game trailblazer

Chapter 7 Microcomputer Training Course
The class officially started. A man who looked like he was in his 30s walked up to the podium, holding a handout clip in his hand. He was wearing a suit, leather shoes, tie and shirt. It was not the style of this era in China. He looked like an overseas Chinese.Zhang Lexing murmured in his heart: "Is this the legendary American lecturer?"

Mr. Huaqiao put the lecture notes in his hand on the stage and began to introduce himself. The voice was very pleasant, the kind commonly known as Mandarin.As soon as he opened his mouth, he said: "It is also fate that everyone comes from all corners of the country. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Yu Youcheng. My ancestral home is Shanghai. I have been wandering outside for half my life. This time I am honored to gather with all of you here. Next, I will communicate with you. Prospects for the development of microcomputers."

"Microprocessor is the core of microcomputer. It was first born nine years ago, when Intel Corporation launched the 4-bit microprocessor 4004, which created a new era..." After the opening remarks, Mr. Yu began to introduce Microprocessors and microcomputers come.

It was quite exciting, but Zhang Lexing didn't listen to a word. From the moment he heard the word "Yu Youcheng", his mind was pounding, as if struck by lightning, and things about Yu Youcheng began to flash over and over again.

Yu Youcheng, the backbone of Intel Corporation, has held many important positions in semiconductor technology, transistor and other product planning, and has become a member of the International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the Stanford Computer Science and Systems Committee. He also presided over the 386, 486, Pentium, PentiumII, etc development work.

Zhang Lexing couldn't understand why such a well-known person didn't want to engage in the promising job of CPU (Central Processing Unit) design, but why did he come to the mainland to do some training courses? This is too out of line.

There is no limit to learning, and when the book is used, you will hate it. Please forgive Zhang Lexing for his youth and ignorance.In fact, Yu Youcheng used to do well in Intel. Unfortunately, since he ran out to start his own business in 77, Yu Youcheng has been frustrated. Not only did the home computer that condensed the hard work of him and his partners suffer a fiasco, but he even helped another company that was brave enough to try the home market. The designed home computer has also become a cloud.The experience of these three years can be described in a few words, that is, "pounce again and again".I had no choice but to come to the mainland to hold computer training courses. If I tried to make some money, I would have nothing to eat.In this way, Yu Youcheng appeared in mainland China, which just started the reform and opening up, and started his gold rush journey...

Dr. Yu on the podium was very excited. He found that after a lively speech, the enthusiasm of the students in the audience had been mobilized, as if the door to the era of microcomputers was slowly opening not far ahead.Dr. Yu felt that the heat was almost ready, so he stretched out his hand and pulled the cloth on the big table next to the podium with a bang, revealing the focus of today's training class. Of course, it is also his main product for starting the class to earn money, a Cromemco microcomputer, using 8085 Microprocessor, the operating system is CP/M, with software such as BASIC.

As the saying goes, it is better to see once than hear a hundred times.The students who were seriously taking notes just now were excited, and they all stretched their necks to look at the mysterious machine, and even a few students who were sitting at the back couldn't help but lean forward.Zhang Lexing did not move at all. He is still immersed in the memory of Yu Youcheng. Even if he looks at the computer now, he probably thinks that the screen is not as handsome as the Apple II, and the host is not as small as the Apple II. Naturally, he will not What a praise.

Soon after the class ended, Dr. Yu felt a sense of accomplishment when he saw many students watching around the Cromemco microcomputer.It can be said that these mainland students have never been exposed to microcomputers, and many of them may not even know what computers are. After some encouragement from him, their willingness to learn is quite high. Now their interest in microcomputers seems to be like a child who is obsessed with toys. of.

Dr. Yu's original idea was to come to the mainland to make some money. Who made the mainland's market potential so great?But now he feels that with his efforts, the introduction of microcomputers to the mainland has allowed Western technology to take root in the motherland, which not only broadens the horizons of many people, but also spreads the knowledge of microcomputers. Like Pu Dashen who stole fire, this satisfied his vanity a little.He had a hunch that this wildfire would one day burn the entire world.

Zhang Lexing also came back to his senses at this time. He saw Dr. Yu standing on the stage in a daze with an intoxicated expression on his face. He decided to ask whether it was Yu Youcheng from Intel or not. The doctor looked at it in front of him.

