American History 1988
Chapter 113 - 107: Door-to-Door Sales

Chapter 113: Chapter 107: Door-to-Door Sales

Clark weighed the few pages of the manual in his hand, his face filled with surprise, "It’s even thinner than a McDonald’s menu."

Dean spread his hands as if it were obvious, "The purpose of Teams is to help employees improve communication efficiency, not to add extra burden on them."

"I’m getting more and more excited about its performance." Clark’s desk was piled with Silicon Graphics’ own workstation manuals, any of which was over a hundred pages.

As a software company themselves, Clark was well aware that explaining to customers how to use software was not an easy task.

Although he hadn’t learned how to use Teams yet, the thin manual gave him confidence.

"Mr. Clark, as you just saw, the window on the right is the main workspace of Teams," explained Dean, selecting the first avatar in the contact list on the left and starting to type in the cursor’s blinking spot on the right.

"Just like when you’re using Word, we only need to type what we want to say," Dean typed the word [Silicon Graphics] and gently pressed the enter key.

Ding~ a pleasant piano sound played on Marcus’s computer.

Dean turned the screens of both computers towards Clark, "Look, we’ve just completed a communication."

The chat windows on both computers now displayed the word [Silicon Graphics], with Dean’s appearing on the right and Marcus’s on the left.

"This is to differentiate the chat history display between ourselves and the other person, making it easier for users to catch the information they want."

"They look quite different from the Plato System," Clark had used those free instant messaging systems, "The messages on Teams aren’t instant...no, I mean..."

"Yes, messages are only sent when we click the ’send’ button or press the enter key," Dean pointed to the Teams chat box and explained, "This gives us a chance to make mistakes, even if we accidentally type the wrong message, we can make the final corrections before sending it."

"I like this design!" Clark felt a thrill for Teams for the first time.

Simple, practical, user-friendly - in just a few steps, he had already spotted the most valuable design advantages of Teams.

"Mr. Clark, we’re just getting started," Dean continued with a smile, beginning the Teams demonstration. Only one of the three core functions had been shown so far.

"Next up is another killer feature of Teams" - still the chat window, Dean selected an electronic spreadsheet on the desktop.

"Before we start, I want to ask Mr. Clark, how do you usually transfer electronic documents within the company?"

Clark shrugged, "Email, of course, everyone in Silicon Valley has their own email. Or floppy disks, although their capacity is limited."

"OK, let’s take a look at a more interesting way," Dean copied the electronic spreadsheet on the desktop using a shortcut key, then returned the mouse to the chat window and pasted it with another shortcut key.

Something magical happened - a miniature icon of the electronic spreadsheet appeared in the Teams chat window.

"Wow!" Clark was astounded, "So...is it what I think it is?"

"Hmm~" Dean elegantly pressed the enter key.

Ding~, the pleasant piano sound played again.

"Teams is compatible with system shortcut keys in its operation, allowing you to easily copy and paste on Teams just like you would in Word."

The design of system shortcuts dates back to Apple’s Lisa computer released in ’83, and the Macintosh in ’84 further popularized this method to the public.

Apple later licensed this design to Microsoft, and Windows 1.0 adopted a similar design in ’85.

After several years of system updates and development, most computer users got used to this convenient operation method.

In designing Teams, Dean aimed to simplify operations as much as possible, accommodating these commands.

There was no doubt from the shocked expression on Clark’s face just how popular this design was.

"Dean, Teams is the simplest software I’ve ever seen," said Clark, who was technically minded himself. They had never considered convenience when designing software in the past.

That’s because the people who used computers at that time were technically elite, and they could easily master all sorts of complex commands.

Even now, this habit in design has not changed, and many software require a month or two of training before ordinary people can familiarize themselves with it.

But Dean’s programming style went against the mainstream; he simplified the complex, with user experience as his secondary goal.

"Mr. Clark, as I said, you don’t even have to flip through these few pages of the manual," Dean’s beautifully designed manual for Teams was only printed in a few copies for display, as this was also part of the cost.

"Oh, right, besides the shortcuts, file transfer also supports key operations. There’s a ’+’ sign next to the send button; we just need to tap it lightly."

