founders. Smack the face of Apple's current board of directors.

Unfortunately, Jobs' wishful thinking once again fell through. It's true that Woz is a bad guy, but he has suffered too much from Jobs, and he has formed a psychological shadow.

The most recent major conflict is that after Woz left Apple, he founded a company that developed a universal remote control to pass his interest. And asked the design company Frog, which has business dealings with Apple, to design the product promotion plan. As a result, Jobs, who happened to know about it, was furious and blocked it, and finally disturbed the unpleasantness of this cooperation.

Now it was Jobs' turn to be kicked out by Apple, and he started his own company, NeXT, to create another world. It was almost the same as Woz's original situation.

The thorn in Woz's heart is still there, how could he agree to enter Jobs' NeXT?

Seeing that his reality distortion field was also ineffective at Woz, Jobs finally couldn't sit still, and stood up resentfully. walk away.

I will never trust Steve again. Looking at Jobs' back, Woz said with a ghost.

Tang Huan smiled lightly and said nothing, but he thought in his heart: The current Jobs is not worthy of my trust.

...

With the end of the San Francisco Music Festival, another hot topic of entertaining the public began to enter the public's field of vision. The Forbes 400 Rich List, which also started in September 1982, also released its fourth edition.

From the day this list came out, Tang Huan has firmly occupied the number one throne, and this year he continues to win this honor. Sam Walton came in second.

Originally, the boss of Forbes, Malcolm Forbes, planned to invite the richest man in the United States selected by himself to attend his luxurious party, but Tang Huan's secret layout during this period was too important, and he couldn't let go of his tenderness. I am too lazy to fly to the east coast of the United States.

Perhaps it can be said that Tang Huan has become accustomed to the title of the richest man, which is no longer a novelty. But others would definitely not think so. For example, the lively little girls beside him can only express their worship and admiration from the bottom of their hearts by offering their incomparably gentle and obedient.

this morning. Tang Huanzheng was lying down, when the phone on the bedside table rang suddenly and briefly.

In fact, Tang Huan was already awake at this point in time, just squinting his eyes thinking about the appreciation of the yen.

He casually picked up the phone and listened. It turned out that Tang Wenmao was in a hurry and was waiting for him outside.

Tang Huan gently moved Li Saifeng's slender pink legs away, put on his pajamas, left the bedroom, and went downstairs to the living room.

He first ordered the servant to bring a cup of hot milk, and then asked Tang Wenmao, who was a little embarrassed, Why are you in such a hurry? By the way, has Boeing finished testing Silicon Valley One?

It's over, everything is normal. Tang Wenmao nodded.

Tang Huan nodded slightly, this result was also within his expectation. It has been more than a month since the Japan Airlines flight 123 crashed. Even if the official statement has not come out, the media has almost analyzed it. The main reason is that the Boeing plane that crashed was improperly maintained, not Boeing- The design and manufacture of the 747 had major flaws that were only discovered.

It is naturally impossible for a luxury private jet like Silicon Valley One to maintain and replace parts with hidden dangers in order to save costs, and then tragedy happens.

After Tang Wenmao finished his answer, he changed the subject and reported in a low voice: It has just been confirmed that the FBI is conducting a new wave of investigations on us. On the surface, it seems to be related to your selection for the National Technology Medal review, but I dare not take it lightly. After all, recently The confidentiality of investment activities is as high as possible.”

Tang Huan was thinking quietly while drinking hot milk slowly, while Tang Wenmao sat there eagerly waiting for his instructions.

There are two main government honors in this field: National Medal of Science—National Science Award and National Medal of Technology—National Technology Award.

Among them, the National Science Award is known as the Nobel Prize of the United States. It was created in 1959 on the basis of Act 86-209 of the US Congress; Managed by the National Science Foundation.

The honor was originally intended to reward scientists in the fields of physics, biology, mathematics, science or engineering, but in 1979, the American Association for the Advancement of Science proposed expanding it to include the social and behavioral sciences.

Every year, the National Science Awards Committee under the National Science Foundation of the United States is responsible for recommending candidates to the president. It is worth noting that there are three Chinese scientists shortlisted this year, namely physicist Yang Zhenning, chemist Li Yuanzhe, and structural engineer Lin Tongyan.

The National Technology Award, established under the Stevenson Wideler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, aims to reward those who have made outstanding contributions to the national economy, environment and social welfare, and the development of national technical talents through technological products, methods and concepts Individuals, teams or companies and their affiliates.

The award was issued for the first time in early 1985, and Bell Labs, IBM, Hughes Aircraft Company, Boeing, Apple, etc. were selected one after another.

Regardless of Fangyuan Computer, IBM-PC and other latecomers who are now doing well, Apple Computer contributed a lot to the initial development of the entire personal computer industry. Otherwise, it would not have been so successful in its IPO in 1980. Deserved.

It’s just that Woz had already left Apple at that time, and the scene was a bit embarrassing. In addition, the monthly sales of MAC were only hovering around a pitiful 10,000, and the entire management team was in a state of desperation, so Apple didn’t have the mind to make a big fuss, and let Woz and Jobs keep a low profile. Personally came forward to accept the award.

Now, it was Tang Huan's turn to enter the field of vision of the second National Technology Award. Qiu's Chinese identity immediately complemented Yang Zhenning, Li Yuanzhe, and Lin Tongyan at the National Science Award, attracting attention.

However, the two honors of the National Technology Award and the National Science Award are different from the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which does not require nationality. They have strict restrictions and must be one of their own.

Take the National Technology Award as an example, no matter whether the nominated company is for-profit or non-profit, the US side must own more than 50% of the shares or property.

The FBI will participate in the investigation of various intelligence including such information, and give selection opinions.

But now is the critical stage of Tang Huan's preparations for speculation. It is always inconvenient to be stared at by others. Even if it is a routine, what if there are private goods in it by the way. (To be continued.)