The last period of 1866 passed like this, and in the blink of an eye it was Christmas. This year's Christmas is definitely one of the most beautiful since Christmas. In the past few months, although only the most prosperous and wealthy areas of New York have had time to be electrified, the whole city is still much brighter than when gas lamps were used before, especially in Manhattan, where the bright lights almost illuminate the sky, and according to some people who run boats on the sea, even if they are sixty nautical miles away, they can know the direction of Manhattan through the illuminated sky.

This Christmas, Scrooge gave every church in New York a Christmas tree and a donation of varying amounts to buy communion for the poor on Christmas Eve, as well as candy for children, all of which are in the most beautiful colors and look as beautiful as gems (don't ask me what I use to dye the color, I don't know, but I can assure you that if you eat a few, there will be no death on the spot), and there is a beautiful candy wrapper wrapped in it, candy paper often has a cute little animal drawn on it.

In front of the famous Trinity Church in Manhattan, an extra-tall Christmas tree was erected, which was a forty-meter-high tree that Scrooge specially asked people to find from the forests of Maine, and it took a lot of effort to get this tree from Maine to Manhattan, but considering the advertising effect it can have, Scrooge feels that the price is definitely worth it.

At the top of this large Christmas tree, a high-power electric lamp of one kilowatt, the brightest at the time, was installed. This is the latest product of MacDonald Appliances, the world's first bulb to use a tungsten filament and be inert gas shielded. When this light bulb was lit, the entire small square in front of Trinity Church was illuminated.

In addition to this large lamp, this spectacular Christmas tree is also covered with thousands of light bulbs of all kinds. It's like pulling the stars out of the sky and onto the ground.

And in the areas where there is no time to pull the cords and install electric lights, Christmas trees of various sizes have been erected in front of churches, and some small electric lights have been hung on them, which can be lit overnight with the help of batteries, so that they can feel the benefits of electric lights in advance. It's also an advertisement for the rest of the residents, because starting next year, the electricity will gradually spread to the rest of New York City.

……

In January 1867, the telephone was shown to the outside of the Dashi Yàn Room, in February the MacDonald Telephone Company began to operate in New York, and in March, the medium-wave radio appeared and the American Radio Broadcasting Company was listed in New York.

"Broadcasting is a whole new media model. It is very important for our future. At a closed-door meeting of the MacDonald consortium, Scrooge said this to everyone.

"First of all, radio is much more interesting than traditional newspapers. In addition to providing news, we can also offer a wide variety of entertainment. "Think about it, when you need to know the latest news, turn on the radio and tune into the news channel, and you can hear the latest news right away, as opposed to waiting until a new page is printed the next morning, as is the case with newspapers." Well, you know how important it is to get a few hours ahead of the information. "And, if you need to relax, you can also listen to everything from burlesque to all sorts of popular classics on the corresponding channels." We can even arrange to read novels, poems and the like for you at a special time. Of course, there are ads to be inserted. ”

"Well, that's interesting." Catherine said, "Does that mean that no one will read the paper?" After all, radio is intimate, timely, and much more entertaining than newspapers. Isn't a newspaper just a way for people to learn about social news and leisure pastime? Now that there is radio, the newspapers are afraid to ...... By the way, how much does this thing cost? ”

"A month ago, I mentioned to you that we had successfully manufactured a vacuum tube in the Dashi yàn room. Do you remember? Scrooge said.

"Is it just one of those little three-legged light bulbs that aren't too bright?" Carol smiled and said, "You mentioned it to us. But Catherine and I didn't understand what you told me. ”

"To be honest, I didn't understand it much at the time." Rockefeller also laughed.

"Didn't understand too much? John, then you sue me, which of the nonsense Scrooge talked about at that time, which one do you understand? "Carol knew Rockefeller well, so he would often joke with him.

"I just understand that with this thing, the performance of radio equipment can be improved by a fraction." Rockefeller said, "It can also be easily used by people who don't know anything about radio." Very good for promotion. Well, Scrooge, how much does a radio — you named it that — cost these days? ”

"The cost, if you don't count the cost we put into the development of the tubes, can range from eight dollars to a hundred dollars, depending on the grade." Scrooge said.

