1novels #457 - Elephant's Choice
#457 - Elephant's Choice
As the wave of public opinion swelled, Dongda's personal computer suddenly became a new global hotspot.
Tech workers, office writers, and finance professionals – all potential users – seemed to see a new world unfolding.
For 1999 dollars, it could process documents, manage businesses, perform calculations, and play games. Such powerful functionality, now achievable simply by placing it on a desk, completely overturned the cumbersome image of computers requiring an entire room for placement.
Replays of the livestreamed launch event triggered a frenzy in Europe and North America. The replay's viewership rivaled that of popular variety shows, causing even greater shockwaves within the industry.
In a luxurious conference room in New York, dozens of well-dressed elites sat upright and attentive.
"Let's all discuss the extent of the impact Dongda's personal computer and open standards will have on us," Little Watson said, scanning the room, pointing to the recorded launch event on the nearby television, and tapping the table.
Silence fell over the room.
Dongda's lead in the computer field was nothing new, but given the sensitivity of the departments using computers, even during times of greatest need in North America, core departments were required to use computers provided only by designated domestic manufacturers.
MBI Corporation seized this opportunity, growing into a computer giant by introducing transistor computers and cloning Dongda's technology.
Today, MBI Corporation provides 70% of the commercial computers used by core departments!
No competitor can compare to MBI in this area, not even the ascendant EG!
"Mr. President, I personally believe that this personal computer will not affect our computer business at present," a senior vice president said, steeling himself as he noticed no one else was speaking. As the head of product direction, he couldn't feign ignorance like the others.
A week had passed since the event, and all of the company's senior executives had been instructed to carefully study and understand every detail of the launch event. They had also gone to great lengths to gather new information from Dongda via telegram.
The current understanding is that the matter is genuine: Dongda's personal computer has completed all research and development work, and the released model is fully ready for mass production and sales.
However, no one understood why Dongda would choose to allow competitors almost unlimited production of such a revolutionary product.
What kind of conspiracy lies hidden within? As the leading computer company of the rogue eagle, MBI needs not only to consider this clearly from a business perspective but also report the analysis results to the relevant committees of the two academies for decision-making reference!
For Little Watson, this was far more complicated than taking over the transistor computer business years ago.
Back then, they had begged Dongda to provide them with the core components of transistor computers, which MBI then redesigned and manufactured into commercial machines, paying hefty licensing fees and offering other exchanges, such as transport aircraft technology.
Now, Dongda isn't mentioning any conditions at all and is simply opening it up directly. Something feels very wrong.
Moreover, they can't ignore it.
Based on the released features, this personal computer, despite being called 'personal,' can actually replace mid- to low-end transistor computers like the very expensive DC-10K and DC-20K. Furthermore, its functionality and usage space are even better.
It can be said that this personal computer is a dimensionality reduction strike against transistor computers.
After MBI's technical experts conducted round-the-clock research and analysis, they concluded that Dongda's Star I personal computer had amazing expansion capabilities. Not only could the storage space be expanded via floppy disks on the hardware side, but also the open interface of the underlying operating system allowed for nearly endless expansion in terms of computer applications.
Compared to MBI's current closed commercial computer system, most of the software systems within need to be customized by MBI or MBI-authorized system integrators.
But Dongda's personal computer doesn't need that. By opening up the system interface, it means that any capable system integrator or software developer can develop new applications according to standardized interfaces.
Dongda's personal computer even provides two development and debugging software tools, dBase and Turbo C. These are two brand-new computer languages and editing/compilation tools. After studying the currently available information, MBI's experts believe that these two computer development languages possess extremely superior value. Compared to MBI's current mainstream assembly and COBOL languages, they are clearly simpler and more elegant, allowing for more applications and lower learning difficulty.
So, when the senior vice president said this, everyone was waiting for his 'but'.
"However, in the long run, this personal computer solution will have a huge impact on us," the senior vice president said, predictably changing his tone. "Architecturally, our commercial computers still use transistor structures, while personal computers have begun to use large-scale integrated circuits. I personally believe that the transistor computer architecture is clearly at a disadvantage compared to the large-scale integrated circuit architecture."
The senior vice president was not a mediocre person to be able to stand in his position. Although it was painful to revolutionize himself, he could only accept it when the tide of the times came.
"Dongda's research on large-scale integrated circuits is now at the forefront of the world, while we are still watching. I think it's time to make a decision."
"Our country has technical accumulation in the research of transistors and integrated circuits. In fact, Bell Labs was only a little behind Dongda in catching up with the technological development of transistors, which is why we have the computer business here. Now, it is time to switch to the research of integrated circuit technology with Bell Labs. I think that from now on, our research in transistor computers should be fully turned to the research of integrated circuits. Since Dongda has already made breakthroughs in integrated circuits, then the feasibility of this technical route is beyond doubt. We only need to follow this direction, and there will not be too many deviations.
The difference is how long it will take us to catch up with Dongda. But if we do nothing, or go further and further on the wrong technical route, then we will inevitably fall behind this era."
The senior vice president dared to speak, forcibly twisting the technical development route set by Little Watson. According to Little Watson's strategic plan, transistor computers should still have a life cycle of 8 to 10 years and will not be eliminated.
However, with the emergence of Dongda's integrated circuit CPU, the technological path of computer development diverged into two directions. Even recently, when MBI internally analyzed the fragmentary data of the 8080 chip, everyone felt that computers based on this chip wouldn't appear so quickly.
