Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 23 This is your life!
"Hey! Mr. Jobs, what's wrong with you?"

Ethan Jones was surprised by Steve Jobs' reaction.

Because he didn't understand, what was so funny about the identity of a former employee of Mirohua?

His doubts also made Steve Jobs frown and asked in surprise: "What's wrong with me? Aha? Don't you know? We are a family! We are a family!"

'! ! ! '

Ethan was shocked. Now he was not sure whether the guy in front of him was Steve Jobs.

If it is true...

"Brother, don't you know about the lawsuit between Milova and Atari?"

Ethan waved his hands. At this moment, he didn't know whether there was a bug in his speech system or there was something wrong with Steve Jobs' brain circuit.

You know, the lawsuit between Milova and Atari was known to everyone in the United States!

When both parties were already in court, Steve Jobs could still say "We are a family"?
Isn't this a mental illness?

The hippie gentleman also noticed Ethan's speechlessness. He frowned and took two sips of McDonald's Coke. Suddenly he understood and asked, "You don't mean to say that Atari and Mirowa are enemies, do you?"

"Yeah!" Ethan nodded.

Before he finished speaking, Steve Jobs smiled and said, "Oh! I see! Mr. Jones! I think there is a problem between one of us, and based on my current judgment, that person should be you."

"Mr. Jones, as a former employee of MILO, you actually didn't pay attention to the lawsuit between MILO and Atari. Wow, this is really..." Steve Jobs seemed to want to complain about Ethan's behavior, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back. He spread his hands and said, "Well, it's normal not to pay attention. After all, he is a former employee."

"But it doesn't matter, because the lawsuit was concluded a few days ago, and we are now a team."

"We are truly a team."

'...'

To be honest, Ethan is now wondering if this guy has smoked.

Because the confusing logic and mysterious words were really incomprehensible to him.

"Mr. Jobs, I don't think I quite understand what you mean."

Ethan Jones thought for a moment and said, “If possible, can you explain the situation clearly?”

"Of course!"

Steve Jobs swung the Coke cup in his hand and said, "The reason why I say we are a family is because your former boss, Nikola Milo, has reached an out-of-court settlement with Atari. We may still have cooperation in the future..."

As Steve Jobs told the story, Ethan Jones finally understood what had happened in the weeks since he left MILOVA.

The plagiarism lawsuit between Milova and Atari has been settled. Atari admitted its plagiarism, but...

They were not punished accordingly.

Because Ralph Baer got involved.

As the inventor of the Odyssey, the world's first commercial home game console, Ralph Baer enjoys all the patents of Odyssey, and MIRO is just an equipment manufacturing and distribution company that cooperates with Ralph Baer.

For this reason, when Nikola and Atari started a lawsuit over the infringement of Pong, Ralph Baer naturally appeared in court and accused Atari of plagiarism as the plaintiff.

If this lawsuit had been shot like a Hollywood soap opera, it would have ended with Atari being sued into bankruptcy by Magnavox, but unfortunately, this lawsuit followed the script of "The Green Mile".

Because Ralph Baer had the idea of ​​a home game console as early as 1960, and completed the conceptual design of a home game console around . Then, he spent nearly five years perfecting his ideas and designing games for the console, and then spent another five years finding a manufacturer willing to produce a home game console.

The reason he did this was simply because he thought his ideas were interesting and could bring happiness to the world.

This reason may sound a little outrageous, but it is true.

Because when Ralph Baer was looking for a publisher, he approached IBM, Motorola, and General Electric, with whom he had always had cooperation, but all three refused, saying that they saw no hope of making a profit. At this time, Ralph Baer had already achieved financial freedom with his previous inventions, but even so he still wanted to promote video games.

Finally, Miluohua was found.

So, when Atari's founder Nolan Bushnell learned all this, he directly showed Ralph Baer in the plaintiff's seat in court the financial reports of Atari since its establishment, and told Ralph Baer in tears that his goal was the same as his. He invested all the money earned by Atari into arcade production, just for the purpose of promoting video games to the public.

If Ralph Baer insisted on helping MILOVA to claim compensation, then Atari would have no choice but to go bankrupt. With the collapse of Atari, the finally achieved boom in video games might be destroyed.

At this cry, Ralph Bell softened.

Although Milova repeatedly told him to strangle Atari.

But… "Professor Ralph Baer still told the court that he hoped to terminate the trial and try to reach an out-of-court settlement with Atari." Steve Jobs smiled and said, "When the inventor of Odyssey and the copyright owner of the table tennis game were willing to settle, the court respected the parties' demands, and then your former boss Milova entered into a settlement with Atari."

