Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 172 The Shock Brought by the New Panda (5k)

After the Kremlin decided to promote OGAS, Glushkov received administrative approval and the corresponding resources.

This included the merger of computer companies, scientists, and engineers from Soviet Russia, as well as computer companies from the four Eastern European countries. The scientists involved were transferred to the Control Institute in Ukraine, the same institute where Glushkov worked.

Ukraine achieved its dream of unification with Eastern Europe decades ahead of schedule.

According to insightful individuals, once OGAS is successfully implemented in the four Eastern European countries, these four countries will form a de facto alliance, at least in terms of economic integration and the movement of people.

At this point in time, these four countries would welcome such a prospect.

For East Germany, this naturally meant more markets and labor, including computer manufacturing, which was also located in East Germany – a windfall.

For the other three countries, which are heavily reliant on heavy industry, resources, and agriculture, their products have found a market.

Therefore, the overall attitude towards OGAS is currently optimistic.

However, Glushkov encountered numerous difficulties during the actual implementation process.

Attitude is one thing, but real difficulties are another.

The difficulties are not limited to hardware; they also extend to software.

The computer technology of Soviet Russia and Eastern Europe lagged far behind that of the West, by at least three years.

Furthermore, it is completely lacking in network technology.

The most important aspect of OGAS is large-scale data exchange. The world's first computer network, ARPANET, did not appear until 1969. At that time, Glushkov could not find a reference point.

At the system level, complex databases, optimization algorithms, and economic modeling software are required, and these technologies were virtually nonexistent in Eastern Europe in 1964.

The best target was actually the aforementioned French company Bull, but the company was too good for them to handle, and General Electric had already set its sights on it.

At best, they can poach some engineers from Bull.

Zuse's Chus is the option they can get.

The Soviet Union valued the other side more for its talent in software, especially its ability to create an entire system out of thin air on its own, rather than its hardware capabilities.

Sergei interrupted his explanation, his tone softening: "Dr. Chus, OGAS is a bold attempt for us, and we need reliable computer technology."

Would you like to join our program?
The teams at Robotron, Odra, and Tesla welcome your expertise.

He paused, then added, "Of course, that would require you to come to Moscow or Leipzig and work with our engineers."

Chus's smile froze for a moment, his heart churning with turmoil. He felt that the situation wasn't so bad that he should join East Germany.

Joining East Germany meant a completely new beginning.

He murmured, "Could you give me a more detailed introduction to OGAS?"

Sergei nodded and said, "Of course."

Then they gave a general overview of what they wanted to do.

After listening, Chus's eyes lit up: "Mr. Sergei, we can build similar computers. If we can meet your requirements, could the OGAS project order be awarded to us?"

Sergei remained silent, and Karl Schmidt explained, "Mr. Chus, that's impossible."

This has nothing to do with technology or parameters; it's because we place orders with Zuse KG, and you cannot guarantee a stable supply of equipment.

There may be no problem in the early stages, but once OGAS achieves certain results and our propaganda machine begins to promote OGAS and socialism globally, claiming that technology brings prosperity to Eastern Europe, you will inevitably be unable to maintain a stable supply of equipment.

America will use various means to restrict your equipment exports.

This includes even the provision of spare parts and subsequent maintenance, which is unacceptable to us.

We need to have control over the design, production, and maintenance of computer equipment.

Unless you're willing to move the entire company to East Germany.

Chus realized that he couldn't do it at all, because he no longer had control of the company.

Chu Si was caught in a dilemma. He recalled the invitation from China, "Perhaps China is also a way out?"

He quickly banished the idea from his mind. Was he crazy to go to China as a German?

However, circumstances will soon force him to make a decision.

The IBM booth was bustling with people, and the sales staff were carrying one potential order after another.

Chus was heartbroken, and when he returned to West Germany, Siemens' ultimatum dealt him a fatal blow.

Siemens wants to take away his CEO position and make him only a technical advisor, which is worse than killing him.

At that moment, he thought of East Germany, believing that perhaps only East Germany could allow him to fully utilize his talents. With this in mind, he dialed Sergei's number, about to embark on a life completely different from the past.

Back at the Leipzig Spring Fair, in addition to the large number of visitors to IBM's booth, the booths from China also attracted a considerable number of visitors.

Although it cannot be compared with IBM, Panda's performance two years ago was still impressive.

Even today, thanks to its low price, high quality, and design that is far superior to its competitors, Panda remains the most popular radio in the entire socialist community.

Last year, overseas sales exceeded one million units, generating 20 million US dollars in foreign exchange for China.

Therefore, when the Leipzig Exhibition Bureau learned that China had brought a new generation of Panda radios to this exhibition, they specially reserved a poster space at the entrance for China.

The Leipzig Trade Fair is organized by Deutsche Börse and the Leipzig Exhibition Bureau. There is no charge for advertising space; instead, it is subject to official approval.

Western European and American companies that participate in the exhibition will be charged based on size, location, and exhibition time, with fees ranging from approximately 100 to 300 East German marks per square meter.

