Rebirth of America, this is my time

The news brought by Julis was very brief but very exciting.

Today, the morning of March 18th, Tokyo time, Sony Group Vice President Norio Ohga took a special plane to Frankfurt. If nothing else happens, his destination should be Eindhoven.

After hearing the news, the first reaction that popped into Ethan's mind was that Sony and Philips Special Code had to join forces due to historical necessity, but the next second, he felt something was wrong.

Julis, is this Sony's own itinerary?

no.

Then how did you know? Ethan was very curious.

Uh - Hiroshi Yamauchi just told me. Julis said: He invited me to dinner tonight, and at the dinner table, he told me the news in person.

Seemingly understanding that her explanation was full of ambiguities, Julis quickly added: After I came to Benzi, I met him twice. The first meeting was when I arrived in Kyoto for the first time. He welcomed me on behalf of Nintendo. The second time was today, he specially invited me to dinner.

Because the incident happened suddenly and his behavior was very strange, I went to the appointment, and then I learned that Sony's vice president had gone to the Netherlands.

I rushed home after dinner and called you as soon as possible.

That is now.

... Ethan was silent.

After a few seconds, the corners of his mouth curled up and he laughed, Ha——

Pu Yamauchi, Pu Yamauchi... He murmured a few words and shook his head.

Although Ethan had more or less reminded her not to have contact with Nintendo when assigning tasks to Julis before, Kyoto, where Julis was located, was originally Nintendo's territory.

Ethan thought with the soles of his feet and knew that every move of Julis must be under the supervision of Hiroshi Yamauchi. Therefore, when he hoped that Julis could keep an eye on Nintendo, he wanted Ballmer to find a way to use it. The way human flesh crosses the border uses local telephone numbers to transmit information.

When Ethan had already guarded against Nintendo to this point, he didn't believe that Hiroshi Yamauchi didn't have his own ideas, and now, this guy actually took the initiative to pass the news through Julis?

And what he conveyed was Sony that he cared about?

Doesn't this clearly tell him Ethan Jones? I, Hiroshi Yamauchi, have long known that Ethan Jones is keeping an eye on me, so I will reveal to you the whereabouts of your opponent. In this case, should you continue to Should you focus on me, or deal with things that have already happened?

Um?

The straightforward hint made Ethan feel that this old thing was really interesting, and while feeling emotional, he also asked: Julis, how did you get home?

Pu Yamauchi sent me back.

Can you look out the window now?

Uh--yes, I can go there with the phone.

Great, now you can open the window and look out onto the street and tell me what you can see.

The strange request made Julis frown slightly, but after she followed Ethan's instructions, the black vehicle parked on the side of the road made her pupils shrink suddenly. Not only that, on the side of the road, there was a man in a suit and tie standing with his hands behind his back. His figure also made her feel extremely familiar...

Oh no!

That’s Hiroshi Yamauchi!

Is he here, right? Although there was no movement on the other side of the receiver, Ethan still said with a smile: Ask him to come up and answer the phone. This guy is really... interesting.

Yamauchi Pu’s behavior reminded Ethan of a sentence from his previous life.

‘Real business war is always so unpretentious and boring. ’

Hiroshi Yamauchi knew that Ethan Jones was wary of Nintendo, so after learning that his enemy Philips and Sony, which he cared about, might be uniting, he decisively sent the news out to distract him? Even if there is a domestic company among them?

This is really...

Shameless enough!

But what does this have to do with him?

Since someone sincerely wants to send information, wouldn't it be a betrayal of the other party's good intentions if he doesn't listen?

Following Julis' greeting, Yamauchi Hiroshi walked into her home with a smile on his face, picked up the receiver on the table, and said with a smile: Mr. Jones? I'm very happy to receive your invitation.

Although the two did not actually meet each other, Ethan could fully imagine Yamauchi Hiroshi's smiling and polite manner at this moment. He was not in the mood to talk to him, so Ethan said straight to the point: Tell me.

Oh - Mr. Jones, we meet old friends again, don't you have anything else to say?

Yamauchi Hiroshi seemed to be hurt.

We didn't meet. Ethan corrected the mistake in his words, Unless you come to Los Angeles.

Hahaha—— Hiroshi Yamauchi would not do that kind of stupid thing. When the two sides are conflicting, whoever goes to the other side's territory is stupid, Okay, since you are so anxious, let's go straight to the topic. , I learned about the Philips press conference at the beginning of the month. Their optical disc project is amazing. Similarly, I also know that you are very interested in Sony, and they... started researching optical discs as early as four years ago...

Hiroshi Yamauchi's information was very concise, and he directly told Ethan the results of his investigation of Sony.

Like Philips and American Music, Sony also discovered the optical disc product when they were manufacturing video tape recorders. Speculating that optical discs had high commercial prospects, they officially established a research and development project in 1975.

However, the laser disc patent at that time was already firmly controlled by American Music, and Philips had also entered the game and reached a cooperation with American Music. Therefore, Sony, which had not been dominant from the beginning, gave up the laser disc track and decided to directly Research digital discs.

