Rebirth of America, this is my time

Chapter 255 Digging, digging, digging~

The conflict between Edgar Corder and IBM has actually existed for almost ten years.

In the late 1950s, the end of the Oppenheimer incident allowed Edgar Codd to return to America and continue to work for IBM. In the process, he felt that his knowledge was not enough, so in the early 1960s, he He went to the University of Michigan to pursue a PhD in computer science and conducted extensive research on discrete computing models in automaton theory under the guidance of John Holland.

This direction led him to propose the data arrangement theory when he returned to IBM, and published the paper "Data Relational Model of Large Shared Databases". He also hoped that IBM could invest in his model.

But unfortunately, IBM refused.

The reason is that database products are not a new thing for IBM. As early as the American Space Agency said that there was too much data in the Apollo program and needed a database to store it, IBM built a database called IMS for them. Database system, and that system uses a hierarchical model, which is hugely different from the relational model proposed by Edgar Corder.

When the product IMS can bring huge cash flow to IBM, any mature enterprise will know how to choose. After all, capital is all about profit.

So IBM refused to innovate.

Ever since, Edgar Coder, who couldn't get help from IBM but felt that the product was excellent, found customers on his own. When other companies found that the relational model was more suitable for enterprise management, they began to put pressure on IBM, saying that they wanted to This product requires IBM to invest in research and development.

Then--

IBM agreed.

In order to satisfy their customers, they had to initiate a project on Edgar Cord's relationship model, but at the same time they were dissatisfied with Edgar Cord's unauthorized selling behavior, so while establishing the project, they also proposed Edgar Cord's relationship model. The inventor of this relational model was left out of the project.

Do not allow him to participate in research.

As a result, a strange thing happened. Although Edgar Codd was the father of the relational model, his name was not at all in the project papers published by IBM in 1976.

This behavior made Edgar Coder extremely angry. He went to IBM to argue, but IBM ignored him.

According to the normal development of things, there are only two possibilities:

One is that IBM forced the relational model project to death in order to maintain the existing hierarchical model;

One is that IBM seriously builds relational models to meet customer needs.

If it's the former, Edgar Codd may never know that the relational model is the path of choice for future enterprises. If it's the latter, he will definitely fall out with IBM in order to safeguard his own interests.

But unfortunately, the third situation occurred.

Larry Ellison commercialized the relational model before IBM and submitted it to the CIA.

then……

"Fred, you must help me!"

"I can't stand IBM anymore!"

"As the proposer of the relational model! I! I cannot conduct research on the relational model!"

"This makes me very miserable!"

"And what makes me most uncomfortable is that someone has already made a database based on my paper!"

"That was originally my thing! My research! Now it's all someone else's!"

Edgar Corder was a very clever man. All the hair on his forehead had fallen out, and he had a mustache on his mouth that curled up when he cried. When the bald head and beard collide, the whole person looks extremely happy.

However, no one was laughing at this moment, they were all made sad by his tearful narration. After listening to his story, Fred Terman, sitting on the sofa, sighed.

He patted the armrest and said with empathy: "Edgar, I can understand your mood."

"As a researcher, the most painful thing is not being able to study the topic you like. What is even more painful is that your topic is done by others."

"Although there are some problems with your behavior of bypassing IBM to find a buyer, this does not become a reason for IBM to prevent you from continuing research. Therefore, when I learned that you wanted to obtain external support to continue research and development, I asked Someone contacted you and asked you to come over today.”

"Because of our school enterprise at Stanford, Destiny Games is very interested in your research."

As he said that, the old principal raised his hand and pointed.

Ethan, whose name was called, immediately smiled and nodded at Edgar Cord who was looking at him.

"Dr. Codd, although we at Destiny Games are engaged in electronic entertainment, we also actively embrace computer technology. We co-founded the chip company Western Design with Bill Mensch, the founder of 6502, and we invested in Apple Computer. Now they are selling very well, and we have also invested in Microsoft. You should know about the spreadsheet product, it must be the future."

