[Chapter 798: Free]
Besides the Big Blue, there was actually a rather pesky four-eyed frog. William White was quite certain that IBM, Microsoft, and Intel had a tacit understanding. Even AMD was a bit quirky.
One company set the specifications, another took care of the operating system, while the other two fought tooth and nail. If he, William White, rashly joined in, he would surely be crushed to bits.
There was no chance of winning; why should he even try? If Motorola was really interested, they could step aside. He was eager to see if such a reckless company would end up destroying itself.
As for the 3D acceleration card, he had created the driver himself and would certainly optimize it as much as possible.
"Sir, the major players in Hollywood haven't made a move yet. It seems they're still watching. As for MPEG, they want to talk to us now."
"Hahaha, what do you call that? That's what we call cheapness. Without the support of content providers, let's see how they can survive."
"If everything goes smoothly, a large number of DVDs will be released next year."
"Alright, we need to speed up the conversion here. By the way, let's re-edit some films. Get those directors in and tell them I'm giving them authorization and a share. It won't be much; you go talk to Filson and get a director's cut out. If it's the same as the tape version, the appeal won't be enough."
"Director's cut?"
"Is that surprising? A film only runs an hour and a half, and some scenes are on the fence whether to cut or not. This is what the director wants to express the most."
"Hey, that's good. They won't want to miss those classic films."
"Go on, I'll head back. I'm quite tired these past couple of days."
"Alright, I'll notify them right away."
Well, the billionaire wanted to visit his pregnant woman. When a woman was carrying a child, her emotional fluctuations would be quite large. It's as if she had a delicate heart. If she was left to her own devices, there might be some aftereffects.
...
"Darling, you shouldn't be working now. Don't you understand you need to take care of the baby?"
"My doctor said I'm in good health, I just can't do nothing for a few months. After this period, I'll be just like any other woman."
"Cough, cough, that poor doctor David, his wife must be in rough shape. Size matters, you know."
"Don't you want to try it? They say it's quite a different feeling." Nastassja shot him a glance and continued to tempt him.
"Please spare me. Seriously, that would make me feel guilty."
"Hmph. By the way, you're rushing them to make DVDs so quickly; what if it doesn't work out?"
"Why? Is it not clear enough?"
"Not that, you don't exactly have a great rapport with Hollywood. If it were a different company, things would be different."
"Haha, you know what, Nastassja? Even if they don't like me, they will still be helpless. Do you know why?"
Nastassja shot him a glance but didn't respond.
"Because it's free. Didn't you notice? As long as something is free, people will always lower their expectations. Free email? Even if it's slow and doesn't allow for large attachments, don't people still tolerate it? ICQ was free, so how could you expect video calls from me? Is the search engine not working well, returning results that aren't what you want? Please, it's free; how can you expect anything more? The DVD standard is still free; as long as you adhere to this standard, you can use it. The most unsolvable problem in this world is free stuff."
"Oh my, so much stuff is free. Darling, you won't go bankrupt, will you?"
"The most expensive things in the world are free. It doesn't do any good to tell you now; you'll understand in a few years. The companies that set the standards are certainly the strongest. You think so many people are fighting over what? Since it's free, why should Europeans and Asians not give up? As for those old folks in Hollywood, once DVDs hit the market in the US, they'll have no choice but to worry. 'Go with the wind' is what describes these bastards."
"Alright, you're the best. Let's go eat."
"Yeah, you should compliment me more. Someone always thinks I'm wasting it. Good lord, I don't even know how much money I have; how am I a spendthrift? Show me how to waste yours."
Okay, William White was being a bit ridiculous. At this point, no one treated him like the spoiled child anymore.
Success once was luck; but success time and again was strength. As for the oil industry, how many of those at the pinnacle of the pyramid didn't know the reasons behind it?
The Federal Reserve's excessive printing of money would sooner or later raise oil prices and other commodities. Regarding this time point? Cough, cough, didn't a lot of dollars just disappear?
...
What William White didn't know was that those old folks were having headaches too. There was a shortage of currency supply in the market. If they didn't print more, the economy would surely stagnate. If this pace continued, it wouldn't matter if those dollars didn't show up; once they did -- oh my! It would mean inflation across the globe.
"Sir, Mexico's foreign exchange reserves are still decreasing. If there aren't any new growth points, their finances will be hard to sustain."
"Is it that bad?" Soros felt a bit of pain in his gut, as his subordinates had already pointed out the problem. This old fox could see nothing wrong.
It was just that these big shots didn't want to see an economic crisis on their doorstep. At least not right now.
It was frightening enough when these events occurred in developed nations. If it happened in developing countries, long-term stagflation could very well ensue.
A long-term economic stagnation would lead to social problems. Political instability would scare off investors.
"Yes, sir, those farmers have gone to war. Our food exports here have set a new record. Even if they cease fire now, it won't be possible to recover production immediately. In fact, those farmers are bankrupt."
"What the hell were they thinking in the North American Free Trade Agreement? They didn't let these folks stay in their fields; do they expect them to head to factories?"
Soros felt quite speechless. Since the agreement was signed, Mexico's exports had indeed increased significantly.
Exports had doubled; ridiculous, it had been crazily increasing. If it continued, they could soon become a high-income country.
Unfortunately, these spendthrifts imported even more. Their imports had actually increased by more than three times.
This sort of situation was troubling, even for the US. Even if dollars were being used as the settlement currency, there was simply no way to let that trade deficit get out of hand. As for Mexico, they could only keep increasing short-term borrowing.
"Sir, they lack skilled workers. Tesla's factory is at least 20% understaffed, and a few of the companies are even worse; they're planning to hire Asians."
"Alright, I understand this issue. By the way, how long can they hold on?"
"The most optimistic projection is until the end of the year. Similar problems are common across Latin American countries. Sir, it doesn't bode well."
"Good, if they don't fare well, isn't that our opportunity? Keep an eye on them. This time, no one is coming to save the market."
*****
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