[Chapter 632: The Giants' Foundations]
Bill couldn't avoid it this time; William White was coming for him. If Bill managed to slip away easily, then his band of legal elites would all need to go home and get some sleep.
"What do you think of IBM's latest technology, William?"
"Steve, it's definitely impressive. Those bastards should have rolled this out a year ago."
"What do you mean? They've had this MR magnetic resistance technology for ages?"
Seeing the shock on Jobs' face, William White couldn't help but feel surprised himself. After all, this development seemed to have nothing to do with him.
"Ha ha, Steve, when your Macintosh came out, this tech wasn't even ready for commercial use yet. So don't dwell on it."
Jobs felt a little frustrated. If this technology had come out a few years earlier, there wouldn't be a Compaq or Microsoft around.
"You're not wrong; those guys are just stringing things along."
"Ha, we've let them off the hook this time. The boom of the Internet is going to make these storage devices fly off the shelves."
The foundations of IBM were not just idle talk. They casually pulled out something that immediately shifted the landscape of the storage market. With the same form factor, its capacity was at least ten times larger. At this point, the last weak link in personal PCs was quickly being bridged.
"Hmph, even with this, it's not going to save them. This guy is like the Soviets, destined to be swallowed by the situation."
Two guys who had no love lost for IBM weren't shy about their opinions. They were both looking forward to seeing this guy crash and burn; if it went down like the Soviets, that would be even better.
Unfortunately, just as IBM was going under, they brought back a big player. This was someone capable who wouldn't resort to any shock therapy.
Once the Soviets were out of the picture, there really was no shock therapy left. Looking from the future, the Soviets had been swindled.
William White felt some envy toward the foundations of IBM. In terms of product quality, IBM and Compaq were on entirely different levels. This proud entity produced products that were closer to German standards.
Despite fantasizing about acquisition for all these years, more people recognized the ThinkPad sub-brand than remembered the name Compaq Computers. Sentimental or not, there was still a clear difference; the brand's added value was quite impressive.
And this was just with laptops and desktops; in terms of servers, even a downed giant still had impressive prowess. That's why these cutthroat professional managers knew that if this brand had remained within the founder's family, it would never have been sold.
"Steve, what brings you here this time?"
"I saw your The Lion King, and the story was pretty good. It's just too bad it's still traditional animation. I have a plan to make a movie entirely with computers."
"Steve, you already signed a deal with Disney. What more do you need now? If it's about IP, go talk to Michael Eisner."
"I have a plan; it's a really solid idea. 3D acceleration cards -- I know you have something even better."
William White was a bit at a loss. They did have a more powerful 3D engine and GPU, but now was not the time to launch it. A 32MB dynamic memory was already determining its high price tag.
"Steve, I can't sell it now. The basic model has 32MB of memory; I think it's safe to say its price is going to be ridiculously high."
"Damn it, can't you release a professional version first?"
"I'm working on it, you know, but that will dumb down some features. Plus, what CPU am I going to match it with?"
Joe wasn't happy; true, if the GPU went up, the bottleneck would become the CPU. Intel wasn't exactly a saint in this scenario.
"What about the 586? When are they releasing their 586?"
"Not happening this year; this time, they've used a new architecture. If it's successful, it will be a groundbreaking product. Let's just say this acceleration card I'm working on is being prepared in anticipation of that."
Though Jobs stormed out angrily, he didn't really have a solution. William White was being straightforward; the other two companies had a much tougher road ahead.
...
"Sir, who was that guy earlier? He seemed really angry."
"Lisa, that's a guy with a bad temper, but he's quite skilled. That's just how the world works; capable people have the right to be angry."
"Oh, I see. Sir, let me help you relax."
"Sure, I could do with the relief after that."
About an hour later, William White's headache had subsided, but now he started to have a pain in his balls. It was a real pain too. Well, that was just a small mishap due to the assistant's inexperience. Ahem, the method was wrong.
...
When Tom and Filson walked in, they noticed something was off with their boss; he seemed a little anxious. Of course, they couldn't pry into it and rushed into today's agenda.
"Tom, what's up with Seagate? Are they going to follow suit?"
"Sir, the 3.5-inch drives might be a bit delayed, but the 5.25-inch ones will soon go into mass production. This time, the price of 1GB hard drives is going to drop significantly."
"Tsk tsk, that shows their lack of foundations. I heard IBM has already started mass producing 3.5-inch hard drives. But that's okay; most desktops will still use 5.25-inch drives."
"Yes, sir. Their latest technology research is nearing completion as well. According to their CEO, hard drive storage space will increase tenfold again."
"Alright then, let's hope they can keep up. This damn hard drive is really slowing things down. By the way, that optical drive isn't going to become obsolete, is it? Make an announcement that White System's software will be entirely using CD-ROMs."
"Sir, that sounds good, but will it be a bit too hasty?"
"Not at all; I've had it with cutting software. It's all compression and trimming; it's a real hassle. If our clients can't afford an optical drive, then they don't need our software."
"Okay, as you wish." Tom said this, but inwardly he was skeptical. Just wait; once the news breaks, you'll get hit with backlash. Besides those databases, the biggest software right now is Window's system.
The biggest software is still using 1.44 floppy disks, and you're completely abandoning it. The folks selling optical drives are probably delighted, but those dealing in floppy drives are surely crying. Especially for those selling 5.25-inch floppy drives; they're probably finished.
Having two or three floppy drives isn't new in this era. If you add an optical drive too, this personal PC will look downright strange.
"Sir, the official version of Command & Conquer: Red Alert is selling really well. What ideas do you have for the next version?"
"Africa is in chaos, right? Just assess the strength of those countries and then roll out a version. Red Alert: African Storm."
"Uh, sir, this version is 3D and will take some time. They're having a blast fighting right now; if they aren't fighting when it's released, it could be affected."
"Not fighting? Tom, do you know how many AK-47s the Soviets have produced?"
Seeing the boss change the subject, Tom could only agree.
"I'm not sure."
"They measure it in the hundreds of millions. Those guns are useless now; they sell them at scrap prices, and the buyers are in Africa."
Tom started sweating profusely; this was truly terrifying.
"These guys are insane; this is going to kill a lot of people, many, many people."
"Yes, they're selling weapons, which essentially means they're selling death. But even I can't stop that. Compared to real death, I'd rather play games; I hope they could think the same."
"I understand; it looks like this chaos is just the beginning. Can't these guys just buy some food instead?"
"Ha ha, they might prefer to loot. By the way, in the game, make sure to highlight those RPGs; they'll have plenty of those cheap heavy weapons."
*****
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