Reborn Tokyo Golden Age

Chapter 312 CD-ROM

Bai Chuanfeng came to Fujitsu to see how his chips performed on computers.

However, after learning about the relevant configuration of computers in the current era, he had some new ideas.

Whether it is a Chinese character ROM card or a floppy disk, all of them are external devices, which are often referred to as peripherals in later generations.

Why are all these peripherals integrated into the host computer in the future, but now they are sold separately as accessories?

The reason is because their prices are too high.

The Chinese character ROM card can be handled by an input method in the future, but now it can only be realized by making it a hardware device.

The price of a Chinese character ROM card is as high as 30,000 yen, which is more expensive than the core component chips of the computer, accounting for about a quarter of the total price of the computer.

As far as the price of the HAL research institute is quite cheap, as far as Bai Chuanfeng knows, NEC is planning to develop similar hardware, and the price is likely to exceed 40,000 yen.

If the Chinese character ROM card is integrated into the host computer, its price will increase by 20%~30% out of thin air.

It is conceivable that the already high price of computers is even worse for ordinary users.

And the floppy disk is even more important. A floppy drive plus a floppy disk costs about 180,000 yen, which is more expensive than a computer!

If it is provided as a standard accessory of the host, this means that the price of the whole set of equipment will soar to more than 300,000 yen.

Let alone ordinary users, even Bai Chuanfeng finds this price unbelievable.

Therefore, whether it is a Chinese character ROM card or a floppy drive, they can only exist as peripheral options.

But it can also be found that today's computer hardware has seriously hindered the speed of computer development.

The price of a floppy disk of a few hundred KB is almost catching up with that of a computer, which is unimaginable.

As the core driving force for the development of information technology, the computer is the basic unit of the birth of the Internet.

The exchange, transmission and sharing of data and information are the responsibilities it should undertake.

Only in this way can computer technology continue to improve and make people's lives more convenient.

Among them, data storage devices such as floppy disks share a part of the responsibility for information exchange.

But its high price will obviously discourage most people.

Not to mention that information transmission promotes technological progress, the current floppy disk is a luxury item, and there are a few ordinary people who will buy it.

Well, for the advancement of computer technology, Bai Chuanfeng felt that it was necessary to engage in the development of portable storage devices.

Alas, in the final analysis, the price and the market are too fragrant.

A floppy drive costs several hundred dollars, which is a clear money grab!

Bai Chuanfeng said that he must personally criticize this kind of shameless business.

Capitalism is really bad, every pore is bleeding.

Cough~ But the blood also smells like money.

So what technology and storage does Bai Chuanfeng have here?

The answer is CDs, or to put it another way, compact discs!

In the impression of the world, CD has always been synonymous with music.

The first thing that comes to mind when you hear it is either a CD disc that stores music or a CD player that plays music.

But a CD is actually a storage format, and music is just one of the things it stores.

In addition to the music format CD-DA, there are a series of extended formats such as CD-R, CD-I, and CD-ROM.

Of course, these extensions are not yet available, because Sony is focusing on the music CD format.

After all, this was one of the original goals of Norio Ohga’s development of CD technology. Therefore, under the promotion of Sony, CD and music are almost bundled together.

The main reason why the world has such a labeled impression of CDs is the promotion of Sony.

But Bai Chuanfeng did not ignore the application of CDs in other fields, such as CDs that still exist after the millennium.

This is also another medium related to storage, CD-ROM, that he thought of after seeing the floppy drive.

This format SIC has been researched for nearly two years, and now it is coming to an end, and the dawn is in sight.

The reason why Bai Chuanfeng decided to develop this CD format was because he saw its potential as another storage format.

So Sony continued to work hard on music CDs, but Shirakawa Electric did not stop exploring CDs in other fields besides music.

After comparing the floppy disk now, Bai Chuanfeng suddenly discovered that the CD-ROM might also have great potential.

Why? According to today's specifications, the capacity of a CD is about 700MB.

It is 700MB, not 700KB, which is definitely a dimensionality reduction blow compared to the capacity of the floppy disk.

More importantly, the manufacturing cost of optical discs is definitely cheaper than that of floppy disks, because its main base material is plastic, and only some rare materials are used for the surface coating.

However, the materials used for the thin coating are limited, so the cost is naturally much lower than that of a floppy disk.

However, CD-ROM discs also have a defect, that is, they can only read information, but cannot erase or modify information.

The floppy disk can both read and write information, which is one of its advantages.

Even so, Bai Chuanfeng still thinks that CD-ROM has great potential.

As a storage medium only, the application prospect of CD-ROM is still very broad.

Databases, text and graphic data, software, etc., can all be stuffed into ROM discs for long-term preservation.

Especially for content distributors, CD-ROM is definitely a boon.

Since the prospect is broad and the cost is low, Bai Chuanfeng will of course give it a try.

The floppy disk has a floppy drive, and my CD-ROM has a CD-ROM drive. This is reasonable.

