Eric remembered what Elizabeth whispered to him yesterday, and he didn't intend to explain too much, and said with a final word: "Next year, Seagate will probably be able to launch a 2G-capacity micro hard drive. At that time, we can appropriately increase the sales of different models of Fireflyer according to the capacity. Now, and in the future, the bottom line of $299 cannot be changed.”
Victor McNairy and others saw that Eric frowned slightly, and his expression was a bit more unquestionable than before, and they were very tactful and stopped arguing.
After breakfast, everyone went to visit the latest multi-touch capacitive screen laboratory set up by Firefly Electronics, which was set up after Firefly Electronics acquired a small capacitive screen research and development company in recent months. Compared with the current mainstream resistive screen, capacitive screen undoubtedly has more advantages, and this kind of screen has also been proved to be the mainstream technology of future handheld mobile devices.
Similar to 3D and IMAX in the film industry, whether it is capacitive screen or multi-touch technology, it has been around for many years, but there has been no matching mainstream electronic products, so the development is slow. Eric believes that as soon as the planned Yahoopad tablet computer is launched, capacitive screens supporting multi-touch will soon become the mainstream of touch screens. At this time, if the layout is in advance, Firefly Electronics can also gain more advantages in terms of technology patents.
It was approaching noon, and there were only three hours left before the afternoon press conference. More and more guests who planned to attend the conference began to gather at the Marriott Hotel.
Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos arrived in San Francisco in the morning. After three rounds of capital injection, Firefly Investment already owns 30% of Amazon's shares. Under the operation of Jeff Bezos, Amazon has also developed extremely rapidly in recent years. Although it has not completely occupied the dominance of online book sales, Jeff Bezos can't wait to start Amazon towards a comprehensive The direction of online retailers, Fireflyer's online sales is Amazon's first attempt to expand its business.
In order to show his importance to Amazon, Eric deliberately took time to have lunch with Jeff Bezos at noon, while discussing Amazon's next development direction.
After selling a 30% stake to Firefly, in order to avoid losing control, Jeff Bezos does not intend to continue to raise funds from Firefly Investment Company, and began preparations for an IPO. Eric also has no eager intention to acquire more shares in Amazon. After all, Amazon's development process has not been so smooth, and there are still many opportunities for Firefly to invest in the future.
The two were sitting in the restaurant of the Marriott Hotel, eating and chatting. Bill Olsen, the president of Firefly Electronics, suddenly walked into the restaurant in a hurry and walked directly towards Eric.
Bill Olsen nodded to Jeff Bezos without any hesitation, and said to Eric with some eagerness: "Eric, Celine Dion's agent, Renee Angeli, just called Called, he said Celine Dion can't just come to the press conference tonight."
Eric turned his thoughts around and basically understood what happened.
The release of Fireflyer, among the five traditional record companies, is undoubtedly Sony, which produces a variety of mainstream portable music player devices at the same time. Celine Dion, who happens to be a singer under Sony Records.
Although Celine Dion's voice can be called heavenly, her personal musical style is very single. Without the birth of "My Heart Will Go On", it would be difficult for Celine Dion to become a first-line superstar in the music industry . Therefore, before "Titanic", Celine Dion could only be regarded as a second-tier singer under Sony Records. Although after the release of "My Heart Will Go On", Celine Dion's status has risen, but she is bound by the contract. It is impossible to obtain the degree of freedom of superstars such as Michael Jackson and Madonna.
Apparently, this time it was Sony Records that was pressuring Celine Dion to not attend the Fireflyer product launch.
Eric just didn't expect that Sony would be so bad that it would choose only two hours before the press conference to put pressure on Celine Dion.
Before he could say anything, Bill Olson's cell phone rang again.
Bill Olson didn't answer, but handed it directly to Eric, saying: "Ms. Dion just said that she wanted to apologize to you personally."
The man behind this incident was Sony. Although Eric was angry, he would not lose his temper to Celine Dion. He connected the phone and chatted with the other party.
Celine Dion is very aware of the importance of "My Heart Will Go On" in promoting her career development, so she also spoke respectfully to Eric on the phone, expressing her apologies and cryptically explaining her difficulties.
After chatting for a few words, Eric hung up the phone. At this time, Chris, Victor McNairy and others who heard the news also appeared in the restaurant.
Since this press conference will also announce the release of the original soundtrack album of "Titanic" to the Yahoo music store, Celine Dion can be said to be the most important performer tonight, and Bill Olsen also deliberately placed her near the press conference. Appears at the end and announces the official release of the Titanic soundtrack album on behalf of the Yahoo Music Store.
After a quick chat, they left the restaurant together and went to a conference room specially prepared for Firefly Electronics in the Marriott Hotel to discuss countermeasures.
Bill Olsen looked at the crowd and said, "It's definitely too late to discuss with Madonna now, but it's not too difficult to get the Backstreet Boys to praise one more song, but let them go on stage, and the next link will be It's going to be messed up."
In the afternoon, there were originally three scheduled honorees. Madonna Ciccone, The Backstreet Boys and Celine Dion.
Naturally, Madonna will not be bound by Celine Dion. In addition, she has publicly expressed her intention to cooperate with Yahoo Music Store, so after receiving the invitation, she readily agreed. The Backstreet Boys are the pillars of Firefly Records, and Firefly Electronics' press conference will naturally not leave them behind. Celine Dion was also confirmed early, but no one expected that she would be pressured by Sony at the last moment to give up this performance.
Everyone has seen the preview of the press conference last night, so it is clear that if someone is temporarily replaced, the details of the announcement of the "Titanic" soundtrack album landing on the Yahoo music store will have to be changed a lot.
