Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 138: Mixed Good and Bad
"Evelyn, Ethan, this is where I usually work."

After taking Ethan and Evelyn around the dilapidated house in Five Corners for a few laps to satisfy their curiosity, Vinton Cerf also took them to visit his office.

It was a large square room. As it was located at the innermost end of a floor, it had windows on three sides. After opening the blinds, one could even overlook the greenery downstairs at a 180-degree angle and look at the various fountains. It was great to take a step back and immerse oneself in the dense forest of steel and concrete, and take a step forward and touch the beauty of nature.

"Oh, Vinton, this place is much better than Stanford."

Evelyn looked around and gave her own evaluation, "No wonder all the major universities have always said that their enemy is not their research colleagues, but the federal government."

"It's really hard not to be tempted by this kind of working environment."

"Hahaha……"

Evelyn's words made Vinton Cerf and Ethan Jones both laugh.

They understood what Evelyn meant, because this was a joke that had been circulating for many years. Even when Ethan traveled through time decades later, the joke still existed, only the person narrating it had changed.

In the future, many technology companies in America are complaining that they are never afraid of poaching by competitors, but the federal government's private recruitment is annoying.

Because for those scientists who are passionate about research, the federal government's non-public projects are much more interesting than the mass programs in private companies. Although the salary offered by the federal government may not reach the salary standards of the world's giants, who among those who can be recruited by the federal government is not financially free?

However, even if the salary cannot reach the world's top level, the supporting facilities can reach the world's top level. The environment that Vinton Cerf has now is not something that future companies or Stanford can create. This is not a question of whether companies and universities have money, but that the federal government does not have to consider money when doing these things.

There was no need to talk about the unspoken rules that everyone knew, so after laughing, the three of them talked about other things. Vinton Cerf first asked about the two's situation. When he learned that "Star Wars" was a rushed product, he immediately expressed his admiration for the quality of the rushed game.

"You said you made this game in just ten weeks?"

"Wow~ You guys are amazing for making such a complete game in such a tight time! I'm not just complimenting you, I really mean it!"

“Although the production of this game is not difficult from a technical point of view, the creativity leading the work is not simple, because such things are difficult to perfect in a short period of time.”

Vinton Cerf gave his evaluation with a smile.

As for Ethan and Evelyn, they expressed their gratitude politely.

After discussing this topic, the two also asked about his work content. Although this might involve confidential information, Vinton Cerf did not care and asked directly: "Barbara said she is busy?"

"Oh - I'm actually busier than her. Because they called me to the DoD in the hope that I can develop a joint communications system to integrate the tactical communications systems of our country's army, navy and air force to improve coordination and efficiency among the three services."

"I have been busy with this since March."

"Although there is a protocol, it is very simple for computers in various bases to communicate with each other, but you also know that the technical personnel in the military are definitely not as professional as us and can accurately identify the data sent by each party. So the first problem we need to solve is to make a tool for them that can support multiple users to access at the same time, transaction processing and rollback functions."

Although Vinton Cerf's words were clear, his face was full of worry while he was speaking. This state made the siblings very curious. Evelyn, who had been with Vinton Cerf for several years, did not shy away and asked directly: "Vinton, is this difficult?"

"I see you look very bad."

"It's not difficult." Vinton Cerf shook his head decisively and said, "This kind of thing is even very simple for us, but what makes me unhappy is that when we started designing this tool, we learned that the CIA was also considering creating a tool that ordinary people can use."

"And in this regard, they choose to purchase externally."

“Purchase from private individuals.”

"On the surface, this matter has nothing to do with us. Although the CIA's needs and our R&D are indeed the same thing, we belong to two different systems. But the problem is that when our people learned that their purchase price was much lower than our R&D budget, our project was stuck and could not be advanced..."

When Vinton Cerf said this, Ethan and Evelyn immediately understood.

The reason this guy is unhappy is actually the unique way of doing things in the federal government.

Every time they start a project, they have to make a project budget. If the quotation can meet the psychological expectations of the people above, then the project will be easier to advance. But if the quotation does not meet the above standards, it is normal for it to be stuck for a year or two.