"With Professor Ralph Bell as the middleman, do you think we are now a family?"

Steve Jobs emphasized his tone when he said 'We are a family'.

When this fact was told by Steve Jobs, Ethan Jones was completely stunned!

He never imagined that there would be such a saint in the world?

Give up the benefits that you deserve in order to allow an industry to develop?
What kind of spirit is this?
To be honest, Ethan Jones admitted that this was a height he could not reach!

At the same time, he also understood why Steve Jobs laughed after hearing his identity.

Because now, Atari looks like the winner.

Do not!
Those who can reach a settlement with the plaintiff in a lawsuit that is bound to fail are the winners!
When this fact came to light, Ethan felt very uncomfortable.

He had thought that if Atari lost the lawsuit against MILOVA, they might accept profit-sharing cooperation in exchange for paying a high amount of compensation, but now...

"Okay, Mr. Jobs, thank you for your help."

Ethan Jones said with emotion, "Thank you for telling me about the relationship between Milova and Atari, and thank you for your support for my game, but I think everything ends here, because we may not be able to cooperate anymore."

"Why?" Steve Jobs was puzzled.

In his opinion, Ethan Jones's previous entanglement was probably just because he was worried that the lawsuit between Milova and Atari would affect him. But now, the lawsuit is over. Even if Ethan Jones is a former employee of Milova, he can still discuss cooperation with Atari normally!

Why did it disappear after I explained it clearly?
Steve Jobs' surprise also made Ethan sigh and said, "Mr. Jobs, actually, before coming here today, I went to several companies, including Exsidy, Sega, and others. You are not the first to see this game, nor the first to say that this game is good. But, even though they showed great interest in this game, I did not reach a cooperation agreement with them. Do you know why? Because I do not accept a buyout."

Ethan said frankly: "I only accept profit sharing."

When this sentence appeared, Steve Jobs' brow suddenly frowned.

There was endless inquiry in those sharp eyes.

Even though the McDonald's they were in was very noisy with people diners coming and going around them, at this moment, the gaze between the two made their surroundings become extremely quiet.

I don’t know how long they stared at each other, but Steve Jobs suddenly smiled.

"Ethan Jones? Right..."

"uh-huh."

"Do you have faith?"

"I believe in myself."

"Oh~" Ethan's words made Steve Jobs grin and said, "Ethan, can I call you that?"

"Okay." Ethan Jones nodded.

"Did you really not know about the lawsuit between MIT and Atari before?" Steve Jobs wanted to confirm this question.

"Of course!" Ethan Jones nodded again.

"Ethan, I believe in Buddhism." This answer made Steve Jobs smile even more. He said, "You know, I suddenly saw a light above your head. It's a very beautiful light."

"If you believe in God, I think it will be God's gift. If you believe in Buddha, I think it must be Buddha's mercy. But...if you believe in yourself, I think it is your destiny."

"do you know?"

"Right now, in the whole of America, perhaps Atari is the only company willing to accept profit-sharing cooperation."

'? ? ? '

Ethan frowned, "Why?"

"Because..." Steve Jobs smiled and said, "Atari and MILO have reached an out-of-court settlement..."

"Maybe this is your fate..."

Note: ① The first infringement lawsuit in the history of electronic games was indeed concluded with the intervention of the copyright owner Ralph Baer. When MILOVA and Atari were suing, Ralph Baer took out the manuscript of the game content that he had completed in the 1960s, and invited people from IBM, Motorola and General Electric who knew his design content to testify in court. When these three giants appeared, the case was actually dead. Atari didn't even have enough money to pay for it, let alone the money it earned. It was Ralph Baer himself who let Atari go. Of course, in order to seek self-protection, Nolan Bushnell did show Atari's financial report in court, saying that Atari's current cash flow could not support the huge compensation. This is actually a real business war. If you can avoid paying money, don't pay money. If you can lose less money, pay less money. If you can't make sense, then seek sympathy. If you lose, it's just the other party's successful rights protection, but if you win, you can get the world. It was because Ralph Baer released Nolan Bushnell that when the industry later called Nolan Bushnell the father of video games, he himself said that this title should be shared with Ralph Baer. ② Regarding Ralph Baer's reconciliation, there is another rumor that Ralph Baer was not prepared to reconcile at first, but when Milova changed hands and was sold to Philips of the Netherlands by the Americans, Ralph Baer decided to reconcile. The reason may be related to his identity as a Jew who fled to the United States after Kristallnacht.



(End of this chapter)