"During this process, we discovered that with the popularization of computers and the emergence of tools, paperless office must have a bright future. In this way, how to store things like spreadsheets directly in the computer and make the company's Other personnel are transferred, and that’s where we want to invest.”

"And as we looked for the future, we discovered Oracle."

"To be honest, we have conflicts with some shareholders of Oracle, so when we found out that they were using your model, we wanted to invest in you and make a product that surpassed them."

"have no idea……"

"Are you interested?"

When Barbara Babcock, the great mage, had torn the bread, kneaded it, and fed it to Ethan's mouth, if Ethan still didn't eat it, then he was suffering from brain damage.

And since it’s poaching...

Then of course you have to ask a professional to come forward!

As a peerless master who dared to poach Harvard on Harvard campus, Fred Terman naturally came into Ethan's sight. In addition, he had already troubled him many times before, so Ethan rushed over shamelessly. At the old principal's house, I hugged his thigh and begged him to help shake him.

Although the old president was not familiar with Edgar Corder, how many people in the American scientific community did not know this president who was begging for help from Stanford? In addition, he had already fallen out with his old club, so Edgar Cord drove directly from San Jose after receiving the invitation call.

And after Ethan threw the olive to him without any pretense...

"no problem!"

"I'm resigning now!"

Edgar Corder agreed quickly.

At the same time, he also set his sights on the old principal.

"Fred, I am a fellow of IBM, so..."

IBM Academician is the highest honor that IBM's internal engineers, scientists, and programmers can receive. The selection criteria are very simple, either they have made a great contribution to the development of IBM, or they have changed the world.

After obtaining this title, it is generally not easy to leave the job.

But for the old principal...

"This is simple."

"I'll just give your boss, Thomas Watson Jr., a call."

"Just say that I want to invite you to come to Stanford to do research."

"He will give me face."

“As for the location, it’s probably the Stanford Research Park.”

The old principal looked at Ethan and said: "I will ask the institute to grant you another building so that you can separate entertainment and software research and development projects of two different natures. I still have the original request. If you If you want an intern or employee, give priority to Stanford.”

"If you think some entrepreneurial projects at Stanford are great in the future..."

"For my sake, do me a favor."

"Oh - thank you principal." Ethan accepted happily, "I will."

Edgar Cord was even more happy, "Oh Fred, the rumors from the outside are indeed correct."

"When Stanford needs you, you will be the most generous person in the world."

"Hahaha——" Fred Terman laughed.

He waved his hand, indicating that there was no need to mention the past.

Edgar Cord continued: "Fred, if poaching people is easy, then let's just poach IBM's R\u0026D team together?"

"The same Donald Chamberlain who wrote the Structured English Query Language SEQUEL."

"He is actually from Stanford and got his master's and doctorate degrees here."

"Although they stole my project, I have no conflict with them. I just hate IBM."

“I even worked with his good friend, Raymond Boyce, before.”

"It's a pity that this kid was unlucky and died of an aneurysm a few years ago."

"Okay, no problem." Since there was peace within IBM's relational model team, and IBM was not interested in this thing, Fred Terman naturally dared to move them all away.

While agreeing, he also asked: "Does this group have a name?"

"Yes." Edgar Codd nodded: "SQL, this is the current name of SEQUEL."

"Because the trademark SEQUEL was occupied by someone else, those guys changed the name."

Although Ethan knew that when Edgar Cord and IBM had irreconcilable conflicts, poaching people would become very simple, but he did not expect that things would be so easy.

In just a few words, they moved the entire IBM team here?

Oh - this is really -

Thai pants are hot!

More importantly, when Edgar Cord said that IBM's team was called SQL, Ethan's heart skipped a beat and he felt as if he had dug something extraordinary.

If he remembered correctly, in his previous life, Microsoft products had this logo.

Microsoft SQL Server.

This is what he used in his previous life.

And the logo in the Microsoft database comes from IBM?

Damn it, what did he dig out with his hoe?

Just when Ethan wanted to slap his forehead, hating why he didn't have Wikipedia in his brain, a group of people who had a meeting at the beginning of the year gathered again at Steve Ross's house in New York.

