Chapitre 151: Chapter 151: Beating Up the Giant
Well, William White rose pretty fast. Before he bought NBC and Disney, he was just a giant, but now he's a supergiant, one of the top people on the American pyramid.
The old folks at Big Blue were still focused on recent events and made some misjudgments, which are understandable.
Before this, the two companies had quite a few conflicts. There's no need to say much about who's right or wrong; IBM bullied the smaller players, plain and simple.
It's normal to bully others. When William White bullied Lotus, he nearly put them out of business.
The problem now is that Big Blue underestimated the influence of White Software. It's not just Office suites and microcomputer databases; White Software also released computer versions of Tetris and Pac-Man.
The combination of software and games is naturally more interesting than plain old MSDOS. As for Lotus's Office suite, it's barely recognized by the market.
It's not that they're not trying; White Software's new version once again dominated across the board.
Sure, many software programs support Microsoft's systems, but the impact is too weak. Saying their doors are deserted might be a bit harsh, but business certainly wasn't booming.
From an industry position perspective, ignoring White Software doesn't do any harm. Don't believe that there's no company targeting this business.
There are companies, but the problem is that time is too short!
Yeah! It's just a timing issue now. If a few companies don't know how to take advantage of it, then they deserve to go down.
How to challenge Big Blue?
Bundle sales! At most, we temporarily give up profit from the software. Let's knock Big Blue down first.
Yeah, what are you going to do with just a bare machine?
And there are so many system vulnerabilities, it's a real killer.
...
"Damn it, the users know more about system vulnerabilities than we do. How's that possible?" Bill Gates was fuming, berating his team. He was too annoyed to think clearly. How could users know such things? It's definitely the work of professionals.
Problems kept popping up one after another, and there wasn't even time to put on patches!
IBM was furious. This was blatant humiliation. That darn fake IBM company actually claimed to have a full set of solutions. Clearly, they were here to cause trouble.
"What? They really can solve it?"
"Yes, boss, NBC just reported it. After live testing, it seems they really can solve it."
"NBC?"
"Yes, boss, it looks like it was on a live show."
"Damn, it must be him, it must be him."
The old guy's lips were trembling in anger. He didn't believe that small company had the technical capability. The only one who could solve the problem quickly was undoubtedly that Texas brat.
Sigh, it seems they've really offended him. This is a clear act of sabotage.
IBM can't solve the problem, and yet the fake one can perfectly resolve it. How embarrassing must that be?
...
William White's handiwork was certainly a pain in the neck. Even the Wall Street old-timers could only laugh wryly. You aren't killing anyone; you're just being a nuisance.
Bill Gates couldn't even complain anymore. When it comes to resentment, he hates Lotus and IBM more.
If it weren't for your nonsense, would it have fired him up so much?
What's the interest? That's their core business. Why don't they target Oracle's microcomputer database?
Bill Gates was always watching William White closely. He found the guy quite interesting. As long as you didn't provoke him, he was harmless and even seemed unconcerned with competitors.
What's the bottom line?
It's hard to say, but from any angle, IBM wasn't exactly playing fair. They first toyed with him about acquisition and then completely ignored him without any explanation.
Even so, that's not the worst. They knew Lotus was copying and still encouraged it. They even wanted him to provide software for reference.
You're really asking for it, using every means possible. How could one not fight back?
Now it's lively, right? Two IBM companies, one international and one miniature -- a total mockery.
Meanwhile, the whole media world was in a frenzy.
...
What's news all about? Headlines, that's it. You don't even have to think. The more sensational, the better. Who wants to read about a dog biting a man? It's when a man bites a dog that it's news.
William White picked up the morning newspaper and couldn't help laughing out loud after a few glances.
Seeing the boss gloating, the assistant couldn't help but chuckle. Wasn't this all orchestrated by you? How could he pretend like he didn't know what was going on?
"Boss, the IBM board must be in chaos now, right?"
"Haha, naturally. Some people's positions might not be safe anymore; otherwise, they can't explain it."
This united effort was mainly from fear of Big Blue. It is just too massive. The only possible advantage was attacking when least expected.
Since Big Blue wasn't ready, everyone might as well step on them together. There's no need to be polite.
Meanwhile, many people saw other opportunities. Since Big Blue published the standards, why not copy them directly? No need to develop anything.
Apple, Commodore, and Compaq have their systems, but other small firms' systems aren't great. Now that the specs are public, why don't we all join in?
As for MSDOS, it's hard to believe Microsoft would dare not sell it. Do you really think the Fair Trade Commission is just decoration?
It wasn't just one or two companies seeing an opportunity. If the giant was sweeping everything, they might hesitate. But this opportunity was just too good.
By the way, what's up with that small IBM company? Since they have a solution, hurry up and buy them.
...
Big Blue was now dumbfounded. They couldn't believe things would develop like this.
The company's stock, needless to say, opened with a sharp drop of 3%, and it hadn't stopped falling.
My goodness, what kind of operation is this?
A 5% drop is $3 billion. How many of these darned microcomputers do they sell in a year?
Ten billion dollars?
Well, that's completely impossible. Even reaching five billion would be good enough.
The US stock market is relatively stable. For companies of this level, they usually move within 1%, and the trading volume isn't large.
But not today. It's a significant drop in volume; without institutional involvement, this generally couldn't happen.
*****
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
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Power Stone 
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