Although in many cases, blocking people is just talk. When these technical bigwigs say how much money a project will cost, the guys who rely on them to work will not say no to them, but everything is afraid of comparison, right? When the CIA's new requirements are the same as their R&D goals, whoever spends more money will be embarrassed. Even if there is no problem with the final account, they may be caught by those idiots in Congress.

"Oh Vinton, it's really unlucky to encounter something like this."

Ethan expressed his feelings in a regretful tone.

At the same time, he also casually asked: "Can I know which company undertook the CIA project? It can't be IBM, right? If it is them, then this matter is a bit disgusting."

It is normal for federal agencies to outsource services in any era, and the companies that can get federal orders are also large and small. If it is a giant of the era like IBM, they will definitely not modify the quotation after quoting, but if it is some ordinary companies...

There is still a lot of room for maneuver.

After all, small companies dare not offend others.

Ethan's words made Vinton Cerf shake his head. "IBM? How is that possible! If it were them, this kind of thing would never happen, because they would contact people from various departments before making a project quotation to avoid duplicate projects. Only small companies would be so reckless!"

“As far as I know, that company was established only after receiving the project?”

"That's why I say the CIA procures from private individuals!"

"Sometimes I even wonder if the CIA is embezzling funds in this way again!"

At this point, Vinton Cerf frowned, "Oh! Fxxk!"

"It seems like this could actually happen!"

"No, I have to get someone to check it out!"

"What was the name of that company? Something like Software Development Laboratories? Oh! Sxxt! That name sounds like a scam!"

Vinton Cerf flipped through the documents on the table in a hurry, as if he was trying to find information about the other party, but it seemed more like he had caught his opponent's handle and wanted to get back at him.

Ethan and Evelyn smiled and shook their heads at his anxious look. Since Vinton Cerf was busy, they didn't bother him and stood up to say goodbye.

Vinton Cerf did not stop them, but when he said goodbye to them, he took the initiative to ask the two of them to help him with something. At first, Ethan thought it was a big deal, but after the other party said it, he realized that this guy asked him to gather information.

“The company I just mentioned is in Santa Clara.”

"Because the founder of that company used to work for Ampex in Redwood City."

"So, if you have time, please help me go to Santa Clara and take a look at what this company is doing. If they are developing the tools I mentioned, then forget it, but if they are really trying to defraud funds... hehe..."

Here Vinton Cerf paused.

The cute look of wanting revenge made the brother and sister laugh and cry.

Although Vinton Cerf's behavior seemed childish, because if the CIA really wanted to defraud funds, they would not have to use such troublesome means, but the two still obeyed his wishes, nodded repeatedly, and agreed. After leaving Arlington, they felt that there was still time, so they decided to visit other friends.

They flew from Washington to Boston and met with Professor Ralph Bell, who was old but did not want to retire. During the chat, when the old professor learned that the next target of Destiny Game was home consoles, the old man was very happy.

"You are finally going to make a home console? Oh - this is really great news -"

"To be honest, I have always felt that home consoles are the most suitable machines for people to play games, because they can provide players with choices. It's just that due to some reasons of the times, they may be too expensive when they appear, and they can't meet the needs of the public. This is my problem. I didn't think it through carefully. It's not the problem of the machine. There is nothing wrong with it itself..."

"Since you want to develop the machine, as a company consultant, I naturally cannot just stand by and watch. So, if you encounter any problems during the development process, you can call me directly and I will help you solve it, or fly over directly..."

"Please don't think that doing this will bother me, because this is my dream. Just like you have told the world time and time again, my original intention of making games is to bring happiness to people. I really hope that this goal can be achieved..."

The two arrived in Boston in the morning and left by plane in the evening.

I only had lunch with the old professor at noon.

Although this kind of socializing might seem like a special forces punch-in, but...

Ok.

Ethan admitted that he was using the special forces' method of punching in to maintain his interpersonal relationships.

There is no way, who can help him? He is really busy now. If it weren't for the fact that recruitment takes time and relationships need to be maintained, he would have been working hard in the company long ago!

Before, he always thought that the natives were nothing to be afraid of, but in the end, he was kicked twice by the natives. After falling down every time he took a step, he really didn't dare to take a vacation for several months like he did last year, because he didn't know if the enemy would jump out in the next second.

If you want to avoid the tragedy of being forced to do something too soon, you have to take the initiative to move forward.

However, no matter how tight the time was, he did not go back immediately.