"This time you lose miserably."

Rockwell's chairman, Willard Rockwell Jr., put his hands on his belly and said, "I don't understand why your plan has such big loopholes?"

"You are the one who said you could use the Motion Picture Association's classification rules to choke Ethan Jones."

"The results of it?"

"This rule has no legal effect?"

"If that's all, then forget it. What surprises me most is that the local laws in the American state that maintain classification are still unconstitutional?"

"You guys are a bit..."

"Is it too much?"

Willard Rockwell Jr.'s words won the approval of those around him.

Cornelis van der Klucht, CEO of Philips North America, nodded: "Using unconstitutional rules to attack Ethan Jones? This is simply asking for death!"

"Why did you make such a mistake?"

Jack Trammell, the boss of Komodo, cast a scrutinizing look at the other three people, "I now very much doubt whether the plan proposed by Steve is feasible enough."

The continuous torture and questioning made the Hollywood trio who gathered together a little unhappy.

Even so, they did not have an attack. Steve Ross suppressed his anger and said: "Sorry, this matter is my problem, because Kirk and I both entered Hollywood by acquiring Hollywood Studios. No. Understand their internal operating processes.”

"Yes, we always thought there was no problem with this plan. Our subordinates and those in the Hollywood industry also said that they had done this before, but no one thought that Ethan Jones was so unruly." Kirk Kerkorian defended himself.

"You don't know that we can understand, but what about Ron?"

Rockwell's chairman, Willard Rockwell Jr., turned his attention to Walt Disney's president, Ron Miller, "Don't you know that too?"

The question put Ron Miller in the center of attention.

yes!

Ron Miller is Walt Disney’s son-in-law!

As a kid growing up in Hollywood, he didn't know about the issues with the Motion Picture Association?

Who would believe it?

When faced with doubts, Ron Miller behaved more like a bachelor.

He shrugged and spread his hands, "Sorry, I really don't know about this matter, because we at Disney never have to consider the issue of film censorship."

"Whenever the Motion Picture Association gives our movie a rating higher than G, people will definitely think that this is a problem with the Motion Picture Association, not with us at Disney."

"so--"

“How do we know there is a problem with the ratings if we have never considered them?”

The other three were stunned by his confident words.

Then, unable to refute, they became even more angry.

Just when they wanted to start another topic and continue their attack, Steve Ross, chairman of Warner Communications, raised his hand and knocked on the table, saying: "Okay, although we failed this time, this failure will have a negative impact on the overall plan." It has almost no impact, right?"

"Our core objective is to dismember Ethan Jones' company with multiple strikes."

"We knew from the beginning that the attack on the film could only temporarily delay Ethan Jones' progress, but would not have a fatal impact on his gaming and computing careers."

"So, the success or failure of this plan can only affect our mood."

"And when Ethan Jones can't solve Oracle's problems..."

"Our core hit, it was still successful."

These words made MGM boss Kirk Kerkorian and Walt Disney CEO Ron Miller's mouths twitch. Now they really want to tell Steve Ross that this failure Costing them a lot of money and influence in Hollywood.

But when they thought that Hollywood's losses had nothing to do with Philips, Commodore, and Rockwell, they sighed silently in their hearts. They understood what Steve Ross meant. When their losses can be controlled, Then the pain is acceptable.

Think of it as a sacrifice for the final victory.

As for why they only sacrifice themselves?

This can only be blamed on them being too confident in the Film Association!

"The problem is, Ethan Jones has already put his hands into IBM."

Rockwell's chairman, Willard Rockwell Jr., turned his attention to Steve Ross and said, "Ethan Jones has poached IBM's entire database team."

"That group of people is much better than the Larry Ellison you drafted."

"So?" Steve Ross asked with a smile: "Willard, are you trying to say that Ethan Jones might be able to create a database more powerful than Oracle?"

"Yes, I admit that it is indeed possible for him to do all this, but..."

"This also proves that Ethan Jones is not invincible, right?"

"He has no other way to solve Oracle's problem. He can only turn all attacks into the most original commercial counterattack and use better products to seize the market."

