Rebirth of America, this is my time

"Dear teachers, classmates, and distinguished guests, good afternoon everyone..."

On the third Saturday in June 1978, Evelyn, wearing a black mortarboard and a dark blue master's degree uniform, was standing on a temporarily decorated podium in the Stanford Stadium to give a speech.

Sitting on the lawn below was a dark crowd.

The outermost circle is this year's graduates. The gathering formed according to the college makes the tassels hanging naturally along the brim of the hat become a rainbow.

The square array in the middle is composed of teachers from various colleges, departments, and majors. The biggest highlight of this square array is that you can see a bright red gold at a glance.

If the clear arrangement allows people to directly identify their identities, then the lineup at the front is very complicated, because the people who can sit here are either the president and provost of Stanford, or the deans of various colleges, who are not outstanding graduates. Representative, that is the special guest.

To put it harshly, if you pick anyone out here, they are all guys who have a certain reputation in academia or society, and Ethan Jones...

"Cough cough cough——"

"I'm not talented, I just happened to blend in."

To be honest, Ethan never expected that his viewing position would be in the first row!

When this fact appeared, he was immediately flattered!

After all, he was a serious student in his previous life. Only when people understand some knowledge will they understand how small their personal accumulation is in the sea of ​​learning. Those big guys who can achieve certain results based on their personal abilities are indeed worthy of respect.

This ranking of positions has nothing to do with money.

But when the old principal Fred Terman appeared with a cane and sat down next to him...

Eh!

Ethan suddenly lost his panic!

Because the guy next to him had whipped him with a cane before!

Not everyone can enjoy this kind of treatment, right?

How can we prove that Ethan Jones still has a certain status in the academic field, right?

Hehe~

Okay, no more skin.

When he followed Evelin to the school, the first thing he saw were the big guys sitting in the first row. There was the current principal, who is a historian, and the current provost, who is a biologist. Scientists, as well as various well-known professors, all greeted Ethan friendly and chatted.

After all, Destiny Games is the first company to achieve real success after Stanford proposed the school-enterprise co-construction plan. It is also the first company to bring positive feedback to the school. It is also the first company to provide positive feedback to the school within one year of its establishment. Enterprises that donate money to help schools solve student employment problems.

When countless firsts appear, those who are the first to take advantage will naturally receive real preferential treatment from the school. What? Someone said HP? ...Then we can only blame HP for succeeding too early.

When HP succeeded, Fred Terman had not yet laid out a joint construction plan.

After the old man came up with the joint construction plan, Stanford had not succeeded in raising a company in more than 20 years.

The fact that you have persisted for twenty years and achieved nothing is actually very hurtful, but now...

It’s sunny after the rain~

Stanford people swept an industry with Stanford's help!

This success excites them!

It also allows them to continue walking along this path with confidence!

“Oh Ethan—why are you in a daze?”

While Ethan was thinking wildly, a joking voice came into his ears, "Did Evelin's speech move you so much? It doesn't matter, you can cry if you want to--"

Fred Terman's whisper brought back Ethan's thoughts, and then he heard the words of the girl on the stage clearly, "I am honored to be this year's outstanding graduate representative and stand here to tell everyone about the school's For our education and help, I would like to thank my family even more. Without their support and encouragement, I may not have achieved what I have achieved now..."

"...Especially my brother Ethan Jones. If he hadn't pushed me to start a business and constantly showed me genius inspirations one after another, then I definitely wouldn't be able to use the knowledge taught in school to the world as I am now. Bring more happiness..."

"...and he also came to the scene today to share the joy of graduation with me..."

Having said this, the girl on the stage raised her left hand and pointed at Ethan Yingying.

That unabashed statement made Ethan quickly stand up and wave to the crowd behind him.

The interaction was met with a chorus of screams.

Faintly, Ethan even heard an exclamation——

"Wow~ He is so handsome!"

'thanks, thanks. ’ Ethan responded inwardly.

"No, I'm just overwhelmed by the enthusiasm here."

After sitting down again, Ethan answered the old principal's question.

Since he had no intention of covering up, all the elders who heard his words laughed.

The dean of the law school even said: "Oh Ethan, your wording is wrong."

"Barbara once told me that she extended an invitation to you, hoping that you could come to law school. Although you are too busy and have no time, this invitation is valid for a long time, right? In this case, everyone is a family .Since we are all a family, then everyone’s joy for you is a reflection of love!”

Bi Lian's logic made the old men around her laugh out loud.

Ethan, on the other hand, clasped his hands helplessly and admitted his mistake.

"Oh——Yeah~ I didn't use the right words."

"Then you took the time to register your student status?" the dean of the law school asked with a smile.

The dean of the School of Engineering also turned his head to express his anger, "Yes, Ethan, if you register this year, you and your sister will be able to graduate together in two years."

In fact, Ethan has always felt that his talent outweighed his handsomeness.

If not, why do these guys always want him to go to school?

When they met and chatted before, these guys asked him if he had any plans to further his studies. Even if his previous standardized test scores had expired and his academic performance was not at all, it didn't matter. After all, American college admissions is about the subjective will of the school. If the school thinks you can do it, then you can do it.