Just like two years ago, this time the delegation was led by Li Mingde, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The team included Zhang Zhigang, a veteran member of the committee, and Li Hongbo from the radio factory.

Generally, once they have successfully completed a mission, they are not replaced.

Coupled with the booming sales of Panda brand radios, the $20 million in foreign exchange reserves was a significant sum in China at that time.

Therefore, this trip to Leipzig can only succeed and cannot fail, so the older generation is even less likely to change their minds.

The first day was a great success. On the first day alone, orders for more than 100,000 units were signed, mainly from Eastern European countries, with more than 50,000 units coming from East Germany alone.

"One day! We sold 100,000 units in one day, which is more than ten times the total number we signed up for at the Leipzig Trade Fair two years ago!" Zhang Zhigang couldn't hide his excitement.

He clearly remembered attending the Leipzig Trade Fair two years ago, where he sold nine thousand units, which was enough to make him so happy that he couldn't sleep all night.

As a result, 100,000 units were sold in just one day, which is a qualitative leap.

Li Hongbo explained, "Our products still have a lot of advantages."

Especially compared to Western European products at the same price point, ours includes AM, FM, and shortwave, and it's a silicon-based radio. A West German product would cost at least fifty dollars, while ours is only thirty dollars.

Our radio isn't even worse than the Sony TR-1820 of the same model.

Zhang Zhigang was a little confused: "What is a Sony TR-1820?"

After glancing around, Li Hongbo whispered in his ear, "The Japanese-made radios sell for eighty dollars each."

Li Hongbo had some exposure to this type of information from internal technical magazines.

Zhang Zhigang gasped, "So expensive?"

Li Hongbo nodded: "That's right, because theirs are brand-name products, and foreigners only care about brands."

Fortunately, we're branded products now, so we can command a higher price.

Zhang Zhigang was somewhat annoyed. "We're only selling for thirty dollars! According to you, our goods are better than the Japanese goods that cost eighty dollars, yet we can only sell for thirty dollars. Is this what you call a branded product?" Li Hongbo waved his hand. "Eighty dollars is the selling price. The Japanese probably sell it to these stores for about fifty dollars, which is about the same as us."

Moreover, what we lack now is foreign exchange. It doesn't matter if we earn less; the important thing is to earn foreign exchange.

When I say "branded goods," I mean that foreigners recognize the Panda brand.

If we could sell to places like Western Europe and America, we could set our price at fifty dollars.

But we can't sell them in those places now.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, they took a break and, under the pretext of going to the restroom, went to IBM's booth for a quick look.

Twenty of IBM's latest 7090s were displayed side by side on the exhibition stand, humming softly, while the area below was packed with exhibitors and visitors.

Almost all Eastern European newspapers reported that IBM's Deep Blue would be attending the Leipzig trade fair. This was seen as a move by the US to maintain the influence and prestige of the liberal camp amid the chaos following Kennedy's death, in order to demonstrate its technological strength and show that America still holds an unshakeable position in the technology field.

Even though some Eastern European newspapers urged the public not to visit and not let America succeed, the effect on the scene did not seem to be good.

The problem is that Soviet Russia and other Eastern European countries simply didn't have machines capable of playing chess with humans.

No, Soviet Russia had it.

Almost simultaneously with Deep Blue, Soviet chess grandmaster David Brunstein played an exhibition match against the M-20 vacuum tube computer.

However, the results were poor; the entire competition was not even completed, and the sensation it generated was far less than that of Deep Blue. Even within the Soviet Union, few people knew about it.

They originally intended to report on it extensively, but then Deep Blue came out, and the Soviet Union gave it the cold shoulder.

When Zhang Zhigang and Li Hongbo arrived, a game of chess had just ended. Even though they didn't understand chess, they could tell who won and who lost just by looking at the number of pieces on the board.

When the human player shook his head in frustration and walked off the stage, applause and cheers erupted around him, not only for the human player but also for Deep Blue.

"The machine won?" Zhang Zhigang asked hesitantly.

Li Hongbo nodded and said, "That's right, the machine won! It's amazing that a machine can actually beat a human."

Zhang Zhigang asked, "Could it be that the Americans cheated? After all, they've always been despicable."

Li Hongbo subconsciously retorted, "Impossible." Then he explained in a gentle tone, "Think about it, so many people come and go here. This isn't their own territory; it's Russian territory. How could someone cheat on their own territory?"

The Americans just made such a big joke, and now they've gone to Russia to cheat. After being caught, they're being ridiculed by Russia in the international arena.

Americans aren't that stupid.

Zhang Zhigang nodded thoughtfully: "That makes sense, no one is that stupid."

This explains why they were unaware that the Warren Commission's report was subsequently refuted by a BBC interview program; had they known, their conclusions would likely have been shaken.

On his way back, Li Hongbo remarked with emotion, "Do you know that the machine owes a debt to the Chinese people?"

Zhang Zhigang asked in surprise, "A Chinese?"

Li Hongbo corrected, "No, it's not Chinese. Deep Blue was designed by Professor Lin Ran and his team."

