Seeing that Shirakawa Electric and Philips are fighting hotly and can't sit still, Sony is far from the only one.

At the Okura Hotel, IBM's technology director, Robert, was on the phone with Vice President Louis.

"Mr. President, I have to remind you once again that Shirakawa Electric has joined forces with Philips to develop a standard for CD-ROM.

Soon they will submit an application to an international organization, and then the next step is the optical drive.

Yes, the optical drive, it is the one that can replace our floppy drive as the next generation of storage specifications, damn optical drive. ”

"Relax Robert, this is just a trick on the other side, the purpose is to put pressure on us to the limit.

Now it's up to who can't hold on first, but trust me, they will be the ones who bow their heads first.

Because of our influence in the field of computers, no one can replace it. ”

Apparently Louis had a different opinion than Robert, and his tone was much more relaxed at the moment.

Robert shook his head helplessly at his judgment.

"But Philips and Sony have attracted the attention of the industry.

And let's not forget that we are not the only ones who have the choice, such as HP, or Wang An Computer. ”

Louis on the other side of the phone breathed, if there was anyone worthy of IBM's fear, then these two were on the list.

Especially the latter, Wang An Computer, the other party even openly wooed Microsoft and Intel, preparing to confront IBM head-on.

Although it failed to do so for various reasons, it still brought a certain amount of pressure to IBM.

And Wang An's computer in the market step by step, also squeezed a part of IBM's business.

Although he didn't want to admit it, Louis also had to face up to the existence of Wang An's computer.

"Okay Robert, I'll take notice. But before the other person makes the next move, please wait a little longer.

I have a hunch that the other party will definitely choose us for cooperation in the computer business.

So if you have the initiative and have enough patience, they must be the ones who bow your head first. ”

"I hope so, Mr. President. I just wanted to remind you that time is running out. ”

Hanging up, Robt cursed angrily.

It's that damn set of extreme pressure again, who knows if the neon people will eat this set.

And although Philips and Sony do not make computers, they have related hardware products.

For example, Sony's floppy drive and Philips' keyboard, it is not difficult to further produce optical drives.

After all, the optical drive can be integrated with the main engine, or it can be sold separately as a component.

If this opportunity is missed, IBM will regret it.

At the office building of Shirakawa Electric in Ota Ward, Norio Oga glanced at the layout here, and the surprise in his eyes flashed.

This is the first time he has come to Shirakawa Electric, and unlike what he imagined, it is a bit simple and excessive.

Not to mention all kinds of exquisite tables and chairs, there is not even a single collection that shows off the identity.

This is a little inconsistent with the identity of the young and golden president San.

"I'm sorry Mr. Ohga-san and Mr. Simon, because the conditions are a little shabby because we will be moving soon, please don't mind."

Shirakawa Kaede seemed to know what they were surprised about, and explained with a special smile.

In a few moments, the headquarters building in Shibuya will be fully opened.

At present, only the office part of Ota City has been retained, and other areas have been gradually relocated.

So everything is simple, and Shirakawa Kaede doesn't bother to toss anything.

He shook his head and signaled that it was okay, anyway, he was just here to talk about business, not to visit.

Simon, who came all the way from Honan, looked at the calligraphy and painting on the wall with relish.

In his eyes, the mysterious oriental characters seem to be pregnant with magical magic, of course, he just doesn't know whether the legend is true or not.

Today, Sony and Philips came together at the invitation of Kaede Shirakawa.

As for what the so-called, of course, it is Shirakawa Electric's black technology CD-ROM.

After Shirakawa Kaede's set of vertical and horizontal, Sony finally put down its arrogant posture and was willing to talk to Shirakawa Electric about the specification of disc storage.

As for Philips, with IBM and Sony in front, it is not yet qualified to jump.

Waiting for everyone to sit down, Shirakawa Kaede stood at the top and looked at everyone with a smile.

"Well, gentlemen, after this period of understanding, I think everyone knows the broad prospects of CD-ROM.

So let's talk about its standardization and promotion together. ”

"In order to regulate the development of the CD industry, but also to guide other manufacturers to produce qualified CDs.