"And this is also the most time-consuming and laborious way."

"Especially now that we've jumped the gun."

Speaking of which, Steve Ross looked around.

Philips CEO Cornelis van der Klucht, Commodore boss Jack Trammell, MGM boss Kirk Kerkorian and Disney chief Ron Miller all nodded. .

They were pleased with Ethan Jones's helplessness in Oracle's attack.

This could prove that Ethan Jones is not invincible.

The allies' affirmation also made Steve Ross smile with satisfaction, and continued to face Rockwell's chairman: "More importantly, investing in Oracle is not our purpose, is it?"

"Our purpose is to help you out."

"You Rockwell won a major victory in the Department of Defense. Vinton Cerf returned to his identity as a researcher and admitted his mistakes in disguise."

"His choice has kept you Rockwell out of danger. In the future, when the Ministry of National Defense purchases weapons and equipment again, you can still use your own power to obtain a large number of orders."

"This allows you to stabilize your own base."

"When this goal has been achieved..."

"Oracle?"

"What else?"

"Ethan Jones went to attack him?"

"Isn't that a waste of time?"

"Now he has no idea what we are pursuing!"

When this fact emerged, Rockwell's chairman, Willard Rockwell Jr., immediately fell silent. If he continues to be arrogant when others are losing money and I am making money, it will attract siege.

As he remained silent, Steve Ross, who was already unhappy, cursed several times in his heart because of his behavior of being a good boy. But at the same time, a confident smile appeared on his face and he said: "So, we The cooperation can continue, right?”

This question made everyone present nod.

After receiving a positive answer, Steve Ross turned his attention to Jack Trammell, the boss of Commodore, "Well, I want to know how your contact with Benzi is going."

As soon as he mentioned this matter, the boss of Komodo immediately became happy.

"It went very smoothly." He said: "Casio was very interested in our willingness to share the 6502 design drawings, and directly agreed to the deal we proposed and was willing to help us build cheap computers."

"Really?" Rockwell's chairman, Willard Rockwell Jr., was a little excited.

Because computers are the next business they want to run.

"Yes." Jack Trammell nodded: "Because they have a project at the moment and there is a very urgent need for a cheap and easy-to-use micro central processor."

"And this project conflicts with Nintendo, so they don't want to buy chips from Nintendo."

"Although they didn't tell me what kind of project it was, in Casio's words, this project will definitely change the world..."

"It will be more shocking than Ethan Jones's home console..."

"It will make video games appear in front of people in another way..."

Such words made Steve Ross, Ron Miller and Kirk Kerkorian's eyes light up!

Because games are their main business!

And just when they were eager to know about Casio's project, Minoru Arakawa, who had just gotten off the plane in Kyoto, came to his old father-in-law's house. After knocking on the door of Yamauchi's house and seeing Hiroshi Yamauchi who had already fallen asleep but got up, Minoru Arakawa immediately handed over the documents in his handbag.

After reading the recent major events in North America, Laoshanoui called the waiter and asked him to change his clothes. At the same time, he said to his son-in-law: "Call Imanishi Hiroshi."

"Meet the company in an hour."

"We're going to have a little meeting."

Seeing that his son-in-law was not very interested, the old man smiled and said, "Don't be so embarrassed."

"As a human being, the most important thing is to be happy..."

Minoru Arakawa: "???"

He felt that what he saw today was a fake father-in-law.

Note: ① The conflict between Edgar Cord and IBM is so outrageous as written in the article. In reality, he really started a new business on his own after winning the Turing Award. The Twelve Articles of Code, OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) were all what he did after leaving IBM. As for the possibility of plagiarism by Oracle mentioned in the article, there were disputes about this matter in reality, but they were all resolved in the end, and the way of resolution was very interesting. Oracle acquired all the related companies of Edgar Coder. When the source of the problem becomes its own subsidiary, the problem will naturally be solved. ② Thomas Watson Jr. is the son of IBM founder Thomas Watson. He managed IBM as the actual controller before his death. ③SQL is a computer language used to query, change and define relational databases.