That's right.

Sony wants to overtake in a corner.

And the next year, in 1976, they had already achieved results.

In 1977, they had already demonstrated their digital audio disc to the outside world. In 2078, that is, last year, their digital disc could already record 150 minutes of content.

Uh - wait a minute. After hearing this, Ethan interrupted and asked doubtfully: You said Sony had already demonstrated their digital audio disc to the outside world as early as 1977?

Yes. Hiroshi Yamauchi said affirmatively: At the International Audio Expo.

Then I want to know why this news hasn't spread?

At this moment, Ethan was very puzzled, If they had made digital discs a long time ago, how could we not know about it? If they released digital discs before Philips, then Philips' display at the beginning of this month should not have been It’s getting everyone’s attention!”

This problem is very simple. Hiroshi Yamauchi, who heard the inside story, said: Because the digital disc researched by Sony is very scientific, they are pursuing the ultimate sound effect. After converting the analog signal of the laser disc into a digital signal, they focus on solving The content is to solve the error when burning and reading signals.

This behavior prevented them from developing the storage function of optical discs at all. A disc with a capacity of 150 minutes is not much smaller than a vinyl record. When they wanted to replace vinyl with optical discs, they announced at the Audio Expo The release naturally encountered resistance from the community of interests, so...

People just didn't pay attention to their releases.

So, at the beginning of the month, when Philips released compact discs, the world was shocked.

... Ethan was speechless.

Although he doesn't understand technology, he also knows how outrageous Sony's research direction is.

They were pursuing the ultimate sound effect in the early stages of the development of digital optical discs. They took a digital disc that was about the same size as a vinyl disc and went to the audio expo to try to revolutionize vinyl?

This is really a courage that even Liang Jingru cannot give her!

Not to mention that vinyl records, which were born in the 1940s, have already had a lot of interests in the business for decades. The size of the digital disc displayed by Sony can make people at the Audio Expo laugh to death!

If the storage capacity of a disc is related to its volume, what are its advantages?

Not easily damaged?

Nonsense! Compact discs, like vinyl, are afraid of wear and tear!

Is it cheap to produce?

CDs have not yet been officially commercialized, so the cost estimate cannot be lower than that of vinyl!

Is the sound quality good?

Even decades later, there is no final answer to this question, because from various technical perspectives, all indicators of optical discs are far superior to vinyl, but even so, some people still like vinyl, and they like the kind of music that I heard It's the feeling of the original music.

In this case, things like sound quality are a noisy topic.

When the digital audio disc invented by Sony has no advantages in the field of audio, it's a wonder that its release can attract attention! And after Sony made such a stupid move that left people speechless...

The miniaturization release of Philips is a revolution that shakes the world!

Then, this month, when Sony, which has been running wildly in the field of digital optical discs, discovered that there was another peer in the world, they decisively communicated with them and wanted to explore the other party's research results.

And then……

Sony Vice President Norio Ohga traveled to Eindhoven this morning.

After listening to the news from Hiroshi Yamauchi, Ethan decisively asked Ballmer to search for information on the Audio Expo in the past two years. When he learned that Sony had really been ridiculed by those who were engaged in music in the past two years. , Yamauchi Pu's information was immediately labeled as fidelity by him.

Because humans cannot make up false news that is too outrageous.

This is the difference between life and fiction.

The former does not require logic, while the latter must have logic.

And when everything Hiroshi Yamauchi said was true, Ethan told his sister the latest situation and wanted to hear what the other person thought. After Evelin finished listening to the ridiculous history of Sony's digital disc development with a confused look on her face, the girl with a twitching mouth gave her own judgment.

If everything Hiroshi Yamauchi said is true...

Then Sony must have flown to the Netherlands to seek cooperation with Philips.

Why? Ethan was puzzled.

Although relying on the memory of his previous life, Ethan can easily make the judgment that Sony and Philips will inevitably unite, but he has suffered a loss on the issue of memory and no longer relies on memory to formulate development plans.

When he himself became a butterfly wing in South America, the memory of his previous life could only serve as a reference.

Now, all judgments must be rationally analyzed before being made.

His inquiry also made Evelin pull out the newspapers from the past few days. After briefly scanning the professional media's reports on Philips digital discs, Evelin said: Because their research directions are obviously different.

In other words, Sony's technology and Philips' R\u0026D complement each other.

The girl shook the newspaper and said: Judging from the media reports on Philips, Philips' research direction is how to stuff more information into miniaturized optical discs, while Sony's research direction is how to solve the problem of information entry and reading. The problem of loss during retrieval is the defect of the laser disc that Robert showed us before, the audio may be interrupted and the picture may be jittered.”

When two guys from different fields come together, collaborative research and development will definitely bring about the effect of one plus one greater than two, so for them, cooperation is the best choice.

And if all this analysis is correct, then Robert's guess will be correct.

