[Chapter 709: Monopoly is Actually a False Proposition]
The dispute between White Systems and MPEG drew the attention of many industry giants. Given the current situation, if one dared to ignore William White's actions, it was clearly a foolish move.
Wasn't there already an organization? Was it really necessary to start from scratch?
In other industries, someone might pose that question, but the IT industry certainly would not. The 5.25-inch floppy disk faced elimination, and with 1.44 now available, who would want to bother with those old relics?
The advantage of setting standards lay precisely here. No matter how dissatisfied you felt, it didn't matter; if you didn't want to be left behind, you had to play by our rules.
If you didn't believe it, try making a 0.8-inch floppy drive; absolutely nobody would care.
In the realm of digital video, the parties involved multiplied. What was Hollywood most known for?
Movies!
There were far too many films that couldn't enter theaters. If one intended to digitize all of those, the workload would be immense.
So here came the question: which standard would you adopt? If unsure, it was better to wait; if you got it wrong, the loss would indeed be tremendous.
What? Wasn't MPEG already established?
Please, that picture and pixel quality were simply unacceptable. If it couldn't compete with videotapes, who would even consider converting? It was merely a little smaller.
Of course, these concerns were not the focus of the giants; they understood that William White had other motives.
Sure enough, just three days later, White Systems announced that their next-generation video accelerator card would support hardware decompression for Digital Video Discs.
Computers equipped with the video accelerator card could easily watch digital videos, and the video resolution would reach 720X480.
...
"That unscrupulous guy, he could never really have that," exclaimed Steve Jobs angrily; he had recently reviewed Bell Labs. Their level was even below that of the so-called MPEG Consortium.
Michael Dell, however, was somewhat dismissive, saying, "This is just occupying space -- saying you can do it now while others can't do a thing about it. As long as your product doesn't get delayed next year, nobody has the right to complain. Steve, it looks like William White wants to push computers into household appliances. Honestly, I have no reason to oppose it."
Steve Jobs was taken aback. It was true; others sold volume, and his computer was a different matter altogether.
"Ha! That jerk is really going to trap MPEG. Those experts have some self-respect; they won't be that shameless."
"Not necessarily, Steve, if you don't believe me, just wait and see -- they'll definitely claim they can do it too. Haha, this is going to get interesting."
...
Bill Gates was, of course, paying attention. Damn, digital video; did this mean he needed to develop a player? If William White managed to pull it off, his stocks would take a hit again.
The IT industry was about speed and strength; the norm was big fish eating little fish. Later, companies like Google and Facebook would operate in the same fashion.
Bill Gates found himself in a rather unfortunate position, having become a target for the Department of Justice. After several setbacks, he likely lost any ambition. His goal was simply to survive for a bit longer.
Now that he knew it, he certainly needed to finalize things first. That rascal William White remained a software engineer. With complexities, he wouldn't have the energy; building things like that player wasn't all that hard.
Without hardware decompression, it might take a bit of effort, but now with that, everything would naturally fall into place.
"Hey, Lydia, connect me to Filson's, no, get Tom on the phone -- just that fat guy."
"Cough, got it, sir. I'll get right on it."
...
Bill had underestimated, as William White had zero interest in such software. Sure, a one-off effort was fine, but what about when it came time for upgrades? Such player software ultimately relied on soft decompression; once the MMX CPU hit the market, the video accelerator card's purpose would diminish considerably.
The bigwigs in the IT industry believed William White aimed to monopolize the video accelerator card market. This was likely why he abandoned desktop processors in the first place.
Alright, one had to admit they were overthinking it. Video accelerator cards remained esoteric products. Even so, they were not without competitors.
Monopoly?
William White naturally hoped for it. Unfortunately, that was unrealistic. If he was savvy enough to find a partner like AMD, he might have some opportunities. If not, he would eventually be surpassed.
And do you think Intel and AMD were pushovers? They were still vying with each other, and once they had a clear winner, you better believe they would dive into GPUs.
Of course, William White wouldn't go down without a fight. If you all worked on integrated graphics, he acted like he didn't see it. If you worked on dedicated graphics cards, did he really seem incapable of breaking into the desktop processor market?
Monopolies in the IT industry had a time limit. When you kept moving forward, there was little issue; competitors simply couldn't keep up. However, if you took a moment to stop and look, many would be there, watching hungrily.
...
"Players? Hahaha, Bill Gates, that guy, is just so petty. A browser is a browser; a player is something else entirely. This stuff constantly needs updating. Let me put it this way, Tom: if it requires payment, this thing won't sell at all."
"Ha, sir, so you're saying you don't plan on making one?"
William looked at the chubby guy with a puzzled expression. What on earth could he work with now?
"Tom, our video format is just futures."
"Cough, alright, sir, I got it. There won't be any problems, right?"
"None at all; in fact, that group of experts will have MPEG-2 out soon. They're quite aware that the first generation simply doesn't cut it."
"Sir, will those guys compromise?"
"I have more than just White Systems on my side; two film companies and numerous TV stations. If I don't accept this format, where will they find content? Also, Universal and Columbia would refuse as well. Just think about it; forget that their standards are inadequate. Even if they were exceptional, I don't need to use it, and they won't have a say in the matter."
Alright then, it dawned on Tom -- this was the trump card. Those experts should have listened back then, but why did they refuse?
Now things had flipped; even if they wanted to negotiate, the outcome wouldn't be the same as before.
"Sir, what's next? Something like a VCR, right?"
"Exactly, but we're not doing that. Sigh, Tom, the patents are open; do you think we can compete with manufacturers on that level? Next, manufacturing in the U.S. would be a disaster. You need to consider healthcare and social security, and you'll find that nobody enjoys working in a factory."
Seeing Tom's shocked expression, William could only smile wryly. Why did those manufacturers not protest? It was for this very reason.
Today's VCRs were far too troublesome. How many years had it been, still struggling with those companies?
Yes, you read that right. A VCR, in essence, was an illegal product. While rental copies were readily available, being caught with one could be a crime. As for those that never got caught? They could do as they pleased.
The largest use of VCRs in the U.S. was so you could record news or sitcoms if you didn't have time to watch them -- no one needed to be at home, as the VCR would start automatically.
The problem was, all of these things were under copyright. The fees you paid were only for live broadcasts; if you wanted to record, you needed to pay again.
This demand was reasonably fair; if everyone watched recorded broadcasts, how would advertisers sell their ads?
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