[Chapter 826: The Father of Advanced Technology]
"Sir, Tom is here. Should I let him in now?"
"Yeah, Lisa, grab me a cup of coffee."
"Sure thing, boss."
The smartphone factory in South Bay had successfully started production. Although the output wasn't quite meeting expectations, it was still pretty good. One had to admit, the workers in this era displayed remarkable obedience.
Well, that only applied to the factory in the rabbit nation.
One shouldn't assume that workers in economically lagging regions were always compliant.
What? Workers in countries with high technology were also quite obedient.
That was undeniable; however, one should first look at their work efficiency before passing judgment.
Wasn't Apple planning to open a factory in India? However, this time they were smart enough not to take on the task themselves.
Cook was indeed savvy. Relying too much on the old country would certainly backfire, especially after having failed in America. With that old executive tricked, it was worth trying something new.
Later, Cook concluded that Apple could not afford to distance itself from the rabbit nation. This industrial chain couldn't be resolved with just a handful of workers; robots wouldn't solve the entire issue either.
In fact, what they were experimenting with had already been tried out in American car factories. While cylinders or pistons could be manufactured with robots, building a car couldn't be achieved solely through automation.
"Sir, this batch of smartphones produced in the rabbit nation meets our requirements," one of the engineers said, detailing the specifications.
"Not bad. I hope this brand can become a real legend," the boss replied.
"Absolutely. We've signed deals with the two major carriers in the rabbit nation and are set for a global launch on November 1st."
"Ha! The order numbers are a bit excessive, and our production capacity..."
"What about Lianhua? Haven't they come to an agreement yet?"
"Not so quickly. The most optimistic estimate puts it at next January."
"That doesn't matter. Don't reduce our advertising efforts. It's all about creating a sense of scarcity; it's a foolproof strategy. By the way, what do you have in your hand?"
"Sir, the Big Blue has switched to smartphone production. Take a look at this."
"Wait, really?" William White was taken aback. After searching high and low, he couldn't find any information on IBM entering the smartphone race. Could this be the legendary butterfly effect?
To think ignorance could be so harmful! IBM had indeed produced phones, and quite futuristic ones at that--though they were unfortunately ahead of their time.
Looking at the touchscreen phone in his hand, William White felt as if a thousand beasts had galloped through his mind.
What?! A liquid crystal touchscreen? Could it be that Gorsky was also traveling through time?
No, he hadn't noticed anything unusual!
"FAX? Tom, are you saying this thing can still send faxes?"
"Yes, boss, aside from having an outrageous price tag, the tech is truly impressive," Tom replied.
William fiddled with it for a moment, feeling reassured. This programmer was indeed intriguing; he had somehow conceived of a PDA that could make calls.
One could argue that calling it a smartphone wasn't entirely unfounded. When smartphones had first emerged, their functionality was not much more than that of a PDA.
Sending faxes? What on earth was that for? It seemed entirely backward. The future of communications would certainly allow for data exchange; the average person might not know better, but surely the Big Blue did.
Why would one want to send a fax if they could connect to the internet and just send an email instead?
One mustn't underestimate that flaw; it was why IBM's phone failed early. The business ultimately fell prey to its own unnecessary features. Adding that function to a phone was undoubtedly a challenge, increasing production costs and power consumption without serving a consumer need.
"Tom, it's certainly impressive, but they're doomed to fail."
The rotund Tom was taken aback, his plump cheeks twitching. He didn't believe this phone would threaten the position of their legendary product. Yet his boss insisted it would flop.
"Sir? Why? Their sales expectations shouldn't be high; if they sell even 100,000 units..."
"100,000? What does that number even mean? Besides, why spend so much money on a feature that nobody needs? They would have been better off creating a wireless receiver that could plug into a fax machine and send faxes from anywhere."
William White was actually joking. He knew that concept wouldn't get much traction. Those older technologies of long-distance calls were essentially the same as wireless to wired devices.
"Sir, so this isn't worth pursuing?"
"Who said that? It's incredibly interesting. The touchscreen is decent, but if the response could be a bit more sensitive, we might consider doing away with physical keyboards altogether.
Haha, today's phones focus on style. Tom, did you think I hired so many designers for nothing?
However, playing with fashion is easy to copy. Once numerous imitators emerge, then we can shift our focus back to technology. This phone is a good idea; it's given me something to think about.
Lisa, find me a frame to set this phone in."
"Sure, boss, should it be a gold frame?"
"Use iron. Remember this: only our products get that flashy gold treatment. Also, replace all that junk." William White rolled his eyes. He was just using the phone as a reminder rather than anything significant.
After some research, William White found that there wasn't anything particularly groundbreaking; just that touchscreen feature was what his PDA could already handle. However, the technology at the moment wasn't quite mature.
Essentially, this IBM device represented a very basic touchscreen; without the stylus, functionality diminished greatly.
Nevertheless, it was still quite impressive. Although the touchscreen had been invented twenty years ago, it had remained largely confined to military applications. Now, much like the internet, it was no longer just a military asset.
William White noticed that what were considered cutting-edge technologies today had prototypes existing long before.
He had to admit, it was warfare that had rapidly propelled technological advancement. There was no exaggeration in that statement. Who knew what kind of new gadgets that little mustachioed dictator could produce if he lasted another couple of years?
The so-called high-tech initiatives running in America were often just offshoots of the Apollo program. Without national investment, the semiconductor industry wouldn't be where it was today.
What puzzled him was how local companies seemed to reap little benefit from it all.
Clearing his throat, he acknowledged, "Well, military contractors here are public companies. Since the government isn't funding them, of course, they'll find ways to sell their products to make money."
This raised the issue that White Systems was still too young and lacked a solid foundation. Motorola and IBM were established military suppliers; being close to the action naturally gave them an advantage.
"Tom, keep an eye on IBM. Gorsky has been doing quite well. Forget computers and servers; pay attention to innovative products like this."
"Sir, didn't you just say you weren't optimistic about this?"
"Tom, it's not that the product is bad; it's simply ahead of its time. The touchscreen's accuracy is still off, but that's not vital. What matters is that we have a direction for our next steps with our PDAs and PSPs, right?
Let's start them with a 32-bit color screen, and for the next generation, we can consider adding a touchscreen."
"Um, well, boss, are you going to have Bell Labs take over this?" Tom asked, bewildered. He had initially thought his boss was uninterested, but now it seemed the opposite was true.
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