Chapter 175: Chapter 175: A Mix of Good and Bad - Part 2
Chuck Peddle chuckled and shook his head, "No, they simply resigned."
"What?" Ethan was taken aback by this response.
Had he been so out of touch that people had left the company in just half a year?
"What's going on?"
"Why would they resign?"
"It's about benefits," Chuck Peddle didn't hide the truth, smiling as he showed Ethan an unfinished design sketch. "It's all because of this…"
It turned out that since last year, when Chuck Peddle informed Ethan Jones that the Chuck Peddle Chip Manufacturing Company in California would temporarily not distribute dividends, opting instead to use the funds for developing a 16-bit CPU, MOS Technology had indeed continued as initially agreed.
On the surface, this was a positive development.
These individuals had come together driven by a shared dream, and now, having achieved success, they were motivated to continue striving towards that same dream. This scenario was undeniably inspirational.
However, human nature is never constant.
Chuck Peddle was willing to keep pushing for the dream, but others felt that advancement in development must lead to profit. "They argued that creating cheap chips was initially due to the absence of such products in the market. When we couldn't ascertain the value of our chips, lowering the price to allow the market to explore was the only way to promote our product. Once a market for the product was established…"
"The next generation of products must be profitable."
"Moreover, the 16-bit CPU we're researching is different from the 6502."
"The development of the 6502 was actually funded by Motorola; we didn't spend much of our own money on this project. But the new 16-bit product is different; it's funded with our own money."
"In this situation, those who couldn't accept the idea of low pricing…"
"Left."
"And with their departure, it might take some more time before the 16-bit chips can truly be developed."
Chuck Peddle looked regretfully at Ethan Jones.
And Ethan—
He sighed with a wry smile.
Truth be told, Ethan could understand the decisions of those people. After all, powering passion is inherently voluntary. Any coercion is essentially bullying.
Chuck Peddle and his team wanted to develop new chips and continue supplying the world with them at low prices, an incredibly noble idea.
And those who left, wanting to earn their share in the bright future through chips, was also understandable because effort and reward are inherently complementary.
When these two fundamentally different philosophies emerge, parting ways due to incompatible worldviews is inevitable and unresolvable.
What Ethan could do was express regret, then get the contact information of those people from Chuck Peddle and use MOS Technology's phone to call each of these former warriors to express his gratitude.
"I'm sorry to call you at this time, as I've only just learned about this. Although I'd like to persuade you to come back, I know such persuasion would seem utterly hypocritical to you. So, before calling you, I told myself to support your decision, to trust in your decision. This call is to express my blessings to you, hoping you can find your own wonderful future..."
"Although we've parted ways today due to differing philosophies, we remain friends. I, Ethan Jones, greatly admire your efforts to change the world. If in the future, you face any difficulties, feel free to call me, or come directly to California, to my company. If I can help, I definitely will…"
Had it been right after his time travel, Ethan wouldn't have been able to utter such sappy words. But now, such emotional expression came easily to him. He felt not hypocritical but matured, knowing there were indeed people living for their dreams in this world. He respected those who had dreams, are striving now, and will dream in the future.
Although Ethan returned to California disheartened, thinking the MOS chip dividends would sustain him for life, he hadn't expected the 16-bit chip development team to disband before its creation. This surprise was even more unexpected than Atari and Magnavox releasing new consoles.
But upon his return to the company, the recruitment results brought him immense joy.
Under Damian Dean's supervision, with Eulise Noble's assistance, Destiny Game's content creation department found ten employees, five of whom were renowned.
They were Bob Whitehead, a 1974 Stanford graduate with dual bachelor's degrees in mathematics and computer science;
Alan Miller, Larry Kaplan, and David Crane, graduates from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975, 1976, and 1977 respectively, each holding at least a bachelor's degree in computer science;
And Trip Hawkins, an undergraduate from Harvard University currently pursuing a master's in business administration at Stanford, set to graduate the following year.
When these five individuals appeared…
Ethan was astonished!
He could recognize them even if they turned to ash!
Because the first four were the founders of Activision, and the latter was the CEO of EA!
In his past life, the founders of
two major American game industry giants were now applying for positions at Destiny Game?
This outcome was unexpected for Ethan!
Upon inquiring, Damian Dean then explained the reason.
"Bob Whitehead, Alan Miller, Larry Kaplan, and David Crane had all worked for Atari, developing games for the new generation console. But due to the machine's failure and Warner's takeover, feeling no future at Atari, they chose to resign."
"Coincidentally, they found out we were recruiting when they resigned, so they came to try their luck. Seeing their game development experience, I took them in."
"And Trip Hawkins was recommended by Mr. Jobs. Initially, he applied to Apple aiming for the sales director position, holding a bachelor's degree in literature from Harvard and pursuing a master's in business administration at Stanford. He's not technically inclined, but during his conversation with Mr. Jobs, Mr. Jobs discovered his deep insights into games, having been involved with games since '68. So, Mr. Jobs recommended him to us…"
Damian Dean's narration made Ethan burst into laughter.
Though these five were just starting their careers, not yet the industry giants of the future, having celebrities from his past life work for him was thrilling!
Moreover, their arrival gave Ethan confidence in the content creation department's formation. In his past life, time had proven their success. Without a system in Ethan Jones's case, hiring celebrities to avoid pitfalls could maximize safety.
Compared to the smooth sailing of the content creation department, recruiting for the machine development department was more challenging.
In the past two rounds of recruitment, Damian Dean and Eulise Noble hadn't found suitable candidates. Those who came for interviews praised the designs of the new era and Apollo upon discussing home console development. When Atari and Magnavox had already patented their machines, their admiration only highlighted a problem: the unconscious imitation in design.
Such occurrences in normal business operations are negligible, as Lu Xun famously said, "All the writings under the sky are but a grand plagiarism, depending on whether you know how to plagiarize or not." However, when Atari and Magnavox are Destiny Game's competitors…
Imitation is truly unacceptable.
Because they would scrutinize them with a magnifying glass.
However, not recruiting a suitable machine designer wasn't significant for Ethan since his mind held classic models like the FC, NFC, PS, Xbox, etc.
When he could envision the future upon closing his eyes…
Designing a machine model was simply too easy!
Hehe~
Yet, just as Ethan pondered whether to "borrow" from Nintendo and copy the FC, on July 4th, 1977, Eulise Noble rushed into his office with urgency.
"Boss! Something's happened!"
Such words made Ethan's breath hitch.
At that moment, he truly wished to throw her out!
Because whenever she spoke with such urgency, the outside world was definitely about to face a major event detrimental to him!
But even knowing the situation was grim, Ethan didn't show it, praying to God for protection while smiling, "What's happened? What could possibly happen now?"
"Magnavox and Atari have been defeated by us, we have no competitors in North America now."
Unfortunately, Eulise was not in a joking mood.
She pushed a newspaper across the table directly.
"Boss! It's Nintendo!"
"Nintendo?"
This name made Ethan furrow his brow, unable to imagine what the then-small player in the gaming world could do. But upon seeing the newspaper…
He stood up abruptly!
Eyes wide as bells, ears perked up like antennas!
Almost flipping the table!
"Oh! Sxxt! What the hell is this!" he roared.
Before him, the newspaper featured a large black-and-white photo.
It depicted a boxy machine.
Below the image, a caption read:
"[Rippon Nintendo's latest product, the home console COLOR TV GAME 6, explodes across the island nation]"
Note: On March 9th, 1977, the DoD approved the Joint Tactical Communications System plan. Ampex, founded in 1944, started as a military electronics company.
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