"Mr. Shirakawa, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Sorry, who are you?" Bai Chuanfeng looked at the handsome black-haired guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes in front of him, and his eyes were puzzled.

He always felt that the person in front of him was a little familiar, where had he seen it?

"Stephen. Jobs" The black-haired youth smiled charmingly and took the initiative to extend his right hand.

Hey, it turned out to be Qiao's gang leader.

This thick black hair, Shirakawa Kaede almost didn't recognize it.

"It turned out to be Mr. Steve, and I like your Apple computers very much."

Shirakawa Kaede stretched out his hand and had a friendly and cordial handshake with Gang Leader Qiao.

"Shirakawa's portable CD player is also very good, and it's now the perfect partner for people to hold parties, and of course I have one at home."

"Oh~, that's really my pleasure."

Shirakawa's CD player began to be sold in North America at the beginning of the year, and as Jobs said, it is now the star of various parties.

With a compact CD player and two active speakers, you can have dynamic music anytime and anywhere.

Westerners, especially the Chinese people, are all party creatures. Four out of seven days a week, you'll be invited to a party.

How can there be no music at a party, so Shirakawa Electric's portable CD player burst out with more energy than expected.

It is far more popular than Sony and Philips desktops, because it is easy to carry and the sound system is easy to assemble.

Now I heard that Qiao Gang Leader is also one of his users, not to mention, Bai Chuanfeng also has a trace of pride in his heart.

Of course, it's not rude to come and go, and Shirakawa Kaede is also praising the excellence of Apple computers.

Sure enough, the sycophant thing is common to all mankind, and the smile on the corner of Jobs' mouth becomes more and more obvious.

Shirakawa Kaede knows very well that with Jobs' conceited character, he can only follow the hair.

Otherwise, he will definitely make a note for you in the little book in his heart.

"Shirakawa Electric has developed technology like CD-ROM, which is a boon for users.

Maybe they didn't know what they needed before, but when 700MB of optical storage came along.

And they're like, oh yes, that's what I want. ”

After Jobs and Shirakawa Kaede sat down in the coffee area, they habitually made various gestures while discussing the main topics of today's meeting.

Apple, as an upstart in the PC market, is naturally among the invitations to the conference.

He was curious that Shirakawa Kaede could establish Shirakawa Electric at such a young age, and at the same time, there was a hint of recognition.

In the eyes of Steve Jobs, who founded Apple at the age of 20, Shirakawa Kaede founded Shirakawa Electric at the age of 19, which is the same kind of person as him.

What kind of people? Talented!

For smart people like himself, Jobs would treat them with respect and communicate with him seriously.

Otherwise, how could he take the initiative to come forward and greet Shirakawa Kaede?

"Glad your recognition, although CD storage hasn't grown yet.

But we firmly believe that in the future it will definitely replace floppy disks as the most commonly used storage method. ”

At this point, Shirakawa Kaede is extremely confident, and the current optical drive is far underestimated.

Jobs admired Shirakawa's self-confidence in the same way that he admired his own Apple computer.

"I heard that Mr. Shirakawa not only has Shirakawa Electric, but also a company that designs chips?"

Bai Chuanfeng unexpectedly turned his head and glanced at Gang Leader Qiao, "You are right, there is indeed such a company.

However, SIC has not yet started operations in North America, how did Mr. Steve hear about it? ”

Jobs smiled maliciously, "The Los Angeles Times has long reported that Neon has such a chip design company that is not self-sufficient." ”

"Huh?" Shirakawa Kaede was a little confused.

Looking at his confused expression, Jobs's smile became brighter.

So he explained in detail what happened, and at last year's briefing of Shirakawa Electric, Shirakawa Kaede's response to Western reporters was published in the newspaper as it was.

It was at that time that the name SIC first appeared on the continent of North Rice.

But obviously this is not a good reputation, "self-sufficient", "neon shoddy knockoffs", these are the first impressions of the people of Beimi on SIC.

After listening to his explanation, Shirakawa Kaede smiled bitterly, "Okay, SIC is the chip design company that is 'self-sufficient'. ”

"Haha" Jobs laughed heartily, and that hearty laughter relieved his recent boredom a lot.

"But if Steve, you've ever used a SIC chip, you'd never think that way again."

Shirakawa Kaede shrugged his shoulders and helplessly complained for his own chip.

"I've used it"

"Okay, what the hell. Well? Wait a minute! Shirakawa Kaede suddenly turned his head and looked at Jobs who had already put away his smile on the other side.

"So Steve, do you think the SIC chips are shoddy knockoffs?" Shirakawa Kaede looked at the figure opposite with a serious expression.

"Of course not, and even somewhat unexpectedly." Jobs gave him an affirmative answer.

Shirakawa Kaede now seems to understand a little why Jobs took the initiative to greet him.

"So Steve, would you like to give it a try?" Changing the subtle style in neon, Shirakawa Kaede asked very directly.

As for his question, Jobs did not answer directly, but discussed another question with him.

"I wonder if Mr. Shirakawa knows anything about Apple's LISA computer?"

The LISA series of computers, which is a landmark computer in the history of Apple.