After leaving Ralph Baer, ​​he and his sister went to MOS Company again.

As the guarantee of the success of the Destiny Game, the R&D team of 6502 is also a relationship that he needs to constantly maintain. However, after he came here, he found that several people were missing from the original team.

"What's going on?" Ethan looked at Chuck Pete in surprise.

"Where are they? Are they sick?"

Chuck Petrus smiled and shook his head, saying, "No, they just resigned." "What?" This answer surprised Ethan.

He just didn't pay attention to this place for half a year, and as a result, there are fewer people in the company?

What is this ghost?

"Why?" he asked curiously, "Why did they resign?"

"Because...profit..." Chuck Pete didn't mean to hide anything. He smiled and showed Ethan an unfinished design drawing. "It's all because of it..."

It turned out that since Chuck Peteau told Ethan Jones last year that the Chuck Peteau chip manufacturing company in California would not distribute dividends for the time being and they needed to use the funds to develop a 16-bit CPU, MOS Company did continue to do it according to the original agreement.

On the surface, this is a good thing.

These people came together because of the same dream in the first place, and now after achieving success they can continue to work hard for the same dream. This kind of thing is very inspiring no matter how you look at it.

But the problem is that human hearts are never static.

Chuck Petrus can continue to work hard for his dream, but some people think that if they want to develop upward, they must make money. "They said that they made cheap chips because there were no such products in the mass market. When we couldn't find the value of the chips ourselves, we lowered the price and let the market explore. That became the only way to promote the products. After we found a market for the products..."

“The next generation of new products must be profitable.”

"Also, the 6502-bit CPU we studied is different from the previous ."

"The R&D funds for the 6502 were actually borne by Motorola. We didn't spend much money on this project ourselves, but the new 16-bit product is different. We spent our own money on it."

"In this case, they cannot accept the idea of ​​a low price..."

"Just left."

"And with them gone, it may be a while before 16-bit chips are actually made."

Chuck Padre looked at Ethan Jones with regret.

And Ethan Jones --

He also sighed with a wry smile.

To be honest, Ethan could actually understand those people's decisions. After all, doing something like generating electricity for love had to be voluntary. Any coercion was actually hooliganism.

Chuck Petrus and his team want to develop new chips and then continue to supply the world with the previous low-price strategy. This idea is actually extremely noble.

It is normal for those who leave to want to get a piece of the bright future through chips, because effort and reward complement each other.

When these two completely opposite ideas appear, it is natural for them to go their separate ways due to differences in their values. This kind of thing cannot be avoided and cannot be resolved.

All Ethan could do was to express his regret, then asked Chuck Petrus for the contact information of those people, borrowed the phone number of MOS company, and called them one by one to express his gratitude to these former warriors.

"I'm sorry to call you at this time, because I just learned about this matter. Although I really want to persuade you to come back, I know that this kind of persuasion is extremely hypocritical to you. Therefore, before calling you, I have already told myself to support your decision and believe in your decision. This call today is to express my best wishes to you. I hope you can have a beautiful tomorrow of your own..."

“Although we have separated today due to differences in ideas, we are still friends. I, Ethan Jones, admire your efforts to change the world. If you have any difficulties in the future, you can call me or come to California directly to my company. I will definitely help as long as I can…”

If it was when he first crossed over, Ethan would definitely not have said such cheesy words, but now, this kind of emotional catharsis is simply easy for him to grasp. He felt that he was not hypocritical, but had grown up. When he knew that there were people in this world who really lived for their dreams, he would respect those who had dreams, were struggling now, and would have dreams in the future.

Although Ethan returned to California in depression, he thought that the profits from MOS chips would allow him to live for the rest of his life. However, he did not expect that the R&D team would fall apart before the 16-bit chip came out. This accident was even more unexpected than the release of new machines by Atari and MILO.

But when he returned to the company, the recruitment results that had already come out made him extremely happy.

Under the control of Damio Dean and with the assistance of Julis Noble, the content production department of Destiny Game found ten employees, five of whom were famous.

They are Bob Whitehead, who graduated from Stanford in 1974 with a double bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science;
Alan Miller, Larry Kaplan, and David Crane, who graduated from UC Berkeley in 1975, 1976, and 1977 with a bachelor's degree in computer science;

And Trip Hawkins, who studied undergraduate at Harvard University and is currently studying for a master's degree at Stanford and will graduate next year.

