Simon stayed on the East Coast for a week and a weekend, and returned to San Francisco on the West Coast on January 25.
Having failed to reach a cooperation agreement with Microsoft on the pre-installation of IE browser, Igret has recently been in contact with PC manufacturers such as Apple, HP, and Compaq.
Compared with the original service provider installing browser software for users, pre-installing it directly on the operating system can significantly increase the revenue of IE browser software.
Due to population restrictions, once the number of Internet access users reaches a certain scale, it is impossible to continue to grow rapidly. As a consumable product, personal computers need to be continuously updated, and sales will continue to increase in the next ten years.
Moreover, adopting the software pre-installation model can also completely consolidate the market position of IE browser software. In fact, it is a monopoly position and avoid any opportunities for competitors.
In the past, Microsoft used this strategy to defeat dozens of browser patent licensees, including Netscape.
Igret holds most of the core patents of World Wide Web technology, so it stands to reason that there is no need to worry about the monopoly of IE browser. However, we have to take precautions before it happens.
Mainly in terms of antitrust.
If the federal government launches an antitrust investigation into IE, as it did last year, Igret will likely have to license the technology.
By then, as long as the pre-installed mode of IE browser has become an established fact, even if competitors appear, the threat will not be too great.
Therefore, Igret Company attaches great importance to this plan.
"Both Apple and IBM rejected our cooperation plan. Apple believed that doing so would increase the user's purchase cost. IBM felt that since the software was to be pre-installed on the other party's machine, we should pay the other party's fees instead of There should be a charge. Several other manufacturers, such as HP, Compaq and Dell, are still continuing to negotiate and can basically reach a cooperation agreement, but they have not yet reached an agreement on the pre-installation price. I think these manufacturers should have negotiated in private Contact, and an alliance has been reached to advance and retreat together.”
In the conference room, Jeff Bezos introduced the general progress of the pre-installation plan.
Simon is actually more interested in the market advantages that the pre-installation plan brings to the IE browser software. The most important thing is to ensure that this operating software has an absolute Internet portal status. As for the revenue from software pre-installation, he originally planned to gradually promote IE browsing The free nature of the server makes this software a free 'service' of Eagle Reiter, thereby reducing the possibility of monopoly accusations. Therefore, even if the price is lowered, it doesn't matter.
Of course, it is unlikely that it will be free in the short term.
Igret is still very dependent on the IE browser, which easily earns hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue every year.
Simon is actually very resistant to this kind of dependence, but he has to admit that the income from the IE browser can not only reduce the large demand for funds from Ygrit, but also enhance the development of the Internet industry by Ygrit and even the entire new technology field. Confidence in prospects.
For emerging industries, only when they can obtain practical benefits can they attract more people to participate.
While listening to Bezos' introduction, Simon flipped through a more detailed document in his hand. After a moment, he raised his head and said, "With Apple, is there any possibility of continuing negotiations?"
Jeff Bezos shook his head and said: "I personally talked to John Sculley three times, and the other party refused. Apple's performance in recent years has been very good, and their operating system has not been widely licensed to outsiders. Not worried about competitors, so don’t want to incur the additional cost of pre-installing software.”
After the Gulf War, the U.S. stock market recovered, and the PC market grew at a rapid pace. Apple has been very successful in recent years, both in terms of capital and actual performance. Not only has its market value increased steadily, it still maintains a high level of more than 7 billion U.S. dollars, and its market share The rate is also stable at above 20%.
Moreover, unlike the Microsoft camp, Apple's Macintosh system is not licensed to external parties, so there is no compatible competitor.
John Sculley was probably convinced that Eaglet would not be able to give up the 20% of the PC market occupied by Apple, and did not want to bear the additional software procurement costs.
However, it is impossible for Yigret to give up the Apple computer market.
Otherwise, Simon would not specifically ask about the possibility of no negotiation.
However, Apple CEO John Sculley apparently forgot that although Igret cannot give up the Apple computer market, it can slow down the development progress of the Macintosh version of IE browser.
In the coming years, the Internet will only become more and more important to PC users.
If the web browser software of Apple's Macintosh operating system platform is always not as easy to use as that of Microsoft's platform, the accumulation of negative reputation over time will be enough to make Apple feel uncomfortable.
What’s more, there are pre-installed plans.
Different from Apple's confidence and IBM's arrogance, the reason why manufacturers such as HP and Compaq are willing to cooperate is obviously because they see how this plan will promote themselves.
When users access the World Wide Web, they can indeed obtain software installation from service providers, but this fee is actually clearly marked.
If there is a problem with the software in the future, or the computer needs to be replaced, the IE browser must be reinstalled, which is definitely not suitable to continue to trouble the operator.
As we all know, labor in the United States is very expensive.
For the $10 IE browser software, if someone comes to install it, the service fee may be more than this amount.
Of course, there are retail versions of the IE browser, including those sold in online software stores, but doing so will ultimately bring all kinds of inconveniences.
At this time, if a machine itself has the IE browser pre-installed, the user will unknowingly show a tendency. The machine can be used directly after purchase. If something goes wrong, you may only need to restore the factory system. This is obviously much more convenient than computers without a pre-installed browser.
Business competition is often a competition in details that is accumulated bit by bit.
If Apple is unwilling to cooperate, the only loser will be the other party itself.
Simon also didn't put much thought into stumbling his opponent. In a long-distance running competition, if a person stops and tries to trip up his competitor, it will only slow down his own progress.
As for the future.
Think about Apple's rapid decline after the release of Windows 95. If the other party wants to recover by then, it will definitely not work without paying a price.
After continuing to discuss the pre-assembly plan, this topic ended and Carol Butts proposed another project.
