Rebirth of the Tech Madman

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Workstations in the true sense benefited from the introduction of Motorola’s 32-bit microprocessor mc68000, plus AT&T has not tightened its license, and various operating systems derived from Unix were built together. The most critical underlying architecture of the product.

The company that achieved early commercial success in this field is undoubtedly the company founded in Massachusetts in the eastern United States, inc.-Apollo Computer Company, which is even better than Fangyuan Computer Company, and everyone has many similarities. .

For example, the first cpu invariably chose Motorola's mc68000. In terms of operating system, Fangyuan Workstation adopts the philosopher's Vientiane, Apollo Workstation adopts aegis and its successor domain/os, all of which form a closed ecosystem.

However, Tang Huan quickly developed his own risc microprocessor holder in secret, and quickly became a big killer to help Fangyuan workstation stand out. Apollo Workstation has developed a dual mc68000 solution in terms of cpu.

This type of technology spread quickly, and even after Intel launched the intel80386, it was also used in workstations. Sun Microsystems has such a product line.

Of course, Fangyuan Computer Company also has multi-cpu parallel technology, but the dual mc68000 architecture is only used in low-end workstations and high-end personal computer models, while holder’s symmetrical multi-processor technology extends from Fangyuan workstations to Fangyuan servers and even Fangyuan Super computer.

risc was founded in ibm, but Tang Huan was the first person who really opened up the road to commercial success. The great success of Fangyuan Workstation has made the industry aware of the power of risc, so they have begun to follow up.

After learning, ibm failed to catch up like sql database db2. The workstation rt using risc technology developed by it in cooperation with multiple departments ended in failure last year, again verifying that bureaucracy kills people.

Of course, this small failure did not stop the Big Blue from stopping. It learned lessons from experience and started the research and development of a new project. Although Tang Huan has speculated, the specific situation still needs to be verified.

Hewlett-Packard is not so tragic, and successfully launched pa-risc, which has been successfully applied to hp3000 series and hp9000 series computers. In the original time and space, pa-risc was finally replaced by Itanium, which was jointly developed by HP and Intel.

Dec is not outdated in the research and development of risc, but its prism plan and the company's current main product Vax have conflicts and infighting, and like ibm, the project is destroyed by human factors. As a result, there is no risc microprocessor of its own.

Fortunately, dec is not a dead brain. Another risc product mips-r2000 chip developed by the John Hennessy team of mips technology company is 6 times faster than intel80386, so it was taken by dec for emergency and used in its own workstation. .

It is foreseeable that although established computer manufacturers such as ibm and dec have temporarily encountered obstacles in the research and development of risc, with their solid background, it will not be a problem to eventually break out.

After all, small fresh meats like Sun Microsystems have successfully launched their own risc microprocessors, and the older generations have no reason to fall behind.

The success of Sun Microsystems also shows from another angle that large companies are not only eligible to participate in R&D of risc. Many small companies are eager to try with the support of venture capital.

In the next few years, risc will inevitably form a more violent tide in the industry. While fiercely competing with each other, it may also make it impossible for cisc manufacturers such as Motorola and Intel to stand alone.

Although holder is in an absolute leading position at this stage, in a competitive situation where almost everyone can participate, there may be a tragedy of punching the master to death indiscriminately.

For example, Sun Microsystems has adopted an open attitude on its own risc microprocessor sparc following the nfs-network file system, allowing cooperative companies to produce compatible products in order to expand its ecosystem and influence.

"This little thing is quite lively." Tang Huan, who had never cared Sun Microsystems too much, shook his head with a smile. The other of the two workstation startups that he personally invested in, Silicon Valley Graphics, is relatively honest and steadily specializes in graphics workstations.

Tang Huanzheng looked at a series of names on the document, thinking about the countermeasures of the workstation market in the next few years, and the assistant who debugged the conference call system next to him reported: "Boss, it's ready."

"Let's start then." Tang Huan nodded, pushing away the file in front of him.

The content of this conference call is mainly to summarize the situation of the personal computer market battle in the past three months. Many participants are middle-level backbones sitting on the front line.

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"The biggest feature of the market now is that 2mb of memory has become the mainstream configuration of personal computers. Fangyuan personal computers and compatible computers have accounted for 66% of this range. In the low-end market, Fangyuan personal computers The share of compatible computers in China is half, and the high-end segment is completely dominated by Fangyuan personal computers."

"Affected by the Japan-US semiconductor trade agreement, coupled with Intel's withdrawal from the memory market, the current supply of dynamic random access memory in the United States is tight, prices are soaring, and even the distribution channels are hoarding. The price of many common models of ibm-ps/2, So it’s raised to more than US$5,000, which obviously can’t sell. However, our compatible partners are also a bit unable to carry it.”

"Recently, the company has launched a set of C language development tools for the ibm personal computer platform, which are of high quality and low price, and are very popular. If it attracts enough developers, it may have a positive impact on the sales of ibm personal computers. However, a set of basic language development tools was also launched at the same time, and the conflict with Microsoft has become more intense."

...

Listening to the words of your subordinates, the chessboard in Tang Huan's mind kept dropping.

At the subsequent high-level meeting, which was greatly reduced, Tang Huan said, “While maintaining the advantage, everyone can also notice the potential crisis. It is very precious.

"The low-end market cannot be given up. Since the Fangyuan PC compatible partners in the United States are also suffering from excessive dynamic random access memory price fluctuations, we will provide proportional support based on their shipments and deploy them at a fair price. A batch of memory sticks."