I think it is necessary to establish a unified CD-ROM standard. ”

Simon, from Philips, straightened his bow tie and expressed his opinion very reservedly.

"With our three leading standard formulation, next-generation specification research and development, and process requirement specification, I believe it will be more conducive to the development and promotion of digital optical discs."

Norio Oga felt the need to set an example for other business partners and regulate their behavior in the industry.

"Of course," Shirakawa Kaede nodded with satisfaction, "That's what we're sitting here for. ”

It's good, I can finally sit together honestly, and I don't rush to fight for the boss anymore.

Seeing that everyone had set up the plates and took the knives and forks, Shirakawa Kaede also nodded and motioned for Nakajima Heitaro to serve directly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these are the specific specifications of the CD-ROM.

From the content of the sector, the scanning speed, the data reading logic, to the physical layer standard of the disc, the manufacturing process, there are detailed descriptions. ”

This is the parameter specification that Shirakawa Electric invested a lot of manpower and material resources to finally determine.

They are already the best solutions that can be achieved under the current technical conditions.

Regarding this, both Philips and Sony have technicians to follow.

Everyone is an expert in the field, and you can probably know the authenticity of the data at a glance.

After receiving confirmation from their own technicians, both Norio Oga and Simon nodded in approval of Shirakawa's CD-ROM data.

This also means that they recognize Shirakawa Electric's leading role in the formulation of this standard.

After all, it is real data, and it has made an indelible contribution to the exploration of CD storage.

"In addition to the specifications just mentioned, we define the doubling of the disc scanning speed to 150KB/s, and the higher the scan multiplier, the better the performance of the disc.

The lower the percentage of computer processor power used to parse data at the same time, the more powerful the disc is.

The reading wavelength is the same as that of CD-DA, and a 780nm near-infrared laser is used, which can be used in some processing processes with CD-DA. ”

After distributing the materials in his hand, Heitaro Nakajima also got up as a commentator and began to explain the determination of some parameters of the CD-ROM.

For both points, Sony and Philips said they had no opinion.

This is only the most basic performance parameter determination, as for the final product is really made depends on the ability.

For example, the scanning speed, the current limit of Shirakawa Electric is 4 times the scanning speed, and it is estimated that it will be able to achieve 8 times the speed next year.

However, Sony and Philips have a technical background here, and it is estimated that they will soon be able to catch up.

With the first-mover advantage, Shirakawa Electric can ensure that it will never lag behind.

As for other friends who are not at the meeting, then wait for the standard to be announced, and then grasp the braincase to get a headache to implement the method.

That's why Kaede Shirakawa must lead the development of CD-ROM standards.

If the foundation is not as good as others, then rely on the right to speak to make up for it.

With Heitaro Nakajima going through the parameters one by one, most Sony and Philips have no opinion.

However, in terms of data error correction mechanism, Sony and Philips unanimously opposed Shirakawa's approach.

"Shirakawa-san, your company's error correction mechanism is too primitive, and the efficiency is not high enough.

Sony and Philips have a lot of experience in this area.

I would recommend that CD-ROM use a three-layer error correction mechanism instead, which is divided into three modes of order checking.

As a data storage disc, the data must be trustworthy enough to have no erroneous data.

Otherwise, this will ruin the prospects for the widespread use of CD-ROM. ”

Sony's technicians strongly recommend replacing the existing error correction mechanism.

Philips expressed the same opinion, and Shirakawa Kaede looked at Heitaro Nakajima and nodded in agreement after receiving his confirmation.

"In that case, then this part of the work will be handed over to Sony and Philips."

Both Norio Ohga and Simon nodded with satisfaction, you see, the specifications of CD-ROM Sony and Philips have also made their own contributions.

Shirakawa Kaede knew what their intention was to do this, it was nothing more than to divide the patent shares, so that everyone could be more reasonable.

However, their own technology in this area is really inferior to theirs, and now they are sitting together to discuss standards, so it is better to let them do some work.

After more than an hour of discussion, the parameters of the CD-ROM have been determined.

