Seattle, in a villa on Mercer Island in the center of Lake Washington.
Seeing Alice Ferguson almost staggering downstairs, Zoe Parks and Isabel Dunn almost wanted to laugh, with some inexplicable envy in their emotions.
The housekeeper, who was no longer a housekeeper, glared at the two women and walked to the restaurant by herself. At the same time, she once again hated a certain guy.
Anyway, I will never give in.
Today is Tuesday, January 12th.
Simon came to Seattle as a major shareholder to attend a high-level meeting of Microsoft, mainly to discuss the issue of pre-installing Windows system on IE browser.
The matter with the housekeeper actually started with some arguments.
In the past week, Ypay, Ypay's online payment tool, has successively authorized the payment interface applications of six online business websites, many of which are merchants that directly or indirectly compete with Amazon.
This was naturally opposed by the housekeeper, who believed that Simon was marrying someone else.
Simon didn't have the intention to talk too much with the housekeeper, so the dispute turned into a direct 'physical conflict' last night. Not only that, after waking up in the morning, the housekeeper was forcibly confronted again, so there was a What Yi and Isabel saw.
After a while, Simon followed downstairs, looking as energetic as he could after some exercise.
When I came to the restaurant, I sat down under the awe-filled eyes of the two maids and started eating breakfast.
It was already nine o'clock. Zoe and Isabel had already had breakfast. They made arrangements for them and quietly exited the restaurant.
Simon took a sip of milk, picked up the cutlery again and cut the omelette, and finally said to the housekeeper: "The issuance of consumption point cards can be terminated. You should go back and discuss this matter with Jeff and the others."
In order to encourage Internet users to try online consumption, Igret issued consumption point cards similar to prepaid phone cards.
For a $10 point card, the cost that Ygritte needs to bear is no less than $2.
In the early days of the development of Yigrit, there was nothing. Now, the explosion of the Internet has begun to accelerate, and the growth of e-commerce will also accelerate significantly. Moreover, Yigrit has opened up the online payment channels of several major banks in the United States, and users have also It is increasingly acceptable to make online purchases directly by binding a credit card. Continuing to issue point cards will not be worth the gain for Ygritte Company.
The housekeeper just hummed slightly to show that she was still angry.
In fact, she first raised this matter at the end of last year, but received no response.
What does it mean for a man to say this now
Can I give you a little sweet date
I am not someone who is easily bribed.
Simon didn't mind the housekeeper's pretentious coldness and continued: "There is also the ICQ instant messaging tool. This still cannot be used as a customer communication tool for Amazon. I hope it can develop into a pure instant social software. I have tried it myself. , the page instant messaging you developed is good, it must have taken advantage of ICQ’s patented technology, there is no need to bring ICQ over.”
The housekeeper hummed again.
A thought flashed through my mind: stick
Simon still didn't care and continued: "There is also the matter of Ypay's cooperation with other e-commerce websites. I remember I said more than once that the Internet industry will be very huge and no one company can fully occupy it. Moreover, at this stage, promoting the Internet To make this platform more prosperous and to be accepted by more people is more important than your impatient monopoly idea."
Even when Amazon was at its peak in its original timeline, its share of U.S. online e-commerce was actually less than 50%.
The housekeeper finally said this time: "I have never thought about monopolizing the Internet."
"But that's what you're trying to do," Simon said.
The housekeeper fell silent again.
Simon continued: "Actually, I have also thought that this is an ambition that every businessman has. However, things are not realistic at all. Especially in the early stage of the development of an industry, a monopoly is directly formed. For this monopoly company It is not a benefit. Without competition, it will stagnate, become bloated, and cause various problems. The final result will only be elimination. Compared with other companies, Amazon already has enough Resources, now there are just a few more people chasing after me. If you can’t even cope with this competition, just come back and be my bed-warmer.”
The housekeeper had already somewhat agreed with a certain guy's words, but after hearing the last sentence, she finally raised her head and glared at him fiercely.
