Wang Zijun took the magazine in Li Jinghao's hand and opened the article according to the catalog, but it was Intel Corporation that developed the latest model of microprocessor 8080.

For people of this era, this article may just be another step forward in electronic technology, but Wang Zijun saw a golden mountain in front of him - this microprocessor with only eight bits heralded the birth of the first personal computer. (To be precise, it was the first personal computer with a keyboard, monitor, and CPU, and it was also the prototype of the personal computer of later generations.) Prior to this, other microcomputers had been developed, but due to various problems, they could not be put on the market on a large scale.)

Wang Zijun didn't know much about electronics, so it was impossible to know the news. But he has watched "The Biography of Bill Gates" and is very impressed by this computer. It can be said that the birth of Microsoft must be traced back to this microprocessor.

Flipping through this article, Wang Zijun laughed while reading it, and Li Jinghao laughed inexplicably.

The reason why Wang Zijun laughed was that he finally remembered that after he made a fortune by speculating in futures last year, he took advantage of the downturn in the stock market to buy shares of major companies at low prices everywhere.

In addition to stakes in several later well-known companies, he also invested in a computer company called Micro Instrument Telemetry Systems. At that time, when the capital was injected, I only felt that the name of this company was somewhat familiar, so I thought that this company was likely to be a large company in the future. I had a general understanding of its basic situation, and knew that this was the first calculator company in the United States (it was a calculation, subtraction, multiplication and division calculator, not a computer), and it was on the verge of bankruptcy, so I did not hesitate to take out a sum of money and get 65 shares of the company.

It wasn't until today that he saw the article in this magazine that Wang Zijun finally remembered that the company that was about to go bankrupt was the first personal computer research and development company in the United States, and the boss of the company was the "father of the PC" Henry. Roberts. Microsoft's founder, Bill Murphy. Gates and Paul. Alan has worked for him.

This Henry. Roberts was a market savvy and not only founded the first computer company in the United States, but later developed the first personal computer in the United States. Unfortunately, this person's management ability is completely out of proportion to his vision. Many computer companies that followed the trend were doing brisk business, but his computer company was on the verge of bankruptcy; Just when the computer business could not be sustained, he gambled all his money and invested all his money in the development of the first personal computer, and the company was reborn, but only a few years later, the business could not continue again, not only did Bill Gates and Paul Allen leave, but Roberts also sold the entire company.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who worked for Roberts, founded Microsoft and became billionaires. Roberts ended up returning to his hometown and opening a small clinic for the rest of his life.

(Roberts sold the company and returned to his hometown because Bill Gates and Paul Allen sold the BASIC system privately, and Roberts took the two to court, only to lose the case.) Although Bill Gates later admitted that he did not do it properly, Roberts also had his own reasons.

At that time, Bill Gates and Paul Allen had the technology that was crucial to the rise and fall of the company, and as a manager, it was natural to not want to tie the two to the company's interests. Roberts, on the other hand, did not do it at all, and did not have the generosity of the superiors at all. He was constantly wary of other senior managers, and invited his childhood friends and investment bankers to take important positions, squeezing out Bill Gates and others, and eventually causing the loss of important personnel and technology in the company. ）

Wang Zijun didn't stop, took the magazine, and rushed to the Micro Instrument Telemetry System Company by plane early the next morning.

The founder of the company, later the father of the PC, Henry Brown. Edward. Roberts was in a state of flux, wrestling with the sales of the company's production backlog.

It wasn't difficult to produce calculators, and it was impossible for Roberts to have a patent for calculators. After he started the computer business, although the business was booming for a while, then the major semiconductor companies in the United States were red and entered the computer market one after another, which shocked Roberts's business to pieces.

"BOSS, there is a Chinese outside who wants to see you." The secretary knocked on the office door and walked in.

Chinese?

Roberts suddenly remembered the mysterious Chinese who emerged after the oil crisis last year, when the company was in trouble and had already made two layoffs to reduce expenses. Then a Chinese suddenly came to the door and asked him if he wanted to invest, Roberts didn't think about it, and directly agreed. ,

At this time, not to mention the capital injection, Roberts would have liked someone to buy the whole company - but unfortunately no one would be stupid enough to buy this broken company that had no market, no technological advantages, and was on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Invite him in" Roberts was speculating in his heart about the purpose of this Chinese coming to the company today, did he want to withdraw and break up?

When Wang Zijun walked into his office, Roberts suddenly discovered that this mysterious shareholder was actually an Asian director who was full of scandals a while ago.