After all, most of the work, Shirakawa Electric has already done it.

"Okay, now let's talk about the CD-ROM patent."

Hearing this, both Norio Ohga and Simon perked up and sat up straight again.

"As for the production cost of the CD, it is roughly in the range of 8~12 cents, so I guess everyone has no opinion on this."

Shirakawa Electric has already calculated the data internally, and the factory in Chiba is also under construction, so how can the production cost not be estimated in advance.

Similarly, Sony and Philips' CD factories have started production, and although the disc formats are different, the production cost is basically the same.

Therefore, these two parties have no opinion on the cost of 8~12 cents per disc.

"Considering that the production of optical discs is relatively cheap, the patent sharing will be based on the actual factory price."

The cost of making a disc is about 20~30 yen.

However, it is not the price to press the content through the master and then distribute it to various content publishers.

The ex-factory price can reach 100~200 yen per sheet, and the patent fee is within 25% of the selling price.

Or a quarter of the increase in profit of the product, which is often used as a reference object.

Because the cost of optical discs is extremely low, Shirakawa Electric and Sony and Philips agreed that 10 cents per optical disc is a reasonable charging standard.

Excluding costs and royalties, optical disc manufacturers are still profitable.

And this thing is originally profitable by volume, and the more it is produced, the lower the cost.

So in the end, the three parties negotiated and agreed on a royalty of 10 cents per CD-ROM disc.

"Considering that Shirakawa Electric has developed a relatively complete CD-ROM, 8 cents is what we deserve."

Shirakawa Kaede took the lead in raising the knife and fork.

"Shirakawa-san, CD-ROM was developed on the basis of the original technology of CD, and the front-end efforts of Sony and Philips are the top priority.

So I think 40% each for Sony and Philips, is reasonable. ”

Norio Ohga was not polite to him either, and immediately put forward a rival opinion.

Philips' Simon nodded in approval.

"But CD-ROMs are more complex and contain far more data formats than the original CD-DA.

Shirakawa Electric invested heavily in the development of the format by itself, and should be the biggest contributor to the credit.

Moreover, if it weren't for us, Sony and Philips would have no intention of developing a CD-ROM format.

Therefore, Shirakawa Electric must be the biggest beneficiary, and this point is non-negotiable. ”

In the face of Shirakawa Kaede's tough words, Norio Oga was slightly silent.

"How about 35% of Shirakawa Electric? The rest of Sony and Philips split equally. ”

Simon, from Philips, nodded in approval of Norio Oga's proposal.

Shirakawa Kaede just shook his head, not even bothering to think about it.

If you don't do anything, you just want to share the benefits with me, and think about these good things.

"Shirakawa-san, CD-ROM has our technology, that's a fact.

Please understand that it is impossible for you to develop a CD-ROM without the original CD technology.

So in any case, Sony and Philips should get their fair share, which is the industry rule. ”

It can be seen that Norio Ohga also has his own bottom line for negotiation, otherwise it would be difficult for him to explain to the headquarters.

Shirakawa Kaede hesitated for a moment, and finally raised his gaze to look at the two of them.

"One price, 6 cents for Shirakawa Electric, otherwise there is no need to talk about it again."

Dahe Dianxiong pondered for a few seconds, bowed his head and exchanged a few words with the entourage, and finally reluctantly nodded in agreement.

Simon, from Philips, just asked his assistant to write something down, and then nodded in approval.

"Okay, in that case, then the CD-ROM is official."

After the interests were divided, the expressions on everyone's faces were much more relaxed.

In the final analysis, this is all a job of picking up money for nothing, and if you can get that extra point, it will be a net profit.

It's a real deal, so Sony and Philips don't have anything to be unhappy about.

"The CD-DA format standard has been officially released as a red book.

So what advice does Shirakawa-san have regarding the standard of CD-ROM? ”

Norio Oga regained a smile on his face, and was even in the mood to ask about the naming of the CD-ROM standard for Kaede Shirakawa.

Shirakawa Kaede looked at the blue "KITA" logo on the wall and smiled.

"Let's call it the Blue Book."

(End of chapter)