What the hell is a bed warmer girl
Simon smiled and said: "I recommend a book to you, "A Dream of Red Mansions". Jenny likes to read it. Well, you'd better learn more Chinese."
As a former housekeeper, Alice actually knew about this.
He was still unconvinced on the surface, but he kept it in his heart, but changed the subject and said, "Will you agree to Gates's cooperation conditions for browser pre-installation?"
At yesterday’s meeting, Damen’s classmate proposed that it is not impossible for IE browser to be pre-installed with Microsoft. However, Microsoft needs to obtain the permission to adjust the corresponding functions of this browser. Not only that, Damen’s classmate also asked for direct commercial use of World Wide Web-related technologies. authorization.
The previously disclosed World Wide Web patents actually have many restrictions.
The most critical point is that other companies are not allowed to directly use World Wide Web technology to seek profits. Simply put, they are not allowed to use World Wide Web technology to develop related application software to gain profits. World Wide Web browsers, web design software, etc. are all included in this list.
Because this is the private land of Ygriet Company.
In the past year, Igret sold 23.79 million units of its $10 browser software worldwide, earning a huge profit of $230 million.
In addition, with the exponential explosion of World Wide Web sites, 760,000 units of web design software were also sold, with prices varying between individuals or companies but averaging between $300 and $500. This makes this part of the revenue easily exceed the original most profitable browser software, reaching 280 million US dollars.
For the web design-related software, the operation team of Igret also considered leasing it instead of direct one-time sale, which can ensure more long-term sustainable income. However, considering that Oracle directly subverted the monopoly of database software by traditional IT vendors such as IBM through the one-time sale of software, Simon ultimately chose to sell directly.
Therefore, whether it is browser software or web design software, it will largely be a one-time benefit.
However, even so, the income brought by these two simple softwares is enough for Igret to cover most of its initial development budget.
The financial information of Yigrit in 1992 is still being compiled, but due to another explosion in software sales, Yigrit's losses this year have also been significantly reduced, and may ultimately only be tens of millions of dollars.
Moreover, this loss was deliberately caused by the Yigret operation team.
Simon isn't as prematurely profitable as Eagle, and Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz don't lack this kind of foresight either.
Not only that, according to the loss deduction provisions in the U.S. tax law, current losses can be converted into income tax deductions in the next 15 years.
In the original timeline, Amazon used this method to make its annual net profits of tens of billions of dollars. Not only did it not need to pay taxes, but it could also receive a part of the tax rebate from the federal government, ultimately forming a rare "negative tax rate" phenomenon for federal enterprises. .
If factors such as inflation are taken into account, it is not cost-effective to use current losses to offset future profits.
But considering other aspects, the current investment will actually be transformed into the accumulation of strength and advantages of Yigrit Company in the Internet industry. In the long run, this is very cost-effective.
Inside the restaurant at this time.
Hearing the housekeeper's question, Simon quickly shook his head and said: "I plan to ask Jeff and the others to discuss pre-installation directly with the OEM manufacturer, and Gates will forget about it."
Alice paused and said with a hint of teasing in her tone: "You just said you don't want to monopolize the Internet?"
It is indeed somewhat contradictory to deliberately cultivate competitors of Amazon in e-commerce, but to restrict the emergence of other competitors in terms of World Wide Web technology.
Simon said: "These are two different things. I don't want to license to Microsoft, not because I am worried about competition. You have to understand that I am also Microsoft's major shareholder. Well, now, I should be the second largest shareholder. Microsoft's development can also be given to me. brings advantages."
Bill Gates and Paul Allen were originally Microsoft's first and second largest shareholders.
However, after the equity transactions in the previous two years, and Paul Allen's subsequent sale of part of his equity, his shareholding ratio in Microsoft has now dropped to 18.6%. Westeros' shareholding in Microsoft is still 21.3%, therefore, Westeros Corporation is now the second largest shareholder of Microsoft after Bill Gates.