"Hello husband," Roberts stood up and shook hands with Wang Zijun.

"Hello." Wang Zijun smiled, "How is the company's performance?" ”

Roberts' face turned red and he said embarrassedly: "There is no progress. After the oil crisis, many businesses went out of business, the market for calculators continued to shrink, and the crowding out of several large companies made it increasingly difficult to do business. I think it's time to think about shutting down the company. I'm sorry to waste your investment. ”

"No, Roberts, don't be discouraged, look at this." Wang Zijun took out the "Popular Electronics" in his hand.

Microcomputers were available three years ago, and now suitable microprocessors have also been developed by Intel Corporation, Wang Zijun casually registered a company, recruited some professional personnel, and added some of his own knowledge of later generations of computers, he can develop personal computers. But Wang Zijun still found Roberts because he took a fancy to Roberts' innovation ability.

As for the future operation and management of the company, it is better to change another person when the time is right, and let Roberts be in charge of research and development. As for Bill Gates, this is definitely a cunning fox, and Wang Zijun will not be as stupid as Roberts in history. As long as it is software made by Bill Gates, Wang Zijun would rather pay an extra patent fee, but also keep it all in his own hands, so as not to be stabbed in the back in the end.

"Intel 8080?" When Roberts saw the article, a light flashed in his head, and he thought of something, but he couldn't catch it.

Wang Zijun grabbed the pen and paper on his desk, drew a drawing of the outline of a later 286 computer, and then pushed it in front of Roberts.

"What is this...... Oh" Roberts exclaimed violently, and then linked to the article in Popular Electronics, and immediately understood what Wang Zijun meant.

Historically, Roberts also came up with the idea of developing a personal computer after reading this article.

Wang Zijun asked, "Does Roberts's husband have any ideas?" ”。

"Husband, you're a genius," Roberts stood up excitedly.

Wang Zijun said: "Immediately stop the company's computer business, and all the inventory in the warehouse will be processed at half price to the seller, and the company will focus on developing personal computers." Don't worry about funding, I'll inject another $1 million in. Rest assured, I will not use this money to dilute your shares, this $1 million is purely a friendly investment, but you need to be responsible for the specific research and development work, I think the fruits of your labor are far greater than this 1 million. So, in fact, I took advantage of it. ”

Although Roberts is a person with some ego, he is also very self-willed, otherwise he would not have lost a lawsuit, sold MITS in frustration, which was still the largest personal computer company in the world at the time, and ran back to his hometown to open a small clinic. He was very aware of the prospects of the personal computer market, and was originally a little worried that Wang Zijun would eat his interests in the company, but when he saw that Wang Zijun directly sent 1 million US dollars, he immediately swallowed his worries back into his stomach.

"Husband, you are a trustworthy partner." Roberts Road.

"Just call me king." Wang Zijun smiled and held up the coffee brought by the secretary and said, "I wish us success." ”

"I wish us success," Roberts said with a laugh.

Wang Zijun knows nothing about the research and development of computers, but he has used computers for a long time, and even with the help of friends, he has assembled many of them by himself, so his understanding of the structure and function of personal computers is at least 20 years ahead of this era. The rest of the day, he talks about his vision for the personal computer of the future, making Roberts feel like he's listening to science fiction.

In the era when BASIC has not been developed, you tell a person that the plague is to death, isn't this a fantasy?

Although Roberts sensed that his partner was speaking in a somewhat incoherent tone, he was impressed by many of the new ideas. Judging from his professional knowledge, some of Wang Zijun's ideas are completely achievable, but it only needs the hardware to keep up.

Now the most advanced microprocessor is only eight bits, can you get me a plague to the death window to take a look?

Roberts was afraid that he would forget, so he recorded all Wang Zijun's thoughts, and then slowly picked out what he thought was useful. At least, the outline drawing of the personal computer drawn by Wang Zijun made Roberts find it very interesting and very operable.

When leaving, Wang Zijun asked, "How long will it take to get results?" ”

Roberts thought for a moment and said, "Half a year at most, if we're lucky, maybe we can succeed in a month." ”

"I've always had good luck." Wang Zijun smiled, "Don't forget my English name, God's favorite." ”

"Yes. You have an incredible scientific imagination, and I thought you were a fantasy scientist when we were chatting just now. When you think about it, your profession is directing. Roberts exclaimed.

Wang Zijun happily got on the plane back to Los Angeles, and couldn't wait to shout in his heart: "What IBM, what Microsoft, what Apple, to hell with it"

327 [To hell with IBM and Microsoft, go to the website.]