Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 30 is on sale (please read it later)

May 1975, 5 was a Thursday.

This day has no meaning for America.

Because they have never celebrated the world-recognized May Day. The Labor Day in the United States is on the first Monday of September every year.

As for the reason?

Chicago knows.

That morning, Ethan came to Atari's Los Gatos factory. Unlike what he had seen before, the bustling production team was nowhere to be found, and instead, there were reception staff in uniform.

A small wooden stage was erected on the open space in the factory area. Directly opposite the stage, nearly a hundred folding chairs were neatly arranged.

This drive-in theater-like arrangement may seem like a steal, but it is actually very practical.

Ethan's seat was in the middle of the first row. To his left was Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, and the one in front of him was Don Valentine, who he had met before.

Although both of them were very enthusiastic, after a simple greeting, they parted ways immediately.

Don Valentine was chatting with his friends, while Nolan Bushnell was smiling and welcoming the guests who had arrived one after another. As for Ethan Jones? He was folding his arms and looking around.

Perhaps because there were no centralized sales channels in that era, the guests who were invited were really bosses from various industries. Those in suits and ties usually controlled bowling alleys, those with slicked-back hair and bell-bottom pants most likely owned karaoke bars and dance halls, and those in bright clothes and accompanied by beautiful women mostly worked in bars and nightclubs.

Ethan found the gathering of all kinds of people quite interesting, and as the time gradually approached ten o'clock, most of the people had arrived. Nolan Bushnell glanced at the scene and was very satisfied with the attendance rate of more than 80%. After snapping his fingers at Steve Jobs at the side of the stage, the hippie man who received the order cleared his throat and patted the microphone.

The "bang bang bang" sounds attracted everyone's attention.

As the buzzing noise disappeared, Steve Jobs smiled and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Atari's new product launch in May 1975. I am the host of this event, Steve Jobs."

Having said this, he paused and a formal smile appeared on his face.

And offstage...

In addition to the polite applause, there were also shouts -

"Steve! Please introduce the product quickly! I am so sleepy!"

"Yes! Please introduce them quickly! I have to go to the store this afternoon!"

"Hey, Steve, how come you guys are doing the same thing as those big companies now, holding new product launches? If I remember correctly, two years ago, Nolan drove a pickup truck with game consoles to sell them to us one by one! He also guaranteed that the products would be delivered to our door within three days after the order was placed. But now... your service has simply regressed to the Pacific Ocean! Don't you agree?"

"Hahaha~"

"Yeah~"

“Backwards!”

Loud laughter is a reflection of quality.

Perhaps because he had seen this so often, Steve Jobs was not bothered by this. Instead, he raised the microphone and said, "Alright~ I know you are all very busy. Some of you just came here after closing the store, and some of you need to leave early because the store opens at noon. So I won't waste your time here. Next, I will directly introduce our company's new products to you."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed, shifting everyone's attention to the big guy next to him.

It was a machine wrapped in red cloth.

Steve Jobs pulled hard, and a dark green figure appeared in front of everyone.

Unlike the rough shell made by Ethan before, after Atari's modification, there is a ferocious green snake on the head of the machine, opening its bloody mouth from left to right, trying to swallow the apple in front of it.

Below the graffiti is the name of a game written in yellow paint: "Snake Game".

The display of explosive information caught the attention of everyone present.

Steve Jobs took advantage of the silence and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, just by looking at this design, I think you should be able to guess that the game we are launching this time is related to snakes."

"However, I want to tell you here that you can guess the protagonist of the game, but you will never guess the content of the game."

At this point, Steve Jobs raised his voice, raised his right hand, and his index finger flew.

"Because it's different from every other console on the market!"

"Now, all the game consoles on the market have a problem, that is, the customer's game time is not controlled by us. I think everyone here has a deep understanding of this. Whether it is Atari's "Pong" or other companies' games, they can only maximize profits by limiting the number of times customers play!"

"But even so, we often get into awkward situations."

"Take Pong for example. Customers can play Pong 10 times with a friend by inserting a quarter. If both are experts, they can play back and forth on the machine and occupy the machine for half an hour or even longer."

"but now……"

"This situation no longer exists!"

"Snake Game has greatly optimized this problem, because most customers can only play on this machine for a few minutes, tens of seconds, or even..."

"A few seconds!"

At this point, Steve Jobs paused.

And at the scene, there was an endless sensation.

"Wow~ Is this true?"

"A few seconds? Twenty-five cents for a few seconds? How do you do that?"

"Oh! Sxxt! I want to see the show! Come on, come on, come on! Show me the show!"

"Dxmn! If it can really be achieved to this extent, it is definitely a miracle!"

The entertainment dealers who had been expressing their dissatisfaction earlier now stretched their necks.

This situation made Steve Jobs laugh on the stage.

I bent down and turned on "Snake Game", and then the explosive electronic music appeared instantly.

