[Chapter 872: The Big Blues and the Computer Chaos]
William White stared at the table covered with various computers, his lips twitching. "What in the world? How many brands are there?"
"Cough, cough, boss, most of these are from Japan and Taiwan. We even had soone check out China; those were more like DIY kits," Tom explained.
"Ha ha, Tom, the prices are absurd, but what can we do?"
"Sir, this one here is NEC, claiming to be the 'IBM of Japan,'" Tom said, a hint of disbelief in his tone.
"Ha ha ha, that's certainly creative. When I think of IBM, it feels like a flash in the pan. If they're trying to emulate them, they won't end up anywhere good."
William White gazed at the computer keyboard, lost in thought. "With all the written languages in the world, did one person invent them all? It's amazing how 26 letters managed to spread globally. But clearly, the rich guy overlooked the feelings of the Japanese. They only have 26 letters, here we have 50.
To type in Japanese, the Japanese had to put in a lot of effort. Don't forget they still use a lot of kanji!"
"You know, Japan is still incredibly strong in the tech arena. If we used Taiwan's approach, we wouldn't have computers as widespread as we do now. By the way, wasn't this invented by Matteo Ricci? How did it beco attributed to the Japanese?"
"Cough, cough, it's different. The Italian missionary mainly focused on learning Chinese. It's a bit like us learning English through kanji; you'd definitely hit a dead end there.
To learn English you have to use phonetics, and to learn Chinese there's pinyin. The Japanese just don't listen, and their English communication only works among themselves; Westerners have to guess what they an.
"So, Tom, are they selling well? How's the software? Is it moving?"
"Sir, the operating systems are mainly Windows; office software varies. The Japanese use Ichitaro and Hanako.
"Hanako?" William said, annoyed. He was not a fan of horror films, especially not the Japanese kind. Ever since Ring ca out, girls over there had mostly stopped using that na.
"Alright, Tom, that na is too ordinary. Surely, the developer's na isn't really Hanako?"
"Not sure, but Microsoft's office suite isn't selling well. I also asked Fujita, and he said it's mainly due to the input thod being unfamiliar."
William White felt a bit envious of Bill Gates. "Man, how did you manage to build the world's largest software company working like this? It's unfair!
The Japanese input thod wasn't the only poor one; the Chinese one functions similarly. William didn't need to ask; he'd bet the others weren't much better.
Ichitaro and Hanako weren't like WPS; those sold for a pretty penny, not the type you could use for free.
Bill was losing big-ti here, making the Japanese learn another software just for the fun of it. Unfortunately, the Japanese stuck with Ichitaro and Hanako, while everyone abroad mostly used Microsoft. As a result, many people had to prepare docunts in two formats.
Even though their copyright awareness isn't strong, they still make good sales throughout the year. Even if it's just a quarter of what's sold in the States, that's still a hefty inco.
Piracy? Ah, it's all about how you put it. It's kind of common for companies to buy software then install it at ho.
That habit has proved hard to give up; not copying things directly already felt considerate. They still rented action movies to take ho, but now they just install them.
"The computers are okay--not great, not bad. Let's just say, don't count on IBM anymore; Compaq might hold its own.
The Japanese are too cocky. If they learned from Dell, a whole bunch of Arican computer companies would be dead. Trying to emulate IBM? What a joke.
William wasn't just talking nonsense; after Louis Gerstner took over, IBM ended up making profits. Given how things seed to be shaping up, they could really take off again.
But the IBM of old? That was surely a no-go. The company's soul had already passed. That brand now on the rise, William preferred to call it New Blue.
Forget about NEC; even IBM gave up on its future.
"Hey, boss, so of the computer companies are a bit anxious now. Their stock prices look weak. If another Toyota shows up, these guys are in real trouble."
William sighed; there would be no way out for them. Without enough industrial workers, it's aningless what they produce.
For capitalists in today's world, the best workers were in Japan. The wages might not be low, but they certainly worked hard. As for China, it's still a work in progress. Like Japan, they couldn't initially produce anything impressive; it needed ti.
Looking back, Japan's products in the 50s and 60s had been decidedly crude. Toyota initially focused on jet looms, while Honda just modified tricycles.
These great cars didn't pop up just like that; it took decades of hard work. If it weren't for how sluggish the U.S. economy was, Japan wouldn't have had as much of a chance.
"By the way, Tom, has the release date for Windows 95 been confird yet? The patch work isn't even done."
"It seems not yet. This version isn't stable; it crashes a lot. The kids downstairs have been switching it out non-stop, constantly reinstalling the system."
"Wow, those kids really have too much free ti. Here I am paying them, and they're just ssing around instead of working. If it's not working well, they can just uninstall it!"
Fat cat Tom frowned; he wasn't about to argue. Those guys were actually just working late at night; they weren't taking advantage of the boss, maybe just wasting a bit of power.
"Well, it's definitely more useful than 3.1 but still unstable. As soon as I went back to 3.1, I couldn't take it anymore."
William didn't even know what to say. In fact, he was in the sa boat. Outside of typing, he wouldn't use that old 3.1 system for anything.
It was a sha, really. IBM's operating system was decent, but look how easily they abandoned it. From this viewpoint, a good software doesn't guarantee success.
Companies like IBM had crashed; why would NEC have any better luck? If that day ever ca, Uncle Sam wouldn't save you either.
It was a joke to think sothing so vital wouldn't be kept in-house. Ignoring those Japanese daydrears, William decided he'd head ho. Things had been wild lately, and it was ti to return and get things back on track.
He had to admit, at ho, his two kids were pretty good at taking care of themselves, while the others were more like needy spider demons.
"Honey, drink up, it's cordyceps with stewed duck; the kids have grown so much, and you're still like this!"
"Cough, cough, well, dear, I was just planning to pretend to be foolish for a bit, you know?"
Laughter erupted from the beautiful girl Jiayin. He could say anything to excuse his wild outings; did he really think anyone would see him as foolish?
"Hmph, just don't pretend too much or you might end up really being a fool."
"Ha ha ha, truth be told, being a fool isn't so bad. I heard there's a kind of pig that just eats, sleeps, and well, you know. Not only do they live comfortably, but they even have soone to help out with the fun parts!"
Jiayin cast him a glare, refilling his bowl. Whenever she tried to advise him, he sohow ended up making jokes instead.
Ah, forget it, she wasn't going to micromanage him. As for her own body, she'd rather take good care. That Nastassja wasn't proving useful; despite having such a big belly, she only produced one little girl.
William was relatively strict with their son, but she didn't mind too much. If he were really neglected, she felt it would be unsettling.
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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