Video Game Empire

The August issue of Computer Enthusiast magazine.

"Half a month ago, the author received an invitation from Aikon Computer Company for a personal computer campus exhibition. The venue of this event was Pasadena High School, which is not far from the author's residence, so the author decided with a relaxed mood. Go check it out!

…

The new ABC computer launched by Ikon is by no means an epoch-making invention. At least in my opinion, it is just a British copy of the Apple II computer. In my opinion, none of the technical highlights of the new computer that Ikon is emphasizing is anything new.

For example, in the propaganda of Aikang Computer, it is believed that the dual-CPU design can greatly improve the computing performance of the computer. This is already a bad thing in the United States. Which Apple has not installed a Z80 card? The Z80 processor on the Z80 card is actually a second CPU.

Another example is Aikang Computer's networking solution designed for school computer teaching in the on-site teaching class of the exhibition. It is said that this kind of local area network technology was invented by Aikang Company, a researcher who studied for a Ph.D. in Cambridge University, and the founder and inventor officially named it Cambridge Ring.

But in fact, this kind of local area network is not something unique. There are dozens of similar technologies in the United States. Among them, the more famous ones are the MCA network of Data General Corporation, the Hyperchannel network of Network Systems Corporation, and the invention of Xerox Palo Alto Research Institute. Ethernet. The first edition of the Blue Book of Open Technology Standards for Ethernet is being developed jointly by Intel, DEC and Xerox.

…”

After attending the exhibition held by Ikon Company at Pasadena High School, Thomas went home with some excitement and spent two days writing a special article introducing the event.

Of course, as a proud American, Thomas is absolutely reluctant to admit that John Bull's technology will be more advanced than the world's number one power, the United States. So he started by declaring that ABC, a new computer from a British company, was technically worthless.

However, this "but" is very important, and Thomas has to admit that the British guys have really made a very good product this time, he continued to write in the article.

"…

At that time, we invented the Z80 card because Apple's Apple computers were not compatible with the CP/M operating system. In order to allow many PC/M software to run on Apple computers, the Z80 conversion card was created.

But that is only a passive compromise, and the reason why the conversion card uses the Z80 processor instead of the MOS6502 processor is to reduce costs, at the expense of some performance.

In the dual CPU mode of the ABC computer, although the principle and function of the second processor are similar to those of the Z80 card, it is the company's own East-DOS operating system in order to improve the performance of the ABC computer and run it better on the computer. And a variety of application software, innovative design of the initiative.

…

Speaking of the local area network system, Aikang's technology is not much stronger than the similar technology of other American companies, but they are the first company to apply it to the computer networking.

Although the performance of a microcomputer called a personal computer is far inferior to that of a minicomputer, the high price of the minicomputer and the expensive after-sales maintenance cost are beyond the reach of most small and medium-sized enterprises. In contrast, minicomputers have the advantage of being cheap. .

In the author's opinion, Aikang is keenly aware of this opportunity. The campus computer networking teaching solution they launched this time is just a test of the water. The business office field is broader than the school market.

This can also be seen from the software catalog provided by Ikon, which shows the company's huge ambitions. Their software supply catalog includes word processing software East-Word, form processing software East-Table, and database software East-DBASE. Regarding the functional evaluation of these three software, the author will write another analysis article in the next issue…”

Thomas wrote a great deal about Ikon and its ABC computer in the August issue of Computer Enthusiast. Although he is somewhat disapproving of a series of new technologies of ABC Computer, the overall evaluation of ABC Computer is still positive.

Li Xuan has not seen the column editor's article on "Computer Enthusiasts", but Thomas' evaluation is actually more pertinent. ABC Computer is actually a hasty work. In the original plan of Dongfang Electronics, the first personal computer product will be a 32-bit computer with the ERM architecture processor as the core being developed by Zhao Weiming's team of Dongfang Semiconductor Laboratory.

But even if the research and development of the ERM processor is progressing smoothly, the new computer will not come out until the second half of next year at the earliest, and IBM's PC, which will change the era of personal computers, will be available in October next year, if nothing else. The ERM computer, which has just been listed soon, will start a tragic battle with IBM's PC.

Who is the most powerful computer company in the world? IBM deserves it! The reason why IBM has been developing slowly in recent years is not only because of the bloated internal organization, superfluous personnel, and the prevalence of bureaucracy, but also because the U.S. Department of Justice has been staring at it and brought antitrust lawsuits against it in recent years. Let IBM's business style become cautious, the expansion action has become constrained.

But the Justice Department's antitrust investigation is drawing to a close, and IBM will soon be able to take off the yoke on its head. Next year, Dongfang Electronics' ERM computer may be a few months earlier than IBM's PC. However, it wants to directly confront the blue giant IBM, which is not stable. Although Li Xuan, as a reborn person, knows the data of the PC like the back of his hand, he does not dare to say that he has a 100% chance of winning. After all, IBM's influence in the United States is too great.

This is why Dongfang Electronics acquired the British company Aikon, based on the Atom computer of Aikang, combined with the achievements of the Hong Kong R&D department, UUkanshu www.uukanshu.com.cn com launched the ABC computer with the 6502 processor as the CPU, and began to enter the market a year earlier. If Dongfang Electronics can seize this year and lay a solid foundation in the personal computer market, it will be much less pressured to compete with IBM next year.

In the current personal computer market, it is the time when Apple dominates. Thirty years later, Apple is indeed qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with IBM, but in 1980, Apple was just an emerging company that was only three or four years old.

Li Xuan may be afraid of IBM's hidden influence under the water, but he doesn't have much pressure on Apple's competition. Apple II computer can be said to be the first peak of Apple's career, and the subsequent Apple III and Lisa machines were relatively unsuccessful works.

It wasn't until the Macintosh computer launched in 1984 that Apple regained its success, but at that time Apple could no longer match the limelight of the Apple II era. After that, Apple entered a long period of recession, until Boss Qiao returned to Apple and turned into a comeback of Huali.

Aikang's ABC computer, like Apple's Apple computer, uses the 6502 processor. Li Xuan never thought about defeating his opponent in hardware from the very beginning, but will work on other aspects.

For example, in the rapidly expanding educational computer market of Apple, Li Xuan ingeniously adopted the new technology of local area network, which enables computer classrooms to be connected to the Internet, making the teaching of computer teachers easier. The products Li Xuan sells are no longer just a single computer, but a set of systematic teaching solutions, which is undoubtedly a fatal attraction to school customers.