"Different grades? What are the levels? Catherine said.

"There are four types: fashionable, noble, luxury, and limited flagship." Dorothea replied that she was now directly responsible for the radio.

"What's the difference between this mess?" Carol asked.

"The fashionable version, with the most ordinary paper cone horn, can only use AC power. In addition, the gain amplitude of the antenna is also the most average. The cost of production is eight dollars, and the estimated selling price is eight and a half dollars. ”

"So cheap? Considering the cost of the sale itself, it's hardly profitable. Catherine asked.

"I didn't plan to make money from it, what makes money lies in the advertising revenue of other models and programs, and it is easier to promote quickly at a low price." Dorothea replied.

"And what about the others?" Rockefeller asked.

"The premium type has two speakers, which are used to express the treble and bass respectively, and the effect will be better when listening to music. The cost is about eleven dollars, and the estimated price is twenty dollars. The Deluxe has three speakers, corresponding to the three high, medium and low segments, and the gain antenna performance is better, and it uses more tubes, and it can also be battery powered, and the cost is about fifteen dollars, and the scheduled sales price is fifty dollars. As for the flagship limited edition, in fact, it is not too different from the deluxe version in terms of design, but the exterior decoration is more luxurious, in addition, the internal wiring is all silver wires, and the sockets of all wires are gold-plated. The horns used are also selected, as if the bass paper cone is made of some kind of cashmere. It is said that because the silver wire has the least resistance, and the gold-plated interface will never cause a bad signal due to rust. Some people say that this kind of design makes the sound extremely perfect, but to be honest, I don't hear any difference in the figure at all. In addition, this thing also comes with a gramophone function, and the exterior decoration is also more beautiful. The cost is around a hundred dollars, and the estimated sales price is around five thousand dollars. Dorothea said.

"Five thousand dollars? Will anyone buy it? Carol asked.

"Yes." Catherine smiled, "It's like a thoroughbred, there are some luxury goods, if the price is low, there may really be no one to buy it." ”

"Well, a dollar for a dollar, ten dollars for five dollars, a thousand dollars for fifty dollars. That's what sales is all about. "Also, Dorothea, the last model is listed separately, don't call it the flagship version, give it a separate trademark, as a special brand for luxury products." Under this brand, it is not allowed to store any low-priced products. ”

Luxury goods are like this, the people who buy them are not for practicality at all, but almost exclusively for the so-called "forced qualifications", so the brand of luxury goods must not appear cheap, which is even more fatal than the appearance of quality problems.

For example, the famous supercar Pagani, which is known to be all handmade and carved with exquisite patterns on every screw, has also had low-level problems such as the door not being able to close, but this still does not affect its status as an artifact. On the contrary, Parker, who used to specialize in the manufacture of high-end gold pens, once launched the so-called one-dollar ballpoint pen because of the hot eyes of the low-end market, and even more stupidly, in order to meet the desire of the dicks to have "Parker", on such a cheap ballpoint pen, they actually used the Parker trademark, and the result was self-destructive, and the poor dick did not buy it (buy a dollar a pen, who would particularly care if this thing can be used to pretend?). And what about the rich and handsome? It is also resolutely unbearable that the brand you use can be bought for a dollar. As a result, Pike was not human inside and out, and if he hadn't changed his course quickly, he would have almost been finished.

"Okay, I got it." Dorothea said, "Or maybe it's called 'Apollo.'" The legendary god of music. ”

"Today, there is no systematic regulation for the use of radio frequencies. However, technically, the best bands are quite limited. So, we have to take these bands first. The power of radio as a new medium will become more and more evident in the future. Society will not allow all broadcasts to be under our direct control, so we must also be prepared for a rainy day. I intend for Mr. Gardner to exert his influence and lobby Congress to say that in order to avoid interference between wireless telegraphies, let them pass a bill on the allocation of radio frequency bands. Then we started to occupy the most critical frequency bands as early as possible......"