[Chapter 606: IES]
Steve Mitnick said, "Yeah, but he said the plan was too expensive. You definitely wouldn't agree. But I think the last thing you need now is money, right?"
"Indeed, we're not lacking money," Eric chuckled, even though Firefly Group had just issued a massive $8 billion bond. If Eric needed money, he knew all the banks in America would likely be eager to lend him huge sums. "But what we lack is time. The computer operating systems have been developing for over ten years, and there are already many mature options on the market. Moreover, compared to developing a new operating system from scratch, it's clearly easier to bypass our software patents and create a new web browser. Since we've gained an unparalleled advantage in this field, it would be unwise to abandon our strengths to venture into other industries."
In truth, the most crucial reason Eric couldn't say out loud was that Microsoft was set to launch the groundbreaking Windows 95 operating system the following year. The release of Win95 would mean Microsoft would dominate the operating systems landscape, and launching another operating system at that time would surely result in a failure. If only time could be rolled back five years, Eric would have jumped at Steve Mitnick's proposal to develop a network-based operating system leveraging the advantages of browser software. In the original timeline, Netscape had once proposed a system based on its browser, but that plan had died due to the rise of Win95. Google developed an operating system based on its browser, ChromeOS, in the late 2000s, but it wasn't until late 2020 that it was able to reduce Windows share by almost 5%. It was clear that after Win95, it became almost impossible to shake Microsoft's grip on the PC era.
Steve Mitnick nodded in disappointment. "I guess you have a point there."
Eric smiled. Although Steve Mitnick was a technical genius, he ultimately had some idealistic tendencies. However, people like him were often purer in their pursuits, much like the two founders of Google in the original timeline. Eric could confidently assert that at least Steve Mitnick would focus more on technology development rather than scheming to make money. Eric believed that often, those who dedicated themselves to a single pursuit ended up reaping far greater rewards.
"You should be able to guess," Eric said after a pause. "I came here with the intention of merging the three companies to form Yahoo! Network. IE and Hotmail will officially be rebranded as Yahoo! Browser and Yahoo! Mail. Steve, are you interested in being the CEO of this company?"
"No, no, no, Eric," Steve immediately shook his head vigorously. "I could sit in front of a computer screen for the rest of my life, but if you want me to manage those companies and sit in an office or conference room handling all the trivialities, I'd go crazy." After a pause, he added, "You'd better let Ian take that role. He's clearly better at running companies. Maybe I can serve as Yahoo!'s CTO."
Eric was somewhat surprised and then laughed. "I've always thought you were a lot like another Steve I know, but it looks like you two are completely different types of people."
The other Steve, of course, was Steve Jobs. Jobs had a strong need for control, while this guy seemed more like a tech enthusiast who was oblivious to the outside world.
"You're talking about Steve Jobs, right?" Mitnick said as he maneuvered the car past a white van, closely following the two cars in front of him, his expression nostalgic. "I bought a Macintosh when I was at Penn. Back then, it was an amazing personal computer. The graphical user interface, the pioneering multimedia features, and its 8 MHz processing speed were far ahead of the IBM personal computers of that time. It's a pity that since Jobs left, Apple hasn't released anything too impressive in years."
...
After more than half an hour, the three cars came to a stop in front of a white six-story building near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology across the Charles River. After their discussion, Eric had nearly abandoned the idea of placing a technology-focused genius like Steve Mitnick in charge of Yahoo!. Despite Steve Mitnick's high intelligence, he clearly had no interest in managing a company, and insisting on it would only lead to counterproductivity.
The building hosted a few retail stores on the ground floor while the top five floors were occupied by the three companies, which together employed nearly nine hundred people. Under the lead of Steve Mitnick and other executives, Eric began greeting the employees in the open workspaces on each floor.
As they entered the second-floor office area, despite the expansive space, the density of fewer than two hundred employees per floor didn't seem high, but with all the office supplies and personal computers, it appeared rather cluttered and cramped. However, upon seeing Eric, the behind-the-scenes big boss, all the employees seemed energized. Some bold female employees even retrieved a camera, excitedly dragging Eric to take a series of photos.
They eventually reached a lounge on the top floor where Eric sat down at a round table and said with a smile, "The first time I visited Pixar, all its employees were crowded into a very old and cramped office building. But now Pixar has its own 16-acre campus in Emeryville, San Francisco. I believe that the companies you're steering will achieve far greater success than Pixar, so all of this is just temporary."
The three companies had been burning cash for years with minimal revenue, so Steve Mitnick and the others wouldn't expect a better office environment. Moreover, since they had recognized the growing potential of the three companies, they paid even less attention to such trivial matters as office space.
Ian Gurney, who was responsible for browser development, said, "Eric, I think this place is already great. Why don't we take a look at the results of the IES development? It's in my office. The idea you proposed for the browser scripting language was brilliant. Once IES is released, I don't think anyone will surpass IE in the browser field."
Jeff Locke and Steve Mitnick both lit up at Ian Gurney's mention of IES.
Eric glanced at Tina Brown, who looked somewhat confused, and shook his head with a grin. "Not just yet. Everyone's been working for me for more than two years. We have to celebrate a bit. Do you know if there's a place in Boston that can host a party for nine hundred people?"