Seeing a young man approaching, Dr. Yu wondered if there are still child laborers in mainland China, and he kept his polite words: "Comrade, hello, what's the matter?"

Zhang Lexing restrained the fluctuations in his heart and asked softly: "Hello! Are you Yu Youcheng from Intel?"

"I used to work at Intel, and you are..." Dr. Yu was startled. How could anyone in the mainland know about him? He thought about it, and he probably didn't do anything related to national security during this period.

"It really is true!" Zhang Lexing grabbed Dr. Yu's hand excitedly, "I have admired your name for a long time."

Zhang Lexing knew that Dr. Yu was the best opportunity he could grasp in front of him. If he just let it go, he would not know that he would have to wait until the year of the monkey next time, so he began to try his best to talk to Dr. Yu.Zhang Lexing figured that since Dr. Yu is engaged in microcomputer training, he should be interested in topics related to microcomputers. After introducing his name, the two began to talk about the development of microcomputers. Unexpectedly, it led to Dr. Yu's questions. Years of experience, perhaps Dr. Yu also has the heart to confide in others, but this time just coincides with his meeting.

"When I joined Intel, Intel had already launched a microprocessor 4004. The earliest prototype of this processor was actually used for the calculator of a RB company. Later, the processor chip became smaller and smaller, and its performance became better and better. The higher I got, the more I started to think about a question, what can it do? In fact, I am not the only one thinking about it, but the whole industry is thinking about it.”

"In 1975, a company named MITS launched the Altair 8800, which should be the first relatively successful microcomputer. In 1976, someone used a simple microprocessor to invent the first generation of video game 'Pong'. I suddenly It is a whimsy that the largest potential market for microprocessors should be the 'home computer', which is a product that can be accepted by every family."

"If you think about it, how many households in the United States, if one ten thousandth buys a home computer, how many microprocessors and memory can be sold. And there are billions of people in the world, which can completely solve the problem of millions of microprocessors. and memory provenance."

"I discussed this idea with some people in the company, but most of them were not interested. In their view, microprocessors can only be used in the right way of industrial control, and they did not consider that microprocessors may have more new applications. Commercial use. Only one friend was persuaded by me to work together for this illusory goal. We planned on paper all day, and weaved the dream of a home computer in our minds."

"Gradually we were no longer satisfied with keeping our ideas on paper, so we began to consider the issue of starting a business. Soon I successfully raised a starting capital of 100 million US dollars. In January 77, I left with my dream Intel, registered his own company VideoBrain (meaning the brain that controls the image display), and began to design the home computer in mind. At that time, my old boss Andy Grove did not support my departure. He doubted whether there was really a home computer. In the computer market, I was advised to play it safe, and in retrospect he was right.”

"Dr. Yu, I really admire your entrepreneurial passion!" Zhang Lexing said. In fact, he admired Dr. Yu's courage even more.Zhang Lexing remembers that the home computer market should have started to grow after the emergence of multimedia in 1992. Before that, those who dared to set foot in the home computer market almost lost their fortunes. Even the blue giant IBM also encountered Waterloo in this .Dr. Yu was able to start in 1977, except for courage, he can't think of other adjectives.

Dr. Yu went on to say: "We were really passionate back then. With everyone's joint efforts, we quickly designed our own product, which was named VideoBrain, the same as the company's name. In order to provide the best video quality, this The home computer is equipped with a dedicated image processing chip, and all software is stored in the read-only memory, just like the cassette of the popular Atari game console. The software we initially provided included computer checkers, BASIC language, and financial management software , and even connect to those computer databases. These functions are very difficult to implement on microcomputers, and before these softwares are made, some people still think that they are myths that cannot be realized.”

"It was really difficult when we designed software for this home computer. At the beginning, there was no BASIC language, and our software designers could only use assembly language (assembly language) to develop software. At that time, floppy drives were mainly used in On the mainframe, in order to store the edited programs, we had to use audio tapes. Unexpectedly, under such difficult conditions, we have completed more than ten types of software, which is a bit unbelievable in retrospect.”

"By the first half of '78, we felt we were ready and presented our brainchild at the Chicago Consumer Electronics Show that year, which we called 'the first-ever home computer' It was that time that I saw Apple's Apple II and met Jobs for the first time. At the exhibition, we received a lot of orders, and my business partners and I felt very high-spirited at that time, and success seemed to be in the In front of you."

(End of this chapter)