章節 775: Chapter 775: Approaching Microsoft
After entering the board of directors of IBM, Xia Yu naturally had the right to visit any department of IBM, including the microcomputer development department.
This department, which had only been established for just over ten days, had only thirteen people working in it, all of them active and intelligent. The person in charge was named Don Ester Chi.
When Xia Yu arrived at the secret research and development department in Boca Raton, he saw a group of people busy at work. It was the project leader Don Ester Chi who received him.
'Don, nice to meet you, I'm Xia Yu, the company's new director.'
Xia Yu did not put on airs with the future father of IBM's PC, and greeted him kindly.
'Hello, Mr Xia!'
Don Estes Chi shook Xia Yu's hand and politely asked after his welfare.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Xia Yu asked about the development of the microcomputer: 'Don, have you made any progress on the development of the microcomputer?'
Don Estes Qi led Xia Yu towards the workshop, saying, 'There has been no formal development yet. We are currently doing our best to study Apple's growth trajectory, in the hope of being able to formulate a more comprehensive development plan.'
Xia Yu praised, "That's a great idea. As the Chinese saying goes, "know thyself and thy enemy, and you will win every battle'. Apple has created a miracle with the microcomputer. If we can deeply understand the context of its rise and formulate the correct strategic plan, we can save a lot of energy.'
Don Estee Kih's words struck a chord in Tang, and he beamed, saying, 'Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking at the time, and that's why I did it.'
As they spoke, the group arrived at the studio. Xia Yu saw that there were more than ten people inside, a group of people gathered around a large table, with lots of materials laid out on it. They were each studying something, and from time to time they would whisper to each other, working very hard.
When some employees saw Xia Yu and Don Estey, they just nodded and continued to work.
Xia Yu secretly nodded at this attitude. This is the right attitude for employees: spend energy and time on work, not on flattery.
A truly wise boss is one who likes people who create value for the company, not just those who flatter.
After all, the primary purpose of running a company is to make money, and if the company is full of bureaucrats, it is unlikely that the company will develop well.
After spending a few days at IBM, Xia Yu discovered that IBM was full of bureaucrats.
No wonder Frank T. Cary didn't put the minicomputer project department in the company, but instead transferred personnel separately and set up the department in Boca Raton, hundreds of kilometres away from the company, in order to completely avoid the influence of the IBM internal bureaucracy and allow the project team to devote themselves fully to developing the minicomputer in the best condition.
'Don, have you got any research results yet?'
Xia Yu asked in a low voice, stopping Don Estes Chi from disturbing everyone.
Don Estech nodded and said, 'Yes, our research has concluded that if we want to quickly launch our microcomputer and quickly spread it across the market, we must adopt an "open" policy. A complete microcomputer requires too many parts and software to be produced by our company alone. It is impractical, time-consuming and labour-intensive. The best approach is to leverage the scientific and technological achievements of other companies to form a market synergy, accelerate the development speed and enhance the competitiveness of the product.'
Xia Yu understood at once that Don Estes Key wanted to outsource the software and then purchase the best hardware.
To put it bluntly, it was a combination of some self-production and some procurement, assembling a microcomputer, and then doing its best to debug and run in, so that the software and hardware could be optimally matched.
But this strategy is indeed best used when you are lagging behind, especially when Apple is still running wild, this strategy is the best choice.
After all, no company can be number one in every aspect of the market. This is simply not realistic. First, you occupy the market, then you slowly research the technology and replace other companies' products with your own.
It was precisely because of Don Estes's strategy that IBM's first PC used Intel's 8088 microprocessor as the computer's core, and it commissioned independent software companies to configure various software for it. This led to Microsoft signing a contract with IBM to develop DOS.
If IBM had decided to do it themselves, where would Bill Gates have been? Microsoft would never have come into being!
'When will the final results of the research be ready? When are you planning to report back?'
Xia Yu asked Don Estee Chi without showing any emotion.
Don Estee Chi did not notice Xia Yu's thoughts and said honestly, 'The microcomputer is the company's most important project, so I have to do my best. Therefore, I cannot be sure at the moment, and I am not sure what difficulties I will encounter.
'But according to my preliminary estimate, it will take at least another month to produce the research results and report to the higher-ups.'
'One month!'
Xia Yu was relieved. This was more than enough time. He didn't need to be in such a hurry and could take his time to plan.
Next, Xia Yu learned some more about the situation and made some constructive suggestions. Don Esteve's gaze changed when he saw Xia Yu, arousing his curiosity. They discussed for a long time.
When Xia Yu finally left, Don Estey Chi was a little reluctant to let him go, but considering that Xia Yu was a company director, he didn't have the right to ask him to stay and help.
After leaving the project department, Xia Yu just had a quick lunch and then headed to Redmond, Washington.
That was where his target was!
That evening, Xia Yu arrived in Redmond and found a top hotel to stay at and get some rest.
The next day, he followed the information he had previously searched for and found Microsoft.
At this time, Microsoft had been established for five years, but its main product was the BASIC interpreter.
The BASIC interpreter was needed in microcomputers, but due to market capacity issues, although Microsoft BASIC became the market standard leader in this field thanks to its special syntax and compatibility, Microsoft's turnover was not high.
Therefore, nowadays Microsoft is only a well-known but not very strong software company.
The information Xia Yu collected also wrote that Microsoft had tried to enter the microcomputer market by designing the MSX microcomputer standard, but the results were not ideal.
When Xia Yu and the others entered Microsoft, they happened to see the precocious Paul Allen, with a full beard.
Paul Allen was taken aback when he saw Xia Yu and his entourage, and immediately thought that they were there to discuss business. He immediately greeted them with a smile, 'Hello, I am Paul Allen, chief engineer at Microsoft. How can I help you?'
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