Alice naturally knew this and asked, "Then why?"
"I just don't want the Internet standards to split," Simon said. "If more World Wide Web technologies are licensed to Gates, in order to compete with Igret, Bill may take advantage of the market advantage of the Windows system and create some other different technologies. standard, and it is very likely that it is a standard that is incompatible with Yigrit. Can you imagine if the original power system did not have a unified standard, some power grids are 110 volts, some power grids are 220 volts, and some power grids are 240 volts. How much inconvenience will it bring to users, and to what extent will it hinder the development of the electric power revolution?"
The housekeeper nodded subconsciously, but immediately retorted: "So, you are not worried that this will happen in e-commerce?"
Simon smiled and said: "Of course not. The e-commerce website has a little image, but it is more like a 'household appliance'. No matter what kind of appliance it is, it needs to adapt to the federal 110-volt voltage standard."
"But," the housekeeper hesitated this time, and said, "You allow so many 'electrical appliances' to come out to compete with Amazon. If, if I mess up, you will have to bear the responsibility."
"If there is a lack of competitors, I think you are more likely to mess up," Simon said, and then added: "And, frankly speaking, the Westeros system is now very large. I have enough chips and We are not afraid that one or two of them will fail. For example, the several e-commerce websites that have been authorized this time, most of them have venture capital from the Westeros system."
The housekeeper suddenly became depressed again.
In fact, she already understood this when he allowed Amazon and Blockbuster to sell video tapes and movie peripherals.
However, she was still a little disappointed that he didn't have such strong confidence in her.
Damn guy.
How many times.
Always talking about what will happen if you fail.
As if she was destined not to succeed.
Simon didn't pay attention to the housekeeper's little thoughts, and explained everything that needed to be explained. After lunch, the two of them left Seattle and flew to San Francisco together.
In the afternoon, he discussed changing the pre-installation ideas with the senior management of Ygritte, and stayed in San Francisco for another night before Simon returned to Los Angeles.
At the beginning of the year, Daenerys Entertainment's key movies for the next one or two years have been determined, but there are still many secondary and first-level projects that are gradually being approved.
On Wednesday morning, Simon made an appointment with Roland Emmerich and Michael Bay to discuss a movie written by Roland Emmerich called "Space Raiders."
Roland Emmerich is still busy with the later stages of "Superman". Although he has begun to wrap up, after finishing the first "Superman", he will almost immediately start preparations for the sequel, and has no time to take care of other projects.
Therefore, Simon plans to hand over the script for "Stars of the Universe" written by the director himself to Michael Bay, who just completed the Victoria's Secret show at the end of last year.
"Striders" was Roland Emmerich's famous work in Hollywood in the original timeline. It was the success of "Striders" that allowed Roland Emmerich to film his masterpiece in Hollywood "" Independence Day".
This time, if nothing else happens, Simon plans to give both opportunities to Michael Bay.
Both films, especially "Days Alone", are actually very suitable for Michael Bay's personal style.
As for Emmerich, as long as the "Superman" series can be successful, the fame it brings to the director will not be much worse than in the original timeline. Simon's plan this time is to let him serve as the producer of "Space Shock" , and next, may also be the producer of "Days of Independence".
"Space Shock" tells the story of a human archaeologist who discovers that the pyramid is actually the "Star Gate" to another world. He leads a team of soldiers to explore through the "Star Gate" and leads the humans in the other world to resist the alien race. The story of domination and return to Earth.
Overall, this is an imaginative science fiction action movie.
Sci-fi action movies happen to be the type that Michael Bay was good at in the original timeline.
After preliminary estimates, the budget of "Stargate" is US$30 million, which is slightly higher than Simon's expectations. However, for a science fiction movie, such a production budget is not too high. Simon also believes that with Michael Bay's ability , is fully capable of completing the film within a budget of $30 million.