It was the world's first graphical computer, with overlapping windows, small icons, pop-up menus, and a mouse.

The graphical operating system that we are familiar with in later generations has already taken shape on LISA computers.

It greatly facilitates the use of various functions of the system, which is a qualitative change from the character interface of the DOS era.

The concept of a graphical interface (GUI) also appeared for the first time on a commercial computer.

However, although it is a huge improvement over the previous personal computers, it is very dismal because of its high price.

The LISA computer was launched last year and cost $9,998 at the time. So far, the total sales of 10,000 units have not been achieved.

Compared with the 2 million units of the Apple II that swept Beimi, LISA can be described as Apple's Waterloo product.

Even the Apple III, which has a sparse reputation, can sell 120,000 units, but the more advanced LISA doesn't even have a twelfth of it.

The most important thing is that Apple invested $150 million in research and development on LISA computers.

There is no doubt that the fiasco of LISA has brought huge losses to Apple.

As one of its original leaders, Steve Jobs has recently been gloomy because of the failure of LISA.

Although in the middle of development, people on the team kicked Jobs out of the development team because they couldn't stand Jobs' paranoid perfectionism.

But LISA is named after Jobs' daughter, which shows how much he values the series of computers.

At this moment, hearing him ask what he thought of the LISA computer, Shirakawa Kaede felt a trace of surprise in his heart.

But after thinking about it for a few seconds, Shirakawa Kaede still decided to tell the truth.

"There is no doubt that it is a groundbreaking product that brings a whole new system experience to people, which will definitely be a milestone in the history of computer development.

But it's too expensive, and this price is destined to prevent it from being the first choice for the average user. In addition, the LISA ecosystem is also a problem. ”

"Ecosystem?" Jobs interrupted Kaede Shirakawa's comments and raised his own questions.

"Yes," Shirakawa Kaede nodded, "It's true that a computer is a product, but it can't stand on its own. ”

Kaede Shirakawa sat upright and began to talk about the necessary conditions for the development and growth of computers.

"The quantity and quality of the application software, the compatibility with the surrounding equipment, the type of hardware within the system, and the connection between the new and existing equipment.

The operating system is just a blank world, it needs to have the sky, it needs to have the earth, it needs to have sunlight, water, soil, and air. With these, the world will become vibrant.

But it is clear that LISA computers do not have these characteristics, and there is too little software to support it. Without nutrients, it has no way to survive. ”

Jobs fell into deep thought, this is the first time that someone has used such a metaphor to describe the development of the operating system, and it is also the first time that someone has proposed the concept of "computer ecosystem".

Vivid and easy to understand.

Jobs came back to his senses, and his gaze at Shirakawa Kaede had a little more brilliance.

"The chip used by LISA is Motorola's MC68000, with an internal bus of 32 bits, an address bus of 16 bits, and a frequency of 7.8MHz.

It has nearly 70,000 transistors inside and supports up to 16MB of memory, can SIC do that? ”

No nonsense, Jobs directly reported the parameters he wanted.

"Yes!" Shirakawa Kaede nodded without hesitation in response, "SIC80281, the internal bus and address bus are consistent with the MC68000.

However, it can be boosted to 8MHz or even 12MHz, with up to 120,000 internal transistors and up to 24MB of memory. ”

This is the latest generation of 16-bit chips from SIC, and Masatoshi Shima just finished tape-out last month.

Although it has not been officially commercialized, Shirakawa Kaede didn't even think about it, so he took it out and used it as a card.

At this time, you have to say yes, and if you can't, you have to be tough.

And Jobs was also surprised when he heard a series of parameters burst out by Shirakawa Kaede, but he didn't expect to be more optimistic than he thought.

"Motorola's offer is $125, what kind of discount can SIC give?"

Jobs didn't give Shirakawa Kaede the slightest chance to breathe, and the fatal questions were one after another.

$125?! Kaede Shirakawa almost crushed his back molars.

This price is really ruthless, and now the price of 16-bit chips is generally around 200 US dollars.

If it is a big factory like Intel, the price is close to 300 US dollars.

Qiao gang leader came up and cut most of it in half, which simply didn't give people a way to live.

However, Shirakawa Kaede did not hesitate, he directly quoted a price that Jobs could not refuse.

"$100! If Apple purchases more than 100,000 pieces, it can also reduce it by another $10. ”

The opportunity is rare, less profit, or even a loss, Shirakawa Kaede also admitted. But after all, it's Beimi, and this market is much more neon than neon.

"However, SIC gives me such a discount, and I ask Steve to promise me a condition."

Jobs glanced at Shirakawa Kaede and took the shot before he continued to speak.

"The rest is easy to say, but Apple's computers are not yet considered to be equipped with optical drive systems."

Bai Chuanfeng was stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly, is the optical drive so disgusting?

"Apple's computers can be equipped without an optical drive system, but they must add a SCSI interface."

This is the optical drive interface specification just set by this conference, and the computer can link the optical drive to identify the disc with it.

Jobs obviously understood Shirakawa Kaede's intentions as well, and he touched his chin and began to think about it.

(End of chapter)