Although our project started late, the progress should be the fastest.

Philips and Sony can be said to be starting from scratch, but our scientific researchers are all founders in the field of optics. As long as you can ask them, they know which direction to research.

after all……

Patents are something that can never be obtained with just a quick thought.

Especially Robert, they still hold the basic patents on digital optical discs and optical disc players.

Oh—— Ethan understood.

Perfect! He smiled and snapped his fingers.

Ethan has always been worried about one thing, that is, Philips and Sony are faster than them in the development of optical discs. If Sony and Philips release products first and cultivate users' usage habits, then they will launch better products. With products, it is difficult to catch up from behind.

Because CDs are different from games. The latter relies on content. Excellent content can make up for all problems, but the former means pre-emption. Whoever releases it first will have an advantage. Unless they monopolize music and film and television resources, otherwise It’s not good to overwhelm people based on content.

And monopolize excellent music and film and television resources?

Among other things, in North America, he must at least buy all the major Hollywood giants.

This kind of thing is just nonsense.

Because of this, Ethan would keep a close eye on Philips and Sony. He would be nervous whenever there was any disturbance. But now, he can finally let go of what he had been worried about for several years.

Since Sony and Philips are not progressing as fast as them, and they still have patent advantages, it should be Sony and Philips who are anxious now.

As for Ethan's judgment...

On March 18th, Tokyo time, Sony’s Vice President Norio Ohga went to the Netherlands.

On March 20th Central European Time, Norio Ohga flew to North America.

On March 21st, Western Time, James Russell called Ethan and said that Sony's Norio Ohga had contacted him and wanted to purchase patents or obtain authorization. Before negotiating the price, he had already told the other party that Destiny Game had been authorized, and then——

Norio Ohga was very shocked, because he had no idea before that that there were other people in the world studying optical discs, and they were still digital discs.

In the middle of the night on March 21, Robert Hall also called Ethan and said that Sony's vice president Norio Ohga had arrived in Los Angeles and submitted a greeting card to him, wanting to meet with him.

From the perspective of the other party’s eagerness——

They simply can't get around our technology.

so……

Go to sleep peacefully, child.

I may not be as famous as Fred in the engineering field, but my skills are no worse than his.

This fact made Ethan laugh a few times.

After hanging up the phone, he lay down on the bed comfortably.

Staring at the ceiling in the dark night, the corners of his mouth curved gracefully.

I thought they were all powerful enemies...

“I didn’t expect it to be all colored pens!”

Dare you develop research without getting a patent?

Ah--

Who gave you the confidence!

In Ethan's view, when he has the right time, place and people, as long as he continues to stabilize and develop in order, Philips and Sony will no longer have the possibility of winning.

As long as he can put digital discs on the market before the two companies do, with the left hand holding the game and the right hand holding the computer, Philips and Sony still want to promote their own optical discs?

Dream on!

It’s all there in the dream!

And just when Ethan felt that the life-and-death battle over optical disc standards in his previous life would directly end with his silent prosperity in this life, on March 22, Ballmer suddenly told him, Sony Vice President Norio Ohga came to Palo Alto and wanted to meet him.

? This situation made Ethan a little confused.

What is he here for?

According to what he said, he came to seek cooperation.

Didn't he understand the situation? We are far ahead now! Why should we cooperate with him?

Uh--I don't know about that. Ballmer shook his head.

Norio Ohga's inexplicable visit made Ethan want to wave away.

But before he could make any move, he gave up the arrogant idea.

After all, there is a saying that goes like this: strategically, we must despise the enemy, and tactically, we must pay attention to the enemy.

Norio Ohga has already arrived at his door, so it would be a waste not to communicate.

Forget it, since he's here, let him come.

Note: ① Sony’s research history on digital optical discs comes from Sony’s official website, Sony History, Part 2, Chapter 7 ‘Making Digital Audio a Reality’. Sony did release digital discs earlier than Philips, but their research direction was biased, so it did not attract attention. It can also be said that it was ridiculed, this was written by Sony itself. ②The cooperation between Sony and Philips is indeed complementary. This comes from the oral history of Heitaro Nakajima, Sony’s digital audio disc development designer, in an interview with IEEE on May 24, 1994. Both Sony and Philips products have technical flaws. In reality, Philips cannot solve the problem of player self-test and error correction. The problem is that Sony's discs are too big, so their cooperation is inevitable. And war is inevitable, because after the technical problems are solved, no one is willing to give up benefits. ③ Regarding the issue of Philips and Sony conducting research and development without obtaining patent authorization. This is what they did in reality. Both parties claimed that their products did not need James Russell's patent, denied infringement, and refused to pay. It was not until the lawsuit lasted until 1988 that they and James ·Russell reached a consensus and obtained authorization. It is very common for large companies to infringe on personal patents. If you don't have much power, people won't bother to talk to you. They will infringe first to seize the market, and just spend money to delay the legal issues. This is definitely cheaper than obtaining authorization directly.