Who knew that in such a short time, not only did computers based on the 8080 emerge, but they also came with complete software applications, as if the whole thing was just sitting there, waiting for someone from Dongda to come along and complete it!
This speed astonished MBI's top computer scientists. They knew that such technology couldn't mature quickly without years of technical accumulation and refinement.
Only Dongda's freaks, it seemed, were developing computer technology while ignoring the laws of science.
"What are your opinions?" Little Watson asked in a deep voice after the Senior Vice President finished speaking and everyone had a moment to digest it.
"President, I personally agree with Mr. Royce's opinion. The new technological path of computer development is already very clear. I suggest that we not only quickly follow up on Dongda's personal computer open-source plan and seize the opportunity in the North American personal computer market, but also further pursue research on the core CPU. This will be crucial in the future. Our scientists, together with those from Bell Labs, must strengthen cooperation in integrated circuits and invest more funds to promote the development of this technology."
Another slender, blond-haired middle-aged man in the conference room continued Little Watson's words. As the company's CTO, he had the most say in technical matters.
"Our annual technology investment has already reached tens of millions of dollars, almost 10% of sales," Little Watson frowned. These tech fanatics always demanded more budget whenever something came up, and MBI's R\u0026D investment was already among the top in the world. Only Vision, which had suddenly emerged, had a larger R\u0026D investment than MBI, yet they still claimed that the money wasn't enough. "Isn't that enough investment?"
"Mr. President, for integrated circuit research, it's really not enough, because it involves a series of new technologies and new equipment research. We don't have much experience in integrated circuit production and manufacturing processes, and we must start from scratch in researching related production and manufacturing equipment. This requires a very large investment of funds to support the research of complete sets of equipment. We must further increase the R\u0026D budget or cut some other areas of investment," the CTO insisted, ignoring Little Watson's emotions.
"Gentlemen, let's be clear that we are a company, not a mint. Every penny of profit we make comes from sales," Little Watson said with a laugh, angered by the CTO's words. "If we can't make money, everyone will lose their jobs. I don't want to hear any more useless nonsense. Now, who can tell me how much money we need to invest to get this personal computer into the market, what our costs are, and how much money we can make from each personal computer?" Little Watson was no longer polite.
As the helmsman of a top company, his business philosophy had never changed: only do things that ensure the company makes money!
Everything else is secondary. The prospects for personal computers are undoubtedly very bright. Little Watson had spent as much time researching this in the past few days as these executives.
Little Watson, who was very sensitive to technological trends, also saw the future of personal computers.
After the war, when MBI faced the choice of continuing to develop its electric mechanical tabulating machines or developing the emerging electronics industry, two factions within MBI argued fiercely, with the Watson father and son as the representatives. Old Watson believed that electronics were unreliable, while Little Watson insisted that the electronics industry was the future trend. This debate finally ended with Little Watson's victory. Since then, MBI has led the wave of the North American electronic technology revolution and become a trendsetter in the tide of technological development, unparalleled in the main world. However, in the Bright Sword world, Vision emerged and stole the first place.
However, in the traditional electronics industry, MBI still holds the leading position in industry development.
"Also," Little Watson paused and continued, "How will our competitors choose? Will Vision take this opportunity to enter the computer market? Have you considered this? Don't think that our competitors are blind. If our R\u0026D expenses are not spent wisely, we may be washed out when the personal computer era arrives!"
Little Watson's words startled the CTO, who was wholeheartedly focused on high technology. While chips were certainly the future, if they didn't secure the top position in the current personal computer compatible market, what would happen in three to five years when Vision seized the top market share of personal computers? Even if they developed a chip, how could it be better than Dongda's chip?
Perhaps Dongda would have already updated to a new generation of products.
In that case, if they failed to capture the market and develop the chip, the company would end up empty-handed!
The boss was right. They should first spend the money wisely, focusing on researching how to create a personal computer that meets the North American market based on Dongda's personal computer technology to capture the market. Only by profiting from the product and then reinvesting could they achieve success.
The CTO suddenly understood, looking at Little Watson with a look of shame.
However, these words didn't need to be spoken. At this moment, the conference room was filled with lively discussions, obviously struck by the President's words.
As the discussion returned to the President's overall vision, MBI finally clarified that they would first focus on product sales and then seek mastery of core technology. The initial investment would be in the R\u0026D of motherboards, display cards, and peripheral adaptations for personal computers. The top priority was to integrate and match personal computers with MBI's numerous electronic products.
For example, printers. If personal computers could connect to and use their printers, not only would more computers be sold, but printers might also form a new leading advantage in the future.
In addition, products such as fax machines and telegraph machines, if integrated with personal computers, would obviously have a stronger usage effect than now.
After opening up their minds, MBI's executives were pleasantly surprised to find that Dongda's open-source personal computers were simply tailor-made for them. They could develop more software and hardware applications around personal computers to improve the performance and application range of peripheral equipment!
Soon, a team led by the CTO, with as many as 30 people, was established. Their first stop was to attend the GCC conference at Dongda!
The same thing was happening like a storm in other companies in North America and among European counterparts.
Not only large companies, but also new startups like DEC and Fairchild saw this opportunity. The boss and founder also decided that the first computer product they would develop would be based on Dongda's personal computer technology!