About a new computer operating system.
Linux.
"This is an open source operating system kernel released last year by a Finnish programmer named Linus Torvac. After it was released through the World Wide Web platform, many programmers around the world are currently voluntarily contributing to this system. Carry out subsequent development. We believe that this system is very suitable to replace the Unix system currently used in the company's data center, so we plan to set up a team to be responsible for this project."
Carol Butts only gave a general introduction. Simon had actually seen the detailed planning of this project in advance on the plane flying to San Francisco.
The data center of Yigret Company is still using the Unix system. The licensing fee of the Unix system is very expensive, and the openness of this system is still not high enough that the Yigret technical team can customize it according to their own needs. The extent to which the lowest level modifications are made.
Linux, which is completely open source and free, will undoubtedly solve this problem.
In my memory, due to its free and open source attributes, the share of Linux systems in the later server market reached over 90%.
Of course, developing an operating system is by no means an easy task.
Microsoft was founded in 1975, and it has been nearly 20 years now. The latest Windows 3.1 system still has various problems.
Simon admires Carol Bartz and others for discovering the potential value of this operating system not long after the birth of the Linux system, but if it is really put into development, it will be a protracted project.
If you want to develop a completely new operating system, you only need a technical team of one or two hundred people, and they must be top-notch software engineers.
At the same time, it is also unrealistic to expect that an operating system can be completed in one or two years.
Finally, when the project is completed, it is still not an easy task to replace the existing Unix system.
Igret's cloud computing technology is currently developed based on Unix systems.
However, no matter how many difficulties there are, Simon understands that it is absolutely correct to replace the closed and paid Unix with a free and open source Linux system.
Now that you are sure you are on the right path, no matter how much you invest in the process, it is worth it.
Everyone discussed it for more than half an hour. Although Jeff Bezos had some objections to this plan, which might occupy a lot of money and resources of Ygrit Company, he did not object, and it was quickly finalized.
It was already noon before I knew it.
Everyone had lunch together, returned to the company, and discussed some future cooperation issues between Igret and AOL through a conference call with Steve Case who was still in New York.
AOL's headquarters was originally moved to San Francisco because the company's subsequent business scale on the East Coast was much larger than that on the West Coast. Steve Case spent much more time at the New York headquarters on the East Coast than on the West Coast, and the operations team gradually tilted eastward. The West Coast headquarters is now more focused on technology research and development.
ADSL technology is to finalize the plan and complete testing on the West Coast.
After finishing his trip to Ygritte Company, Simon took the time to visit Tinker Bayer Company run by C-girl Claire Gein.
With the rise of the Internet, the demand for iCam digital cameras has been increasing.
In 1992, iCam shipments had unknowingly grown to about 50,000 units per month, with annual shipments reaching 610,000 units and sales of nearly US$300 million.
For a start-up electronic product company, this is already a pioneering work in the face of a large number of established manufacturers with strong technology entering the market.
Because it keeps up with the rapidly emerging Internet concept, Wall Street's recent valuation of iCam has reached a maximum of US$1 billion.
After another round of financing, Westeros Company's shareholding ratio in Tinco Bayer increased to 70%, and the shareholdings of the two founders were reduced from 25% to 15%.
However, based on the recent valuation of US$1 billion, just this 15% stake is worth US$150 million.
As a result, Claire Gein became another billionaire who emerged from the Westeros system. Moreover, compared to the executives of the Westeros system, the identity of Girl C is more arousing: Simon Westeros’s daughter. commission.
More and more people in the outside world know the information about the four "ABCD" girls around Simon Westeros, and they are full of all kinds of ambiguous curiosity.
The third generation iCam-30 will still be released on Easter.
At the same time, Tinker Bayer has quietly begun to develop a digital music player, and the trademark has already been registered, iPlayer.
This player will be mainly based on the MP3 audio format and micro hard drive storage technology provided by Igret.
It is also a product that appeared almost ten years in advance. However, because the relevant technologies have been accumulated for many years, there are no big obstacles to product development.
As long as USB is completed and promoted, and AOL's ADSL network is completed, digital music players can create a complete online music ecosystem.
After a day's work, Simon spent one night with the female assistant who came over quietly at a mountain villa in Woodside before returning to Los Angeles the next day.
This year's American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards will be held on Thursday, January 28.
The location is still the Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Daenerys Entertainment, which has a number of projects nominated in both film and television, was the favorite tonight as usual.
The company also started preparing for the celebration party after the Golden Globe Awards ceremony a week in advance.
Regardless of whether she wins or not, there are more than 30 nominations in film and television, which is enough for Daenerys Entertainment to celebrate lively.
Simon didn't have the heart to sit in the banquet hall of the Hilton Hotel for several hours. He still worked until six o'clock in the afternoon. He returned to Dume Point Manor and had dinner with Janet. The two of them rushed to the second floor of Daenerys Cinema in advance. activity center.
Tonight's celebration party is still being held here.
Many company executives and some celebrities who did not participate in the award ceremony came in advance. After the award ceremony, it was luckily even more lively.
The live broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards was played on the projection screen in the hall of the event center. Simon greeted Amy Pascal and others, and then discussed the plan of 'The Conjuring Universe' with Danny Morris.
"In 1980, the Warrens collaborated with a writer to publish a biography called "The Warrens, The Demonologists." At that time, they also signed an exclusive licensing agreement with the other party, and the Warrens were not allowed to share their experiences in Licensing to other people. This is the most troublesome part. We contacted the writer and they made an offer of $5 million, which was a joke. However, recently the news has spread, and now several other Hollywood studios are interested There was interest in the rights to adapt that book.”