If it were Ethan in his previous life, he would have hurriedly agreed, because this admission invitation is worth tens of millions! But now...he still declined.

It's not that enrolling in school will delay the business in hand. To put it bluntly, after he nods in agreement, the school will definitely issue him a certificate with his eyes closed, but that he has graduated from high school and has not received higher education. This status is more in line with what America promotes. American dream.

If you are pursuing an official career or studying academics, academic qualifications are definitely very important.

But if you are doing business...

The coat of the American dream is better to wear.

And the one these people said graduated with Evelin...

That's because Evelin still wants to study for a Ph.D.

The reason why the girl made this decision is also very simple. Fred Terman, who retired in 1976, was not used to the boring life of retirement and decided to accept the school's two-year re-employment and wanted to contribute to the school. Make a final contribution to education.

Because the old man is in poor health, he only takes one doctoral student with him this time.

"Okay, okay, Ethan doesn't have time now, so don't push him."

The deans' joking made the old man use his cane and said, "This is a graduation ceremony, not a closed-door tea party. Are you serious? Okay?"

The old man's words made everyone laugh and stop.

The attention of the crowd also made Ethan turn his body to say thank you, and his politeness made the old man wave his hand, "Everyone was just joking." After explaining, he added: "Robert called me. He said what you want is too complicated.”

"He's confident he can get you what you want, but he still needs a little time."

The Robert mentioned by the old principal is Robert Horry, the General Electric boss who undertook the optical storage research project of Destiny Game. In the past ten months, he has asked for two million scientific research funds from Destiny Game and succeeded. Burn out.

Although Ethan knew that scientific research was expensive, the speed was indeed too fast.

Perhaps it was because the old man also knew that there might be something wrong with his research, so he called Fred Terman directly and explained it.

And when the old principal acted as the middleman, Ethan naturally wouldn't delve into the details.

"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry."

Ethan said: "I also know that what I want is a bit early, so I have the patience to wait. And I am very busy recently. Even if he takes out the things, I don't have the energy to push..."

These words made Fred Terman turn his head to look at Ethan, shook his head and said: "Oh Ethan - although I like your attitude very much, you can't be too polite to them."

"Just telling the truth." Ethan shrugged.

Such an attitude made the old principal couldn't help but nod. He stared at Ethan's cheek for a while, and then turned his attention to the podium again. Since Ethan gave him face, the matter was considered to have been revealed.

"One more thing." The old principal changed the subject, "Starting from the fall semester, Stanford will officially purchase apples as teaching tools."

"Lawrence called me directly to tell me about this matter. Then he said that this is your request and he just complied with it. At the same time, he also hoped that I could help him get some schools."

"I took a look at the Apple products he recommended, and that kid Stephen did a great job."

"That disk..."

"To be honest, it does better than IBM."

When Ethan was making waves in the wave of the video game era, Apple Computer Company was also getting good news one after another. After Wenlock hired Roger Corrin of Pepsi-Cola for them, Steve Wozniak The five-and-a-quarter floppy disk Disk II developed by Little Fatty finally came out.

Ethan held a new product launch conference on May 20, and they introduced their products to the world on June 1. Each floppy disk had thirty-five tracks on one side, and each track had sixteen tracks. sectors, each sector has 256 bytes of data after it appears...

The single-sided 140KB and double-sided 280KB capacities directly ignited the market!

Because the emergence of this thing can free the computers on the market from endless code operations!

When data storage, which was originally a headache, became a very simple matter...

Even though the price of this thing is as high as $495, there are still countless people who know the goods and buy it!

This situation also made Wenlock start to fulfill his promise and prepare to use Rockefeller's influence to sell Apple to all schools in North America. The first target they want to conquer is Stanford. As for the reason why they chose here...then Probably Lawrence Rockefeller’s bad taste.

"He called you personally?" Ethan was speechless.

"Yes." The old principal nodded.

"Oh - this guy -" Ethan curled his lips and said, "If you helped me do Apple's entry into the education market, then why should I accept his investment?"

"He uses my resources to help me do what I want to do?"

"MFxxk..."

Ethan suddenly felt that he was a big injustice!

If he had known that Lawrence Rockefeller was playing this way, he would not have let this guy on the ship in the first place!

But the old principal shook his head and said with a smile: "Although I will help, it is Lawrence who really solves this matter. The market for teaching tools is not as simple as you think. Large-scale purchases by public schools must be supervised. The procurement of private schools must be explained to the board of directors. Even if I help, it will only ask other schools to report project procurement. As for where the money for the procurement comes from? This matter must be solved by the Rockefeller Education Foundation... "

As the old principal whispered, Ethan finally understood the secrets of education procurement.

No matter what school it is, their annual funds are limited. It is impossible to purchase the same teaching tools at once. The process has been simplified and has four steps.

