American History 1988
Chapter 115 - 109 Global Overview

Chapter 115: Chapter 109 Global Overview

Santa Margarita Avenue, Menlo Park, California, in front of a two-story modern-style building, Dean, Marcus, and David were standing on the lawn downstairs with their hands on their hips.

"So this is the headquarters of Byte Software Company, right?" Marcus was very satisfied with this location, which was exactly like the startup base he had envisioned.

"Look at this, a 190-square-meter villa, I dare say we have the highest starting point for an office among startup companies." The lawn, the white fence, and the lush tropical Acacia Cassia trees, in Dean’s view, were even better than their dormitory environment.

Seeing the extravagant displays of the two, David just shrugged his shoulders and silently walked to the garage in front of the house. "Dean, did the landlord leave the keys?"

"Of course," pulling out the keys from his pocket, Dean opened the garage tucked away in the corner of the villa. "Guys, this is going to be the office of Byte Software Company from now on!"

"Cool~" Marcus cooperated very well and gave Dean a high five, while David strolled into the garage and began silently assessing the space around him.

Well, they hadn’t rented the entire villa, but one of its garages.

The place wasn’t large, only about forty-something square meters, but it was enough for the office of Byte Software. If there was anything that pleased the three of them most about this garage, it was its proximity to Stanford’s campus.

Standing outside on the lawn of the garage, they could directly see their dormitory within the Stanford campus. The straight-line distance between the two places was only a few hundred meters, which was even closer than the distance to their lecture buildings.

"We need a few office desks, computers, as well as a phone, and to facilitate communication, an email service must also be set up," said David, the oldest and most composed of the three, who had been considering the setup of the place as soon as he entered the garage.

"OK, leave those tasks to me," said Marcus, rolling up his sleeves and volunteering for the task enthusiastically. He liked doing miscellaneous chores, which relaxed him.

Having helpers made a difference, and Dean no longer had to focus his energy on these trivial matters.

"The $20,000 advance payment from Silicon Graphics is Byte Software’s first startup capital. The subsequent office expenses will be drawn from this money."

Now that the partnership had been established, Dean had to separate his personal assets from the company’s finances. In the future, all income from Byte Software would belong to the company, and his personal property would no longer be directly related to it.

Everything was in the startup phase at the moment, and many processes had not yet been established, but the necessary framework needed to be set up.

Of course, before starting the business of Byte Software, the first thing they had to do was clean up the miscellaneous items in the garage.

A $300 rent bill was a good choice for Menlo Park, Silicon Valley. However, Dean was more looking forward to acquiring a plot of land in Silicon Valley in the future and then establishing his own headquarters.

After a rough cleanup in the morning, the garage was finally tidy. Three young students from Stanford, catching their breath, lay side by side on the grass in front of the garage, basking in the unlimited sunshine of California.

"Dean, leave the porting work of Teams to other systems to me," said David, shielding his eyes with his palm as the blinding sun made it difficult for him to keep his eyes open. "I’m not good at dealing with people, so I think I’m more suited to stay in the office and solve problems in front of a computer."

"I can do the after-sales and training work," volunteered Marcus from the side, raising his hand. "Dean, as you know, I can’t match you and David in programming talent, so any miscellaneous tasks Byte Software has in the future, just leave them to me."

"OK~" Dean, lying between them, slowly calmed his chest, "Then I’ll take care of selling Teams, making sure it appears in every office in Silicon Valley."

"Yeah~ It sounds like success isn’t far away for us," Marcus and David laughed happily under the glorious sunshine.

The first version of Teams had already been developed, and the remaining work had been evenly divided among the three of them. Sales, logistics, technical support—each person could be in charge of one area.

"By the way, Dean, I’ve heard that some companies are now offering NSFnet services. It would make a lot of our work much easier if we could connect to the NSFnet," said David.

As a graduate student, David had much more free time than Dean and the others. Recently, while doing a project in San Francisco with classmates, he accidentally discovered that a small company was offering NSFnet access services.

This change surprised David; until then, besides universities and research institutions, it was generally not permitted for private individuals to access the NSFnet.

Some companies with good connections were able to do this, but these companies generally only provided basic email services.

For example, if Dean’s Byte Software wanted to enable an email function, they would have to seek services from these companies, but that would only include email and not network access permissions.

It was as if private companies could use NSFnet’s lines to help users send and receive emails, acting as a large email relay station.

Now an email relay station had become an access portal, and private parties outside the system could glimpse the true face of the internet through them.

