[Chapter 522]
American steel mills weren't going to show any improvement, even if there was a large-scale war. The truth was that American steel and heat processing technology was just average. If you compared it to the Germans, or even to the Japanese, the gap was vast.
For example, during the quenching process of high carbon steel, the faster the cooling rate, the better the structure of the steel. Americans used room temperature water for quenching, and they didn't want to change that. The water temperature stayed around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If American steel quality were to improve, it would really be a miracle.
In contrast, the Japanese used ice water, refilling it with ice every time it was used, strictly controlling the temperature. The Germans, on the other hand, used liquid nitrogen, which could reach temperatures below zero.
This affected the quality of the products significantly. Bearings and cylinders were prime examples. Japanese products could only be used under normal conditions, while German products could withstand extreme situations. As for American products, well, they weren't much better than those from China.
This applied not only to heavy industry but also to small tools. Take German nail clippers, for instance; they didn't even require rivets and were incredibly sharp.
"Master, our satellite plan can be implemented now."
"So fast? No can tell from the outside, right?" William replied.
"Not at all, but if they dig deeper, it could get complicated," Tanner warned.
"Ha! No way, they're just romantic roosters; honestly, they look down on our satellite TV," William chuckled.
Hearing his boss say that, Tanner could only smile bitterly. The information they had was similar.
"Master, we still need a contingency plan," Tanner insisted.
"Of course. Go ahead and arrange it. If there's an uncontrollable situation, we can abandon the satellite," William instructed.
"Master, that would leave us with two fewer TV satellites. It's easy to handle in the short term, but over time, we're bound to slip up," Tanner cautioned.
William pondered for a moment and then spoke slowly, "Tanner, once the satellites launch successfully, you can send those two TV satellites back to Soviet Union. Discuss with them about whether we can operate it privately. They probably won't care much about just the TV satellites."
"That could work, but I worry about the success rate," Tanner replied.
"No problem; we'll just launch one at a time. If something goes wrong, can't we just announce the satellite lost? It's not that big of a deal. If two fail simultaneously, that's a problem, but if just one fails, nobody will notice," William suggested.
"Alright, that arrangement is fine. I trust their rockets aren't that bad; if they fail twice in a row, that would really be a joke," Tanner agreed.
"Once everything is ready, let's get started. We need to deal with the pesky flies around Lanai Island; have Max send some hands back," William instructed.
"Sure thing, I'll notify them right away," Tanner confirmed.
The Soviets might not shine in civilian technology, but their military-grade equipment was top-notch. In infrared and thermal sensing, they were even ahead of the Americans.
Don't be surprised; it's the truth. The night vision system of the M1 tank was basically lifted from the Soviets.
When it came to overall national strength, there had to be balance. Clearly, the Soviets hadn't played their cards right.
The Americans were different; from the internet to CDMA, and now GPS, everything had been converted to civilian use.
In the arms race, America had suffered losses too. But the difference was that they used this competition to spur technological advancement. Just look at the Apollo program -- it spawned numerous tech breakthroughs. And the Soviets? Almost nothing.
William White's judgment aligned with that. Though it was labeled as the European Space Agency, most of the people handling things were French.
...
Upon receiving the report from Tanner, William White didn't pay it any mind.
The laid-back French quite easily completed the task. At that moment, the weight on William White's shoulders finally lifted.
"Master, the tests are complete, and the results are excellent. My goodness, the stuff here should be even better, right?" Tanner exclaimed.
"The differences aren't that great. In terms of stability, sure, the American stuff is naturally better, but too bad, I am not in the defense industry. No matter how good it is, it doesn't matter," William replied.
"Master, why not just acquire a company? That Hughes company is quite impressive, isn't it?"
William White shook his head with an amused smile; he knew all about Hughes.
"Tanner, the price isn't steep; I can afford it. Right now, though, it's impossible; it's not that simple," he said.
"Yeah, Howard Hughes was truly a character," Tanner said.
"Ha! Haven't you heard others say I am like Howard Hughes?" William teased.
"Pfft, how can that even be compared? But if you were in the same era, I wonder what that would look like," Tanner remarked.
"Same era, ha, perhaps," William mused.
Though he laughed, William wasn't very keen on that suggestion. If he had lived in that era, his fate would have likely been less than favorable.
The tycoons in that time really ran rampant. If William White's guess was correct, Howard Hughes ended up in a trap set by the industrial powers. Of course, his own self-destructive tendencies played a big role in it too.
The unchecked power of the tycoons stirred up discontent among other big shots. Naturally, this led to various pressures. The passing of the antitrust laws was a clear indicator of the situation.
William White could give the Justice Department a headache, but even so, he didn't have the guts to call the law bad. He could only point out that they had no reasonable basis for enforcement.
In truth, many laws couldn't fine-tune their details when designed, and if they didn't keep pace with the times, what started as good laws could morph into bad ones.
The antitrust laws were precisely that kind of thing. At this stage, it was simply a matter of redistributing interests -- much like the breakup of the telephone and telegraph companies, it was a feast for capitalists.
Later on, it turned into a means to strike at competitors. Samsung sued Apple, Apple sued Qualcomm, and everyone sued Microsoft.
In short, once a company reached the level of Apple or Microsoft, they began to slide into mediocrity. If you didn't want to die, you had to split up or sell off. Otherwise, you'd better abandon growth altogether and stick to your little patch of land, like Microsoft had done.
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