Rebirth in America

The computer sales strategy of cpt company was quickly implemented. Alex just proposed a general direction, and the specific details will naturally be improved by relevant personnel.

For IBM, the biggest impact is not on the Cray I computer, because their market share has always been positioned at the mid- to low-end. In the high-end market, IBM has no way to compete with CPT. Every time they try to hit the high-end market, they will be repelled by the improved first-generation computers.

Fortunately, computers, regardless of the price, are high-profit products compared to other industries. After all, IBM has a lot of connections. As long as they can get the product, someone will order it. The only difference is that you earn more and earn less, and you sell more and sell less.

Although the price of the Cray i computer is as high as 10 million US dollars, it still received many orders, especially from government departments and research institutions. Their demand for the world's fastest computing computer is urgent.

What's particularly impressive is that cpt's first-generation computer announced a significant price cut, and its price has already attracted many mid- to low-end customers to flock to the company to learn more about the situation. After hearing the news, many users immediately abandoned IBM computers and turned to CPT's first-generation computers.

IBM was simply stunned by this news. This posture was completely to kill everyone!

This month, IBM's transistor computer research and development work is coming to an end. They thought they could launch it first. Even if they didn't launch it first, they could still be on par with the "Cray I" computer in terms of performance.

What they didn't expect was that they were completely fooled. The computer parameter settings previously announced by cpt were a smoke bomb designed to fool their competitors. The performance of the real "Cray I" computer was many times better than the data they had originally obtained, let alone computers like theirs that used the data as a reference.

"What on earth is going on! Why has our computer been thrown out eight blocks away while it is still being developed?" Watson was furious. He asked questions repeatedly at the meeting, trying to figure out whether he was being used. The men were fooled.

Under the gaze of others, IBM's Vice President Learson could only bite the bullet and replied: "This is because they use the latest integrated circuit board design. Our researchers have analyzed it. CPT Company has There have been major breakthroughs in board development, so that their computers are much more advanced than ours.”

"Can't we get ahead of them? Since we know that integrated circuit boards are important, we also use such technology. Then why not come up with more advanced technology before they develop it?" Little Watson was still angry. , hold his subordinates accountable.

At this time, research director Wally replied: "I'm afraid this is a bit difficult. We just got the right to use the integrated circuit board. There is no way to improve on it. Unless we can get around this patent, we will always be controlled by others."

"Then get around it. Get around this damn patent!" Little Watson roared.

Research director Wally hesitated and replied: "It will take a lot of money and time to do it, otherwise. At best, we can only be on par with cpt's integrated circuit board technology. Let alone surpass the other party." "

The order given by Watson Jr. was to develop a series of computers composed of integrated circuits and eliminate outdated transistor machines as soon as possible. Leerson immediately formed a committee of engineers to study plans for a new machine.

After several discussions, the committee was unable to reach a consensus. Two months later, the plan has not yet been sorted out. Everyone has different opinions and wants to come up with a perfect solution, but how can a solution that can surpass the "Cray I" computer be simple?

Vice President Learson, who was usually mild-mannered, couldn't sit still anymore. He got angry at the committee members and said: "You all move into the hotel, and no one is allowed to go home unless a plan is worked out!" Learson sent the engineers to the car. Sent to Connecticut and "imprisoned" in a motel.

A week later, an 8-page report was completed, with the bold title clearly reading "ibmds (Dragon Slaying Warrior) System Electronic Computer."

The new computer system is named after Dragon Slayer (-slayer), and is referred to as the ds system. They said that IBM wanted to challenge CPT with the mentality of a dragon-slaying warrior, and wanted to express their determination in this way.

Leerson roughly estimated the required expenses: "R\u0026D funding of 500 million, investment in production equipment of 1 billion, and advance expenses for marketing and leasing of 3.5 billion. The entire dragon-slaying plan requires a total investment of 5 billion!"

You know, the "Manhattan Project" in which the United States developed the first atomic bomb only cost 2 billion US dollars.

The American press was stunned. Before the news about the "Cray I" computer has settled over there, IBM's dragon-slaying plan is already making a lot of noise here.

"The New York Times" said: "Big Blue vows to slay the dragon, and the computer market is in trouble again!"

The "Washington Post" is considered to be the most credible media in the United States. It also said loudly in the newspaper: "CPT has just reached the top, and IBM is ready to pull it down!"

The banner title of "Happiness" magazine is: "IBM's 5 billion yuan gamble!"

The New York Post was somewhat gloating: "The two major companies' desperate fight has benefited the vast number of consumers."

The "Baltimore Sun" was not optimistic about IBM's move. It said in the newspaper: "Only a crazy person will make a desperate move. If IBM fails to slay the dragon, it will fall into the bottomless abyss!"

Watson himself admitted that this was "one of the biggest and most risky decisions" he had ever made in his life.

The next step is to find a technical design coach for the "Dragon Slaying Project". Watson initially wanted to lure Seymour Clay over. If the enemy's coach could be lured over, the dragon-slaying plan would be half successful.

It's a pity that West Morgan ignored the olive branch extended by IBM. He simply refused: "I am enjoying my time here. I don't want to move my position yet!"

Of course, Alex is no ordinary boss. He can see through other people's thoughts and understand the inner pursuits of his subordinates. To Seymour, Alex was not only a boss, but also a good friend. Seymour is the kind of sultry man who pursues the extreme. Money and everything are just a cloud to him, as long as it is enough.

Alex is doing what he likes and continues to support Seymour in his quest to reach the pinnacle of computer computing. He also gave the other party a lot of good advice. This greatly benefited Seymour.