Hearing this news from David, Dean’s eyes lit up. "Guys, I think the NSFnet is slowly loosening control, and perhaps soon we will be able to surf freely on the net."

"Really?" Marcus propped himself up in surprise, "Dean, have you heard some news?"

"The deregulation of the NSFnet is an inevitable outcome," Dean sat up from the grass, "On the East Coast, at least three network operators are now offering NSFnet access services.

They have all legally acquired operating rights for the NSFnet through various means, marking a symbolic beginning.

Once privatization steps forward, it will only hasten, and now, it’s the West Coast’s turn."

Ever since a conversation two months ago with Professors Vinton Cerf and Donald Knuth in their office about the interconnectivity issues among different network operators, Dean had realized that change was coming.

Now, David’s news had once again confirmed Dean’s speculation, the curtain of a significant era was slowly being lifted.

"Great~" Marcus was excited about the news, "I can’t wait to experience a free internet, Dean, Byte Software needs such services."

"OK, tomorrow you and David head to San Francisco to ask around, as long as their service can cover Menlo Park, Byte Software wouldn’t mind becoming a user."

"What about you, Dean?"

"Of course, to sell software. Silicon Graphics was just a start." This time Dean did not plan to make door-to-door sales, as it was too slow and did not suit his style.

...

Menlo Park in Silicon Valley is a treasure trove, home to the nationally known venture capital center on Sand Hill Road, as well as famous Silicon Valley upstarts like Electronic Arts, Genentech, and Symantec.

This town, with its elongated shape, runs through Highways 280 and 101 straight to the coastal bay area, and in the central area, besides the bustling business district, there’s a relatively quiet Union Arts district.

Scattered sculptures and graffiti-style murals give the area a touch of modesty compared to others in Silicon Valley.

Carrying two briefcases, Dean looked up at the sign above the door, The Whole Earth Catalog. Yes, this was the place.

He stepped forward and gently pushed open the door of this trailer-like street office; a wind chime hung at the entrance, swaying to signal the arrival of a visitor.

"Past issues of The Whole Earth Catalog are on the shelf to your left. Please return them after reading, thank you." The brown-haired middle-aged man at the farthest desk continued to scribble on a piece of paper, never looking up during the process.

"This place is much smaller than I expected." Dean surveyed the office from the doorway; other than a more extensive collection of various books, it was no different from a regular office.

The thin-haired middle-aged man looked up, revealing a brown beard even more abundant than his hair. "If you’re here to visit Mr. Brand, I’m sorry to say, he’s not around anymore."

"No, I’m here to visit The Whole Earth Catalog magazine," Dean said, setting down his briefcases and smiling as he extended his right hand, "Dean Price, Stanford student."

The middle-aged man shook his hand perfunctorily, "Then you’re still in the wrong place, this is only Global Review, not The Whole Earth Catalog. Kevin Kelly, editor-in-chief of Global Review."

"The sign outside told me I haven’t come to the wrong place. Whether it’s The Whole Earth Catalog or Global Review, maybe I need both."

Dean walked to the shelf on the other side of the aisle and casually flipped through it, displaying issues of The Whole Earth Catalog that had been published in the past.

"In my high school days, they were my Bible. They opened up a broader world to me, and they’re even why I’m at Stanford today."

"Are you a collector? Just to be clear, the magazines here are collector’s editions and are not for sale." Seeing Dean lingering at the shelf, Kevin felt compelled to state that upfront.

He had encountered book enthusiasts drawn by the magazine’s fame more than once, and every time Kevin ended up disappointing them. And he planned to do the same this time.

"They are indeed precious," Dean withdrew his gaze from the shelf, "but what interests me more is how to get my software featured in The Whole Earth Catalog?"

"Wow~" The bearded Kevin opened his mouth slightly in surprise, "So, you’re here to talk business?"

However, before Dean could reply, he reminded him again, "Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough earlier, The Whole Earth Catalog has ceased publication. If you want to promote your software, then you should go to The Whole Earth Software Catalog."

As he spoke, Kevin walked over to the display shelf near Dean, searching until he found a somewhat outdated magazine. "Look, The Whole Earth Software Catalog, also from the hands of Brand, he’s the man you should be looking for."

"I greatly admire Mr. Brand’s original intent, but he has completed his work." Dean turned to face Kevin, "Stay hungry, stay foolish. Inscribed on the last issue of ’74, it has become vague and unclear, hasn’t it?"

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