When these five people appeared...

Ethan was shocked!
Even if they turned into ashes, Ethan would be able to recognize them!

Because the first four special codes founded Activision, and the one after that is the boss of EA!

In the previous life, the founders of the two giants in the American gaming industry are now all applying for jobs at Destiny Game?
This result was somewhat unexpected for Ethan!
After he asked, Damio Dean told him the reason.

"Bob Whitehead, Alan Miller, Larry Kaplan and David Crane all worked for Atari and developed games for the new console, but because of the failure of the machine and the takeover by Warner, they felt that there was no future for them to stay at Atari and chose to resign."

"Coincidentally, when they resigned, they found out that we were recruiting, so they came to try their luck. I saw that they all had experience in game development, so I took them on."

"Tripp Hawkins was recommended by Mr. Jobs. He actually applied for a job at Apple in the beginning. His goal was to be a sales manager. He had a bachelor's degree in literature from Harvard and a master's degree in business administration from Stanford. He didn't understand technology, but during his communication with Mr. Jobs, Mr. Jobs found that he had a deep understanding of games and had been exposed to games in 1968, so Mr. Jobs recommended him..."

Damio Dean's story made Ethan laugh.

Although the five people in front of him are just young men who have just started out and are not future industry giants, it is exciting to think about having celebrities from the previous life working for them!

Moreover, the appearance of these five people gave Ethan confidence in the establishment of the content production department, because in his previous life, time had proved that they would be successful. In the absence of a system for Ethan Jones, this behavior of recruiting celebrities to do the work could avoid pitfalls to the greatest extent.

Compared with the smooth progress of the content production department, recruitment in the machine research and development department is a bit difficult.

Because in the past two rounds of recruitment, Damio Dean and Julis Noble had not found the right candidate. When the applicants talked about the development of home consoles, they would praise the designs of New Era and Apollo. When Atari and MILO had already registered patents for their machines, the employees' praise could only bring one problem, that is, unconscious reference in the design.

If this kind of thing happened in normal business operations, it would be nothing. Just like what Mr. Lu Xun said, "All articles in the world are plagiarized. It depends on whether you can plagiarize or not." But when Atari and MILOVA are both competitors of the Destiny game...

Reference is really not allowed.

Because people will use a magnifying glass to study them.

However, whether or not a suitable machine designer is recruited is not important to Ethan, because his mind is filled with classic models such as FC, NFC, PS, XBox, etc.

When he closes his eyes and can see the future...

The design of this model is too simple!

Hehe ~
However, just as Ethan was wondering whether he should take advantage of Nintendo and copy the FC, on July 1977, 7, Julis Noble knocked on the door of his office in a hurry.

"Boss! Something happened!"

Ethan's breath was choked when he heard these words.

At this moment, he really wanted to throw this guy out!

Because every time she said something bad in a hurry, something big would definitely happen in the outside world that would be unfavorable to him!
But even if Ethan knew that things were not going well, he did not show it. He prayed to God, hoping that he could bless him, and said with a smile: "Something happened? What could happen now?"

"We have already defeated Milova and Atari. We have no rivals in North America."

But unfortunately, Julis was not in the mood to joke.

He pushed a newspaper directly in front of him.

"Boss! It's Nintendo!"

“Nintendo?”

This name made Ethan frown. He really couldn't imagine what kind of things Nintendo's little Karami in the current gaming industry could do. But when he saw the news in the newspaper -

He stood up in an instant!

Eyes as big as copper bells, ears as erect as antennas!
He almost overturned the table!
"Oh! Sxxt! What the fuck is this!" he yelled.

At this moment, there was a large black-and-white photo on the newspaper in front of him.

There is a square machine printed on it.

Below the picture, there is a text like this.

[Nintendo's latest product, the home console COLOR TV GAME 6, is a big hit in Japan]

Thanks to [Xiao Xinyi’s daddy] for the reward of 1700 Qidian coins, and thanks to [Colored Bat] for the reward of 200 Qidian coins.

Note: ① On March 77, 3, the DoD approved the Joint Tactical Communications System plan. ② Ampex was founded in 9 and is an electronics company that started out as a military company.

PS, no more

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(End of this chapter)