[Chapter 510: The Year of the Internet]
The Internet had existed for many years. Forget about e-commerce; if a person understood how email worked, they were already exceptional.
Of course, this referred to a relatively large scope. Those crazy folks in Silicon Valley certainly wouldn't be so shallow.
"Hello everyone, I'm William White. I'm now announcing the official launch of NBC Online. Here, you can communicate with different people and also have a free email account. And yes, if you're willing to pay a little, we can offer some premium services," he declared.
After checking everything, William White pressed the Enter key. The first message on NBC Online was released.
The official unveiling of NBC Online shocked the onlookers. What exactly was this thing?
Sometimes it worked this way; the more you kept things under wraps, the more likely it was to draw public attention.
Since there was curiosity, there would naturally be those trying to uncover the truth. Of course, a pack of paparazzi was also very confused. Did NBC create another news platform?
The paparazzi overestimated the current Internet. There were only bulletin boards where some announcements could be shared; that was about it. Without established websites, other possibilities were out of the question.
Despite that, NBC Online was already quite impressive. Most importantly, this free email was indeed very user-friendly.
"Sir, isn't $1.99 a month too little?"
"Haha, Tom, I'm not concerned about the price. The reason I brought you to NBC Online isn't to make a profit. What I need is user quantity."
"But sir, if this continues, the losses could be significant. Are you sure?"
"Absolutely sure. I'm giving you $100 million to burn. I'm only looking for two numbers: the number of paying registered users and the user traffic."
"Okay, as you wish."
Tom didn't quite understand the importance of traffic, but William White knew it all too well. Back then, "traffic is king" was a catchy phrase; in a few years, everyone would use it.
Email was even more straightforward; it was a winner-takes-all kind of deal. With this move, the few small companies immediately fell apart.
At the moment, although NBC Online appeared rough around the edges, it was still quite eye-catching. The number of people using the Internet was small, but the users' status was high.
No matter how the outside world praised or criticized it, William White didn't care. Inside his company, he had begun promoting paperless offices.
...
While William White was enjoying himself, Bill Gates was in a bit of a bind. His Windows 3.0 clearly overlooked the networking feature.
"This jerk, couldn't you have told me earlier? Looks like I'll have to wait for the 3.1 version to work on this," Bill Gates grumbled. Little did he know that William White did it on purpose.
Don't be misled by it being free software; like the browser, this was also a winner-takes-all game. Browsers worked this way, and email reception systems followed suit.
William White was sure that as long as Bill Gates wasn't foolish, he would definitely want to acquire it. Of course, Gates could also develop his own. But without the collaboration of NBC Online, his software would surely be labeled as trash.
...
"Sir, could he be doing this to push for the Internet's usage?"
"Heh, this plan wasn't decided overnight. If we hadn't compromised on ADSL, he likely wouldn't have acted this way. That sly guy."
"Yeah, Time Warner is also planning to follow suit. This promotional platform is interesting."
"Promotional platform? Tell me more."
Although NBC Online was free, as an old saying goes, the free stuff is the priciest. At least, the publicity for GoldenEye started from the Internet.
After listening to his underling's report, the old guard from Morgan was a bit stunned. Hundreds of thousands of views weren't impressive, but the credibility and spending power of these users were definitely noteworthy.
To say how great the promotional effect was, that's hard to say. It was just about the level of a second-rate tabloid. What garnered attention was the development trend.
In just a week, major universities in the U.S. were first entering the era of NBC Online. It was almost a relentless enthusiasm.
College students naturally adapted to new things very quickly. This so-called instant messaging might not have other uses, but organizing some parties was incredibly convenient.
...
"Boss, if you had come up with this a few years earlier, my college life would have been so much more exciting."
"Geez, that wasn't my initial intention! How can these kids do this? I meant for you all to discuss studies, and you use it for dates instead!"
William White's frustration wasn't looked upon kindly by Jason Garrison. He was quite sure that studying was the last thing on their minds. This current annoyance was just envy and jealousy.
"Boss, how about we pretend to be someone else?"
"Whatever. You might be fine, but if I did that, it would be a huge deal. Let those kids enjoy it. Still, I need to set some sensitive words. These damn kids."
William White didn't mind these kids but also wanted to prevent the platform from being misused. There were plenty of clever people, so he had to establish some moderation. If they got too rowdy, their accounts would be banned immediately.
Regulation would naturally invite discontent, but it was the same everywhere. Of course, William White was resourceful. People could say whatever they wanted, but discussions involving religion and politics would have to be blocked. If race issues came up, bans would be issued without discussion.
You throw a big hat on it, and people naturally wouldn't argue. The key was that it was free.
Yes, this point was crucial. Since it was free, the interpretation rights were in others' hands. If they wanted to join, they were welcome. If they made inappropriate remarks, they could be booted out.
It was that straightforward, that unreasonable. Of course, if you became a registered user, your privileges would be entirely different.
To put it plainly, money wasn't the biggest issue. Registered users were real entities. As for visitors, who knew if they had other motives? Browsing was fine, but if they were eager to spew nonsense, others couldn't even confront them about it.
*****
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