"Regarding the situation of the new product, the feedback is good. After the handover, the price war on pure hardware has begun to enter a stalemate. Next, it depends on who provides the platform with greater added value. It is time to let all kinds of killers. Software entered the battlefield and officially participated in the war."

"At least in the first half of the year, it is difficult for ibm to adjust the procurement cost of dynamic random access memory." After John Chambers made a certain judgment, he turned to another thing, "We launched the Fangyuan handheld last year. After the freshness of the market, computers began to lose sales. Now they are basically distributed as gifts to thank customers for their bulk purchases. The resulting book loss is estimated to reach 100 million U.S. dollars, and it has attracted Wall Street. Criticism from observers."

"This result is not surprising. It seems that the problem lies in functionality and portability." Tang Huan waved his hand disapprovingly. "No director can guarantee that his film department will sell well. The same goes for Fang Yuan. It is also impossible for a computer company to make a profit without losing every investment. At least, from a technical point of view, this attempt is very meaningful."

"Today, Fangyuan Computer Company is qualified to accept accidental business failures for the sake of ideals." John Chambers and others agree with it.

"The strengths and weaknesses of the personal computer market should not change in a short time. Let's discuss the workstations on the product line." Tang Huan pondered, "I feel that this field is becoming more and more uneasy."

Everyone has heard about it. Recently, the big boss is reading the documents related to the workstation business, so he is prepared for this topic.

"The main differences in current workstation products are reflected in two aspects, one is the cpu, and the other is the operating system. Our Fangyuan workstation is a combination of holder and Vientiane, while other products are more messy. The cpu has a risc microprocessor, and there are also mc68000, The cisc microprocessor like the intel80386, but the risc microprocessor is the general trend; the operating system is dominated by various types of Unix." John Chambers replied: "It is inevitable to fight each other on the hardware. Who are the mainstream and the niche, but in terms of operating systems, Vientiane is inevitably lonely. Those unix-like operating systems can be compatible with each other through public interfaces, and then support in data exchange, network communication, and application software. In other aspects, it provides a convenience that cannot be ignored."

...

After listening to everyone’s comments, Tang Huan slowly said: “Since everyone is aware of the ups and downs in the workstation market and the subsequent escalation of risc competition, then you must be prepared. I will be in Holder and Vientiane. Changes have been made in the licensing mechanism of China, and Fangyuan Workstation can no longer monopolize certain special advantages as before."

"I heard that the 1 micron process has been successfully developed. I suggest that chips manufactured with the most advanced technology should still be supplied to Fangyuan Computer Co., Ltd. first." John Chambers asked quickly.

"Of course." Tang Huan nodded, "We can't be like Sun Microsystems. We are barefoot and are not afraid of wearing shoes to open the authorization. The first starting point is the game of various camps. "

...

After the meeting was completely dismissed, Tang Huan left John Chambers alone and talked about a private topic, "I plan to create a situation to help the price of dynamic random access memory further increase."

A black line appeared on John Chambers’ forehead, “Now the cost of dynamic random access memory has made everyone complain.”

"But we are more prepared than others, aren't we?" Tang Huan smiled slightly.

"If this is the case, I am afraid that Fangyuan Computer's profitability will be significantly affected, and then Wall Street may have to put pressure on it." John Chambers hesitated.

"Don't worry too much. This is an industry standard battle. After Fangyuan defeats ibm and becomes a true leader, it will generate greater monopoly benefits. Investors will not fail to see this." Tang Huan slapped his face confidently. Desk, "The market value of Fangyuan Computer Company is about to exceed 100 billion U.S. dollars. This is the support from Wall Street. Moreover, I am ready to create a good news in the most high-end field of supercomputers."

Seeing that the cruel boss has all-round considerations, John Chambers no longer worried, but finally reminded: "Now that ibm has been sourly complaining that we are affecting the supply and demand relationship in the dynamic random access memory market, we should be careful not to offend the public. Good. After all, ~www.readwn.com~ the price of dynamic random access memory cannot continue to rise. When the price suddenly plunges, the benefits will probably not be limited to the industry."

"Of course there will be no handle left." Tang Huan said leisurely: "I will release a smoke bomb first, and ea's third-generation Xiaobawang game console will be available soon. You can know it, don't really follow others. People panic together."△≧miào△≧bi△≧gé△≧

John Chambers wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded, "Understood."

...

In the next few days, Tang Huan took the time to inspect the progress of the fab process research and development. The third-generation holder using the 1 micron process has been successfully taped out, and some products have been released.

Tang Huan’s risc microprocessor, the original version is divided into two branches-Yi Peng and holder. The former stays in the East and is operated by Zheru Xiangjiang, while the latter is put in the United States. In the second version, it began to part ways with the former. .

Seeing that the third-generation holder is available now, Tang Huan has allowed the fab to improve the yield rate while proclaiming that a supercomputer with a computing power of 10gflops will come out at the end of the year.

What is different from the past is that in the specific manufacturing process, there will be a prototype and a Tai Chi in Stanford University, and a financial management model will be calculated to compare the performance improvement of the old and new products.

This comparison is a separate project and is expected to start actual operation this summer. In addition to hiring economic experts for guidance, it also recruits university student volunteers from various well-known business schools to participate. The ultimate goal is to try to explore how to use high-tech tools and mathematical models to protect their own income in various complex environments, such as sudden stock market crashes.