Li Hongbo knew this because he had access to technical magazines, which Zhang Zhigang did not.

Lin Ran is a household name in China; almost everyone knows that this Chinese-American mathematics master also holds a high-ranking position in the White House.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhigang recalled the awe he had felt from the moment the machine defeated the human. "Truly amazing! Professor Lin Ran seems omnipotent. When do you think he'll be able to return like Dean Qian?"

The moment those words were spoken, silence fell. No one spoke again, and both of them knew very well that such a day would probably never come.

Hermann Schmidt, the local purchasing manager in Leipzig, had previously purchased Panda brand radios from China.

This time, seeing the new goods arrive, he placed an order for 5,000 units with the other party, and learned that if the order was for 10,000 units, he could get a sample in advance.

Therefore, he increased the order to 10,000 units.

After all, what China brought this time was a brand new small portable radio, still based on silicon transistors in terms of specifications, and the sound quality was flawless. In addition, the multi-band and large speaker effects all indicated one thing: there was no worry about sales.

After all, over the past two years, Chinese products have won over a large number of users with their quality and user experience.

In East Germany's state-run stores, if you mentioned pandas, you basically didn't need to explain where they came from or what their specifications were.

In a conference room in Leipzig, samples from China were laid out on the table. Apart from Schmidt, the room was filled with electrical engineers and semiconductor experts from various VEB radio-related companies.

VEB is a prefix for East German companies; all East German companies had this prefix, which translates to "people's owned companies" in Chinese.

Klaus Muller, in his early thirties, tall and thin, wearing round-framed glasses and simple work clothes, was also an expert among this group of people, belonging to the experts among experts in the field of semiconductor technology.

He picked up the Panda S1, weighed it in his hand, and carefully observed the design of the knob and dial. Then he turned it on, tuned to a local radio channel, and a crisp sound came out with almost no noise.

Muller muttered to himself, raising an eyebrow slightly: "The sound quality is not bad, it sounds very stable."

I then switched to another channel and heard the same clear broadcast.

One of the engineers present remarked, "This performance doesn't seem to be inferior to that of Western products."

Muller carefully disassembled the radio to examine the circuit boards and components.

The engineers stood behind, peering out to examine the circuit board layout.

"Just as we guessed, the welding process is very precise. I feel that China has made progress in this area."

The first-generation Panda circuit board soldering technology was already better than that of Soviet/Russian products, and this generation seems to be even better.

"Layout and tuning circuits have always been a strength of China, and we need to record them and learn from their design concepts," Muller said.

Muller then noticed the anomaly: "China actually used a planar process!"

It's not surprising that China has developed planar technology; it would be strange if it hadn't.

Planar processing refers to the process of forming an oxide layer on the surface of a silicon wafer and performing steps such as photolithography and doping to manufacture transistors and integrated circuits with more stable performance and higher consistency.

Since its development in 1959, planar printing technology has become the mainstream technology.

Even without the Raspberry Pi, Lin Ran's reminder, and the gathering of China's semiconductor R&D capabilities, the Hebei Semiconductor Research Institute, the predecessor of the 13th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group in the original timeline, developed a silicon epitaxial planar transistor in 1964.

In the early 1960s, China was keeping pace with the latest technological advancements in the semiconductor field.

Now, the situation is far more optimistic than in the original timeline. China's new generation of portable radios is now comparable in quality to high-end products from the Western camp.

This is also thanks to some technological inspirations brought by the Raspberry Pi, such as light-emitting diodes, which made Chinese scientists realize that silicon-based doping with boron (P-type) or phosphorus (N-type) dopants can precisely control the electrical performance of transistors.

“No, I feel that this effect is more than just simple diffusion doping. I suspect they’ve mastered ion implantation technology.” Mueller seemed to have found some inspiration from the broadcast.

The engineers looked at each other blankly, because none of them had ever heard of this thing.

What is ion implantation?

"We all know that doping refers to the deliberate introduction of impurities into silicon to change its electrical properties and form the PN junction required for transistors and diodes."

There are two types of doping: one is diffusion, which involves introducing dopant atoms onto the surface of the silicon wafer using a gas at high temperatures, and then diffusing them into the crystal lattice.

"The technology of gas diffusion emerged in the 40s, and Bell Labs achieved precise control in the 50s. In 1951, Bell Labs published a paper in Physical Review that described in detail the diffusion doping of silicon transistors and disclosed the technology."

At the time, Shockley, the inventor of the transistor, proposed another diffusion technique, namely ion implantation.

But even Silicon Valley hasn't necessarily achieved mass production of ion implantation technology yet, so how did the Chinese manage to do it? Mueller was completely baffled. "And if they really are using ion implantation, $30 per unit seems a bit too cheap. Maybe I'm wrong."

If I'm mistaken, it's possible that China has made a breakthrough in gas diffusion technology. In any case, whatever the possibility, I suggest we increase technological exchanges with China. We have no conflicts with China, and in the semiconductor field, we can and should cooperate, especially now that East Germany is promoting OGAS.

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(End of this chapter)