During the development process of the Cray I computer, Alex also put in a lot of effort, such as changes to the keyboard, the addition of the mouse, and the application of graphical interfaces. Some of these things can be used. Some of them are useless. But everything was an eye-opener for Seymour.

Left cpt company. This means that Seymour has left Alex, and he may not be able to receive such attention and courtesy when he goes to IBM. If it were anyone else, they might be swayed by the conditions offered by IBM. As for Seymour, he hadn't even thought about it.

Unable to recruit Seymour, IBM had to find someone else, and it quickly found a suitable candidate. They found an engineering designer named Brooks, and IBM planned to let him be responsible for the design of the "Dragon Slaying Project".

Brooks developed the first interactive operation system on a supercomputer, allowing users to see the screen display while typing keys. He also proposed many new concepts in modern computer architecture.

Brooks is responsible for coordinating the work of four groups, three of which are led by Dr. Amdahl.

Dr. Amdahl was the designer of IBM's last tube computer, the IBM 709; later, he was appointed as the designer of the first all-transistor computer, the IBM 7030. It can be said that he has rich experience and technical skills, and is a strong person in computer research.

Dr. Amdahl was particularly dissatisfied with Seymour Clay. He believed that Seymour Clay just happened to pick up a pie that fell from the sky. With the technical and financial support of cpt company, anyone could create such a thing in that position. a supercomputer. In order to suppress Seymour's limelight, he was determined to take advantage of this opportunity and design a supercomputer.

Regarding the dragon-slaying plan initiated by IBM, CPT could not take it lightly. They held a seminar on the next generation of computers without even preparing for the celebration party.

Alex also attended the meeting in person. He understood that this was IBM's last ditch effort. If CPT failed unfortunately, IBM would surely make a comeback. If cpt successfully resists this attack, cpt will be able to replace ibm's position in the computer field in the next few decades.

"IBM's dragon-slaying plan this time is obviously aimed at our CPT company. Let's talk about it and see if there is any way to block the opponent's desperate attack."

As the boss of the computer department of cpt company, Seymour must of course take the lead. His remarks quickly caused an uproar among the researchers, who all expressed their opinions.

"The US$5 billion is not fake. When will our cpt company launch a US$5 billion project?"

"Yes, let's throw money at them too! Let's see who hits them more and how skillfully they do it!"

"It doesn't take 5 billion, just a few hundred million is enough. After all, our technology is better than theirs. We are so far ahead of others. At least we can't bully others too much."

"Ahem!" Seymour saw that everyone's topic was getting more and more biased, so he quickly came out to interrupt: "This issue should be decided by the people above. As for us, we have to choose the future direction and stick to it. "

After he finished speaking, he looked at Alex specifically and asked him to say a few words.

Originally, Alex could only come to sit in on such a meeting and encourage morale, but now he couldn't avoid it and had to say: "The more R\u0026D funds, the better. IBM's several failures have proven this. Every success of our CPT company is not just about making more money. Just like Seymour said, we must look at the direction and stick to it."

Alex paused for a moment, letting everyone digest this, and then continued: "Our research and development funds for the first generation computer and Cray I computer were less than a fraction of others, but we were the ones who succeeded in the end. That explains this When it comes to issues, the direction must be chosen well and you cannot make mistakes. Once you make a mistake, you will lose an opportunity.”

After hearing this, Seymour and other technical staff nodded in agreement. They were seriously thinking about what functions and architecture the next generation of computers would need. At the meeting, various whimsical suggestions were put forward in the form of brainstorming, and many of them were practical and adopted by everyone.

The purpose of this meeting is not to decide anything, but to prepare the R\u0026D personnel of cpt company mentally and be more vigilant to maintain the morale of the previous R\u0026D stages. Seymour and Alex were originally worried that the people in the group would either relax or be frightened by IBM's aggressive 5 billion bet.

Now it seems that such problems have not arisen yet, and they are very satisfied. After the meeting, Alex deliberately left Seymour behind. He wanted to tell the other party what he really thought.

"I have an idea," Alex said thoughtfully: "In addition to developing supercomputers, CPT Company will also build a personal computer."

"Personal computer?" Seymour was the kind of person who pursued extremes, and he didn't think such a product would be useful. He said: "Computers are so expensive now. If you want to get a personal computer, no one except billionaires can afford it, right?"

Alex nodded in agreement, but he continued to explain: "That's why I want you to design a simplified computer yourself, UU Reading www.uukanshu.net to eliminate some high-cost parts and equipment. For example , the computing speed of the computer can be appropriately reduced. Now we use integrated circuit board technology, which can completely integrate the transistors of the computing module onto a matchbox-sized circuit board. In this way, the cost is much less, and other components can also use similar way to do it.”

In order to express the concept of personal computers clearly, Alex spent almost ten minutes describing the concept and architecture.

After hearing this, Seymour thought about it secretly in his mind and felt that Alex's plan was perfect and could indeed be achieved. It's just that he had no interest in this. He was pursuing the limit of computer computing speed, so he refused.

"The personal computer you described may be one of the future directions of computer development, but I think we still have to focus on the research and development of supercomputers. Now that IBM has launched the Dragon Slaying Plan, I don't think I have that much energy. Distracted from studying other types of computers.”

Alex thought about these words and felt that they were indeed true. Now cpt company still has to get through this hurdle first before talking about other things. Otherwise, they may miss the opportunity in these decades and have to wait until the rise of personal computers to get back in the game. (To be continued...)