The floppy drive can sell for $400, and my optical drive can be several times cheaper than yours. How can you be conscientious?

The capacity is larger than that of a floppy disk, and the price is lower than that of a floppy disk. Bai Chuanfeng does not believe that there will be no market for CDs.

Moreover, the principle of the optical drive is actually very similar to that of the CD player. The laser head reads the information on the disc and then parses it out.

Even an optical drive is much simpler than a CD player. It does not need to output music, it only needs to restore data.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was feasible, and he even took Bai Chuanfeng to watch the computer display on the spot, feeling a little absent-minded.

But after all, it was the first time for SIC chips to face mass consumers, and Bai Chuanfeng quickly cleared up his mood and focused his energy on it.

I observed the performance of FM-7 with Fujitsu people, and everyone was quite satisfied.

As a cheap machine, it performs well in all aspects, and even has some small bright spots. It must be that the performance in the market will not be too bad.

And before leaving, Bai Chuanfeng had already received a hint from Mazuka Moriyoshi.

As long as FM-7 meets market expectations, it is not impossible for high-end computers to consider SIC 16-bit chips.

With these words, Bai Chuanfeng already has a bottom line in his heart, he is very confident in his own chips.

After dealing with Fujitsu's affairs, Bai Chuanfeng went to SIC again.

The first thing to do there is to pay attention to the development progress of the CD-ROM. Heitaro Nakajima, who is now taking over the project, said that after the CD player is launched, the results may be seen.

After thinking about it, Nakajima Heitaro and Ogawa Hiroshi are fully supporting the development of CD players at this time.

The CD format can only be perfected after the release of the CD player.

Anyway, the research and development has come to an end, and Bai Chuanfeng can afford to wait at this point.

Time is like the wind, and it has passed by you lightly.

By the time Bai Chuanfeng finished his work at the club, it was already late May.

And on a sunny afternoon, Daiichi Bank, Nomura Securities, and Yu Arai, who was in charge of Hokuto Bank, all gathered at Shirakawa Electric in Ota Ward.

Sitting at the top of the conference room, Bai Chuanfeng looked at the people coming from all sides below, and secretly felt that this day finally came.

Yes, today is the first financing day for Baichuan Electric, and it is also the last financing day before going public.

There is still one month until the end of June, and it will also be the third anniversary of the establishment of Baichuan Electric.

According to the regulations of the Financial Services Agency, as long as the three-year anniversary is over, Baichuan Electric can apply for listing.

As for the question of whether to go public, in fact, things have long been settled.

When the first Quanyin came into contact with Baichuan Electric for the first time and gave some help, it was already doomed for Baichuan Electric to go public.

When the Neon Club develops to a certain extent, it is inevitable that it will come into contact with several traditional chaebols, passive or active, which cannot be avoided.

After all, they are the ones who control more than 60% of the total output value of neon. It is no exaggeration to say that they are present in all aspects of the economy.

Baichuan Electric is not insulated from society and independent of neon, so it is bound to have some intersection with the chaebol.

But to be honest, he does not reject the listing of Baichuan Electric, nor does he reject contact with a chaebol like Daiichi Quanyin.

Although going public means that the club's financial report will be made public, I am no longer the sole shareholder of the club.

However, in order to further expand the influence of Shirakawa Electric, going public is one of the necessary ways.

And eating alone will never become a transcendent existence, and the distribution of benefits is the main theme of economic activities.

Whether it's the outside world or the old employees who have been following him all the time, really don't want more?

Hasegawa, Yasuda, Yamaguchi, the first few seniors of Meiji, and Masaki Matsumura and Akira Yamazaki from SIC.

They are all living people with their own emotions and desires, not tool people who just bury their heads in their work.

Not to mention the hundreds of workers in the workshop, Bai Chuanfeng believes that they are eager for this day.

Since various factors indicate that going public is more beneficial to the club's operations, why is Bai Chuanfeng hesitating.

Besides, it was precisely because of Bai Chuanfeng's original promise that he and First Quanyin reached a preliminary cooperation intention.

Since this period of time, Baichuan Electric has been able to go so smoothly to today.

With the first Quanyin, one of the six chaebols, standing in front of him, he can avoid coveting and temptation.

Now that the time has come, let's simply take this step and complete a more gorgeous transformation.

"Everyone, now let's talk about the valuation and financing of Baichuan Electric."

Under the expectant and eager eyes of everyone on both sides, Bai Chuanfeng finally announced the official start of the meeting.

They have been waiting for today for a long time. They see the business situation of Baichuan Electric, and they are greedy in their hearts.

Now it's finally the day for financing and listing, and a carnival for harvesting the stock market is about to begin.

From financing to listing, and stock issuance, there are too many benefits.

In particular, First Quanyin and Nomura Securities, operating a company to go public, can gain benefits that are worth the annual income of many companies.

At this time, Bai Chuanfeng announced the start of the meeting, and both sides became excited.

However, the first person who got up to speak was Arai Yu who was sitting next to Bai Chuanfeng.