The first step is to discover that a certain device on the market has good educational functions;

The second step is for the development committee and education committee under the board of directors to propose purchases and fill out reports;

The third step is to submit it to senior management for approval. Because this kind of procurement is usually an unplanned matter, the process is very long;

The fourth step is to start purchasing if the approval is passed, or in other words, the project is terminated if the approval is not passed.

If business is serious, businesses that want to enter the education market will have to wait.

But the simultaneous action of Fred Terman and Lawrence Rockefeller can directly erase all the waiting time. Fred Terman has the right to let Stanford directly purchase any equipment as teaching aids. This is a way for the school board to thank him for his support. Privileges given for contributions to the school.

When Stanford bypasses all procedures and purchases directly, their behavior can be followed by other schools and go directly through the first step, and the second step declaration form can also be filled out quickly under the guidance of Fred Terman. As for The third and fourth steps... that's Lawrence Rockefeller's business.

Pay directly to help the school buy it.

The Rockefeller family's education fund makes numerous donations to major colleges and universities every year. Some of the funds are freely used by the colleges and universities, and the other part of the funds can be designated for use.

When Lawrence Rockefeller said that half a million of the one million Rockefellers donated to you this year were specially used funds for the computer science profession...

The third and fourth steps in the procurement process of major colleges and universities can be directly eliminated.

It’s a special fund!

And this way of playing rogue can allow Apple to quickly gain an astonishing market share!

As for whether this approach will make Rockefeller lose money?

This is simply too much worry.

Because charitable foundations in the United States have annual donation ratio requirements, the minimum is 5% of total assets. Even if there is no agreement on special funds, they still have to donate money.

In this case, using the money that must be donated to pay for one's own business is what many rich people are doing, but when this kind of thing is in the hands of Rockefeller...

With power and money, they can directly change the landscape of an industry.

For other companies, this approach violates the principle of fair competition in the market.

but--

Rockefeller was fine as long as he didn't make it clear when donating that the school had to purchase apples.

And this kind of thing...

"Many schools rely on donations. Not only will they not go against Lawrence on this matter, but they will do what Lawrence asks for very beautifully."

The old principal said with emotion: "So - just keep working hard -"

"This year we will help you become the number one in the market. Next year we will consolidate and increase profits, and then we can directly go public the year after that. Although Apple is not directly related to us at Stanford, the relationship between Stephen, HP and Lockheed will always exist... Isn’t it?”

"Hahaha——" This rhetorical question made Ethan laugh out loud.

"Yes." He admitted with a nod.

"Thanks."

"Hmm~" The old principal shrugged.

"Ethan~ What are you laughing at? Am I in trouble?" While Ethan was chatting with the old principal, Evelin had returned from giving a speech, and she heard Ethan laughing as soon as she got off the podium.

"No, no..." Ethan shook his head quickly and said, "We are chatting."

"Chat? Didn't you listen to my speech?" The girl raised her eyebrows.

"I heard it..." How could Ethan admit it.

"Why are you laughing after hearing this?" Evelin continued to ask.

"..."

This endless cycle made Ethan turn his head and look at the old principal.

"Ahem - I'm old and want to go to the toilet -"

The old principal ignored him, stamped his crutches, and asked his entourage to carry him away.

Such behavior made Ethan's eyes widen.

He really didn't expect that he was just running away with the guy he was having fun with!

And Evelin’s eyes were even wider than his.

He stared at Ethan for two seconds, then sat down unhappily.

The process of the Stanford graduate graduation ceremony is not much different from that of other universities. The president announces the commencement of the graduation ceremony, guests and speakers take the stage to deliver speeches, and then the degree certificates are issued.

The dean of each college will take the stage to announce the list of graduates of his college. Those whose names are called will come to the stage, and then the principal will officially award them their degrees and straighten their tassels.

After everyone has received their certificates, the principal will give a concluding speech, thanking everyone for choosing the school, and wishing everyone greater success in their future lives.

After he declares the graduation ceremony to be over, the participants in the ceremony will exit in an orderly manner, and then each college will carry out some different activities according to their own preferences and preparations.

For example, Evelin's engineering school held a monster-like concert this time.

Although Ethan had experienced these things in his previous life, it was quite interesting to watch it again as a bystander, especially when some engineering students sang and danced on the stage, with uncoordinated limbs and stiff necks that made him laugh. .

Of course, he still claps when Evelyn sings a Barbra Streisand song.

Unfortunately, no matter how loudly he slapped, Evelin still gave him a clean look.

What caught Ethan's attention the most was the dance of a chubby little boy from the School of Engineering.

After the opening ceremony, his right hand pointed at the sky at an angle of 45 degrees, doing a very handsome pose.

Then, as if walking in a circle, he pointed at the people in the stands with his left hand, put his right hand on his hips, and kept twisting his hips to the rhythm of the music.

The slightly old-fashioned disco moves made everyone laugh.

At first, Ethan just thought this guy's dance was funny, but after someone screamed "John Travolta" on the side, Ethan realized that the dance in front of him looked very familiar.

The next second, he asked Evelin beside him: "Want to go to the movies?"

"What?" Evelin was a little dazed by her meaningless words.

"Grease." Ethan reported the name of the movie.