This time, the three men wore puzzled expressions. Tina Brown realized that she hadn't signed her employment agreement yet, and Eric had deliberately steered the conversation away from what seemed to border on company secrets, which she didn't mind. As the most famous party planner since the Oscars, Tina Brown obviously had the most experience in such matters. She smiled, "Eric, if you want to arrange a party for nine hundred people at once, it's best to hold an outdoor event, and the only place would be a nearby park. I just happen to have the phone number for the owner of Boston's largest party company. They can help us secure a suitable venue, but if you want it tonight, contacting them urgently and arranging food and beverage facilities will cost extra."
Eric replied, "That would be great. Please contact them, Tina."
Tina Brown smiled back. "Alright, as you wish, boss." Afterward, she turned to Ian Gurney and the others. "Can I borrow your phone?"
"Right this way, ma'am," Ian Gurney said as he stood up, leading Tina Brown into an office.
After arranging the evening's employee gathering, having lunch together, Eric and Tina Brown returned to their booked hotel.
That afternoon, they found a cafe where Eric went over a few prepared documents with Tina Brown, including an extensive equity incentive agreement.
Once Tina Brown had reviewed everything and confirmed she had no further questions, she finally signed an agreement, officially joining Yahoo! as the editor-in-chief of content.
...
From the hotel suite's glass window, Eric looked out over Massachusetts Avenue, which connected MIT and Harvard. The streets were lined with wildly inconsistent buildings in height and era, driving any perfectionist to distraction. Compared to the sprawling metropolis he vaguely remembered that had gathered over a million people without notice, the entire Boston area housed less than five million people spread over hundreds of miles, with only about sixty thousand residents in downtown. Perhaps this was why city planning seemed so "unhurried," radiating a strong sense of chaos.
As the boss, Eric had found himself a little tipsy after the night before at the Boston Park gathering across the Charles River with nine hundred enthusiastic employees, and even after taking great care, he had to be helped back to the hotel.
With his head still a bit foggy, Eric gazed out at the Cambridge skyline bathed in the morning sunlight, stretching his body slightly before heading out of his room for breakfast in the dining area.
When he walked into the dining area, he noticed Tina Brown, sitting by a window. She nodded at him, and when Eric approached her, she gestured that she was almost done with her breakfast. "You should try the Boston baked beans. Very few restaurants offer it these days, so I didn't expect to find it here."
Boston was affectionately nicknamed Bean Town, a nickname ten times cuter than the Big Apple, originating from the dish Tina was referring to.
Eric, not being sweet-toothed, was indifferent to this dish made with syrup. Sitting down across from Tina, he simply ordered a sandwich and a juice.
Tina Brown had the waiter clear her utensils as she patiently sat across from him, reading the day's newspaper. Once Eric finished his breakfast, she said, "Eric, I hope to take over Yahoo!'s editorial team soon. Additionally, the office spaces for the three companies that I saw yesterday were somewhat scattered, making it difficult for me to concentrate in such an environment. I called some real estate agents yesterday, and I found a couple of floors in a building just down the street that have become available due to the original company going bankrupt. I hope we can rent that space."
Eric nodded, smiling. "I've said that once you're on board, these things will fall within your purview. But there are still plenty of things you need to familiarize yourself with, so there's no need to rush. Once I leave Boston, you can dive right in."
"A lot of things..." Tina Brown repeated, chuckling. "Like, for example, the issue regarding IES we discussed yesterday?"
"Yes, but that's just one part of it," Eric explained. "IES stands for the coding language developed jointly by the IE browser team and the other two companies since last year, with the full name being IEScript. It's an entirely new scripting language distinct from traditional programming languages. Simply put, this language allows web programmers to embed it directly into webpage code without needing the compilation stage that C language code typically requires. With the new IES script language, web programmers can directly write this script into the code, and then the IE browser interprets it."
The script language was a design idea Eric proposed to Ian Gurney and others based on his memories of Netscape's JavaScript. To top-tier computer wizards like Ian Gurney, Jeff Locke, and Steve Mitnick, Eric's vague directions were already enough for them to understand and generate the groundbreaking IES scripting language.
Although Tina Brown wasn't too familiar with computer knowledge, she grasped Eric's explanation. Nevertheless, she still had some reservations. "Eric, what exactly is the function of this scripting language?"
"The primary function of this scripting language is to allow originally static webpages to have dynamic content," Eric clarified, giving a simple example. "For instance, web advertisements. Currently, Yahoo!'s website can only embed a fixed advertisement within different content pages. While it's possible to manually adjust ad content across various pages, it won't be realistic to operate manually in the future when dealing with millions of webpages. However, with the IES script language, we can accurately target specific ads to different content pages. Through dynamic code recognition, a movie news webpage can automatically display movie advertisements, while a sports news page can present sports equipment ads."
Eric paused for a sip of juice to give Tina Brown, who was a technology novice, a moment to contemplate before continuing, "Of course, that's not the most crucial point. The key is that the IES script language will be open to web developers for free. It will be very simple and easy to learn for those with a technical background. Within a year or two, it's unlikely that another scripting language will emerge in the same industry. This plan, paired with the one hundred million dollars in Yahoo! Angel funding I told you about for developing content sites, will be enough to establish IES as the standard format in web development within two years. With control over the patents for IES and the IE browser, in the future, all sites developed through the IES script language will only be recognizable via the IE browser. I believe you can grasp what that means, right?"
*****
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