In front of everyone, he put a coin into the machine and then did nothing. Under everyone's gaze, the little snake in the game interface hit the wall from left to right and died in just eight seconds.

This fact made everyone's eyes light up!
They wanted to say something, but Steve Jobs was faster in inserting the coin, and this time, under his operation, the little snake in the game interface hit itself in just five seconds and was declared dead.

This novel way of dying made the guys at the scene open their eyes wide!
When Jobs inserted the coin for the third time and spent about thirty seconds in the demonstration to eat ten fruits on the screen, the game speed suddenly increased, causing the little snake on the screen to hit the border again.

This result made the merchants who were invited to come breathe faster!

Because they seem to know the selling point of this game!

While they were staring at the machine, eager to learn more, Steve Jobs had already raised the microphone and said:
“I believe everyone has understood.”

“The gameplay of Snake Game is actually very simple. Customers control a snake that moves forward by itself and get game points by eating white dots on the screen. This game has no real success, only endless death, because the snake in the game cannot touch the border or its own body. But at the same time, every time it eats a piece of food, its body will become longer and its activity space will become smaller accordingly. Every time it eats ten pieces of food, its forward speed will increase, making it more difficult to operate.”

"According to the designer's design, the maximum survival time of a customer in the first stage is forty-five seconds, the maximum survival time in the second stage is thirty seconds, the maximum survival time in the third stage is fifteen seconds, and the fourth stage..."

At this point, Steve Jobs laughed and said, "Sorry, I can't get through either."

"So, so far, our theoretical maximum game time is ninety seconds!"

"The theoretical limit in one hour is forty times!"

"The theoretical maximum income for a day is two hundred and forty dollars!"

The powerful words stunned all the merchants who were invited.

They stared at the game consoles on the stage in disbelief, their eyes full of doubt and greed!
Two hundred and forty dollars a day, the most you can make?
What kind of business is this?

This makes more money than drug trafficking!
Of course, there are also doubts.

"I don't believe it! Your data is too exaggerated!"

A guy wearing a baseball cap suddenly spoke up, "The game 'Pong' that you launched before was a huge hit in the US! I guess everyone in the US has heard of the name 'Pong' now! But even so, when 'Pong' was popular before, the daily revenue was only fifty to sixty dollars! And the 'Snake Game' you're making now is said to have a maximum daily revenue of two hundred and forty dollars? With all due respect, I don't believe this data!"

Such words caused everyone at the scene to nod their heads repeatedly.

"Yes, your data is really unreal!"

"It's a good thing for us that the game ends too quickly, but what about the customers? What if they play two rounds and then stop playing?"

“Is your game really fun? Can it keep customers inserting coins?”

The full of doubts made Steve Jobs smile.

He waved his hand and said to the guy who led the charge: "Sir, you can come up and try."

With such an invitation, how could the strong man hesitate?

Just walk up, take out the coins and do it.

At the same time, he said loudly: "I don't believe it. How can a game with such simple operation attract people?"

Although he had just watched Steve Jobs's demonstration, watching was watching and playing was playing, and it was impossible to balance the two.

His eyes told him he understood, but his hands...

"MFxxk!——"

After tossing three coins in a row, the strong man didn't survive for a minute.

The white 'Game Over' looked like a smiling face, laughing at his garbage!

This fact made him wave his right hand!
Just when everyone thought he was going to smash the machine, he stamped his feet and asked, "How much is one?"

"Twelve thousand." Steve Jobs reported the number with a smile.

"I have two stores, give me two!"

"Okay, please go over there to register."

Although the first person to eat crabs is the smart one, the first person to eat crabs will only arouse the curiosity of others.

The second person to try it will attract the attention of others.

And when the third and fourth guys appeared one after another...

The atmosphere at the scene was extremely enthusiastic!
The game "Snake" seems to have endless charm!
It is easy to use and gives people the illusion that whoever does it can do it!

After the experience, the increasing difficulty is more like a HI-HI beauties, tempting people to keep moving forward!

An occasional failure will make people think that you are careless!

After inserting the coin again, the crisp jingling sound is the best interpretation of falling into the abyss!
Every guy who came on stage for the test could not survive three rounds from Snake!
Then they waved their checks and wanted to order the machines!
At the beginning, Steve Jobs guided these bosses to place orders in an orderly manner.

But when the logistics staff said that the number of copies prepared this time had been almost sold out, the latecomers who heard the news immediately swarmed into Atari's office, wanting to fight for the last share!

"I want two! Right now!"

"Three! Is there any three? Can I fill out the check first!"

"Hua Q! I have three pool halls! Leave six for me!"

"You are a bunch of poor bastards! You are so stingy! Ten! I want ten! I want them tonight!"

"Don't push! Don't push! Leave one for me! Leave one for me!"

Looking at the chaotic scene and listening to the wild sounds, Ethan, who was sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai, showed a satisfied smile.

He knew that no one in this world could resist Snake.

nobody!
(End of this chapter)