After discussing for a while, Chris suddenly looked at Eric and said, "Eric, since Celine Dion can't be on stage, you can come in person. You are the songwriter of "My Heart Will Go On", and you have watched it again. There should be no problem with the rehearsal of the press conference last night."
After Chris finished speaking, before Eric had time to shake his head, everyone booed excitedly together: "Yes, Eric, you come in person. Your coffee position is much higher than Celine Dion."
In fact, during the conception stage of the product launch, Bill Olson hoped that Eric could give a speech on stage, but Eric refused. At this time, Chris suddenly proposed that they were naturally very excited. As the soul of the firefly system, the series of halos around Eric's body are destined to make his influence in the media far more than Celine Dion's performance as long as he is on stage.
Eric stretched out his hand to suppress the chattering crowd, and smiled helplessly: "You won't let me go up and sing "My Heart Will Eternal", is it plausible?"
Bill Olson said: "Of course not, Eric, you can say whatever you want, do whatever you want, and then help announce the release of the digital album "My Heart Will Go On"."
Victor McNairy, who has never been very good at words, echoed excitedly at this time: "Yes, yes, that's it."
Ian Grenier also smiled and played the emotional card: "Eric, I don't think you would want this press conference to be messed up, right? Moreover, this is your responsibility in the first place, and the entire Firefly is yours." .”
Facing everyone's earnest eyes, Eric hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly, and said, "Okay, then, let's discuss now, what should I say then."
Bill Olson shook his head and smiled: "Oh, Eric, this is your business, we won't participate, I should go to meet the guests attending the meeting."
Victor McNairy simply stood up: "Well, the vice president of Best Buy is still waiting for me downstairs."
"Haha, Jeff just said he wanted me to discuss Amazon's advertising on Yahoo, so I'll go down first."
Watching Bill Olson, Victor McNairy, and Ian Grenier leave the conference room, Eric turned to Chris.
Chris smiled and spread his hands: "I haven't thought of an excuse yet."
"Forget it, I can play freely at that time, even if I screw up, no one dares to say anything to me, the boss." Eric shrugged bluntly and asked about other things: "You and Emily How are your wedding preparations going?"
Hearing Eric bring up this topic, Chris had a bitter face: "It's still the same, my father and her parents are much more enthusiastic than us."
Eric looked at Chris, and he could almost imagine the three elders chasing Chris and Emily who were busy at work to discuss the details of the wedding, and joked with a smile: "I will also go to New York to stay for a while. Two weeks, maybe I can help you with ideas."
"Don't make any more trouble." Chris shook his head and asked curiously, "Two weeks, besides Kevin and Xia Xia's birthday, do you have anything else to do?"
Eric nodded and said: "Avi Arad and the others have already made a preliminary plan for the establishment of Marvel Pictures, and I need to confirm it myself."
Chris occasionally heard Eric mention the huge plan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He had too many things to pay attention to, but he didn't express much interest in it. The two chatted casually for a few words before leaving the meeting room together.
After twelve o'clock, more than half of the guests had already gathered in the grand banquet hall of the Marriott Hotel, and the rest of the guests were arriving one after another.
Eric studied the specific plan of the press conference before the battle, and then devoted himself to the activities of welcoming the guests.
Media reporters from all walks of life naturally don't need Eric to entertain them in person, but those tech giants in the IT industry still need him to say hello in person.
As time approaches, Bill Gates of Microsoft, John Chambers of Cisco, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Jill Amelio, the newly appointed CEO of Apple, and other IT industry executives And high-level executives from partners such as Seagate and Best Buy have appeared one after another, and even Warren Buffett has rushed over from Omaha. In addition to these giants in the technology or investment industry, there was no shortage of entertainment industry stars who were invited to join in the show. Katzenberg also rushed to the Marriott Hotel in person an hour before the press conference.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, all the guests had gathered in the banquet hall, and the lights in other parts of the venue were dimmed, leaving only a few beams of light gathered on the stage.
As the CEO of Firefly Electronics, Victor McNairy first stepped onto the stage, announced the start of the press conference, and gave a brief speech to all the guests present.
In Eric's original suggestion, he didn't want this press conference to be too lengthy. Therefore, with the addition of several interactive performances, the entire press conference is expected to be only one and a half hours, mainly including Fireflyer's configuration and function display, The introduction of Yahoo Music Store and the introduction of sales methods and channels are three links.
Bill Olsen prepared for this product launch for two full months, so everything was in order. As Bill Olsen and others announced detailed information on Fireflyer and Yahoo Music Store, the scene The guests applauded and cheered frequently, and the flashes of the cameras in the hands of media reporters never stopped. During this period, countless media have exposed a lot of information about Fireflyer, but the official final news undoubtedly has the greatest news value.
When Amazon President Jeff Bezos came to the stage to introduce the news of the establishment of Amazon Fireflyer, Bill Olsen, who was the host himself, came to the stage again amidst the applause, holding a chair in his hand.
The atmosphere at the press conference has been quite active, and Bill Olson's strange move easily aroused a burst of light laughter from the guests present.
Bill Olsen put the chair down and patted the back of the chair in a serious manner, but he didn't sit down as expected by everyone present. He just raised the microphone in his hand and said with a smile: "This chair is not for I prepared it myself, and guess who will sit here."
If the president of Firefly Electronics could move the chair himself, naturally there were not many people in the banquet hall.
Someone yelled out quickly.
"Eric Williams!"
"Eric Williams!"
"Eric Williams!"
As the voice became louder, Bill Olsen stopped being a joke, raised the microphone in his hand and said, "Then, please welcome Mr. Eric Williams together."
Amid the warm applause and cheers, Eric walked to the stage from the side steps. (To be continued.)