Dean once again demonstrated the toolbar functions of Teams, all operations could essentially be completed through shortcuts and manual modes, providing a double assurance.

"I guess what comes next is the much-anticipated voice feature?" Having seen the text messages and file transfer, Clark naturally thought of the communication method Dean had mentioned at the Carriage Wheel Bar.

"This is the most distinctive feature of Teams; in all the software in the world, we are unique." Dean had every reason to be proud.

Not just because of its uniqueness, but also because the algorithm that enabled this feature was entirely devised by Dean himself.

"Mr. Clark, if you are only looking at the interface, where do you think we can initiate a voice call?" Instead of rushing to introduce it, Dean turned the screen towards Jim Clark.

The Teams interface was exceptionally clean, and Clark instantly spotted the telephone icon in the upper right corner of the window, "So it’s here, right?"

"Your choice once again proves that the Teams user manual is superfluous," Dean said, as he clicked the telephone icon.

Beep~beep~beep~ a series of dialing tones sounded, and after a few seconds, a ringing alert came from another computer.

"Simpler than making a phone call," Dean spread his hands and glanced at Clark before signaling Marcus to hit the answer button in the pop-up window.

"Hello~" As Dean greeted into the microphone, the same greeting echoed from the speakers of Marcus’s computer.

"Great~!" Clark didn’t know how many times he had been amazed today.

"Honestly, their call quality is clearer than I imagined, and of course, making a voice call is unbelievably simple."

"That’s Teams, unique and with no entry barrier whatsoever." Dean had realized all the functions he had described to Clark in the bar.

"So as long as it’s installed, I can do something similar with any employee in the company?" Clark was already envisioning the role Teams would play in the workplace.

"We will set up an account for every employee at Silicon Graphics, which will be stored in a local shared drive, and this contact information will also be entered into the system.

Thus, you just need to type the corresponding name in the search bar at the top of the Teams window, and that person will appear in the contact list on the left, very convenient." This principle was similar to the search function of the DCAP, calling up local information directly.

"Cool~" Clark nodded in satisfaction, another practical design. "Can I think of it as the action of flipping through a directory when making a call?"

"A very apt analogy, except now we can do it with a few keystrokes. Oh, that reminds me~" Dean remembered something else, "The fact is, Teams’ voice calling feature, it’s not just one-on-one; it can also host multiple participants."

Clark raised his eyebrow, "I can call multiple people at the same time?"

"Perhaps you’ll find it easier to think of it as a voice version of a public chat room, but as an office software, this feature was developed for the needs of conference calls."

Any company has internal phones, especially those large corporations. Sometimes it’s hard for people in different departments to meet, so conference calling came into being.

This way of holding meetings without a fixed location can help office staff flexibly arrange their time, so it’s widely prevalent in contemporary office life.

Dean’s development of the voice communication feature was aimed at this market demand, of course, Teams and traditional conference calls are also different.

For example, internal phones relying on wiring and exchanges provided by telephone companies, although nearly free to use, still require periodic payments for equipment and maintenance costs.

Teams, on the other hand, are completely free, relying on the company’s internal LAN, resulting in no additional hardware costs.

"Dean, if two different companies are using Teams software, can they perform voice calls to each other?" Clark had sharply caught on to what was truly revolutionary about this software.

Dean knew what Clark was really probing with his question but didn’t hide anything. "Theoretically, as long as the companies have established network connectivity, then Teams can enable voice calling between them."

"Not just two companies, what about the entire internet? Or say, the whole of North America?" Clark’s eyes took on a profound look.

"It would require certain hardware devices for support, involving long-distance transmission and conversion of digital and analog signals." Dean paused and then continued, "Actually, not long ago, I used Teams to achieve multi-user communication within a few California universities."

"Multi-person communication?" Clark finally confirmed a certain guess in his mind.

"Yes," Dean emphasized by raising a finger, "multifaceted voice communication for a hundred people."

"Dean, does Teams need investment?" Clark felt that rather than the software on the table, the project itself was perhaps more worth considering.

Transforming from being pitched to a proactive investor, Dean was also taken aback by this change.

"Mr. Clark, before discussing another deal, how about we talk first about the sales of the Teams software?"

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