American History 1988
Chapter 128 - 122 Minor Character

Chapter 128: Chapter 122 Minor Character

The ATTIS 3B series computers were a complete failure, and sales of the highly-anticipated UNIX PC were disappointing. ATTIS (AT&T Information Systems) would be fully merged into the parent company, AT&T.

Looking at the San Francisco Chronicle in his hands, William Kennard showed no expression on his face; he had already seen this news in an internal bulletin.

Not only that, the situation with AT&T’s computer systems division, which dominates the communication market, was also far from good. Last year, it had spent a huge sum of money to buy a 20% stake in Sun Microsystems, but by the beginning of this year, it had already sold it off completely.

AT&T’s layout in the computer field had not become, as the board had once hoped, the next giant after IBM.

On the contrary, not only was IBM gradually being replaced in the personal computer field, but AT&T’s computer business was even facing the risk of shutdown.

Back when AT&T was entangled in antitrust issues, it voluntarily disbanded itself into seven independent companies, in exchange for conditions to enter the computer communications market.

But now it seems that things have turned out contrary to their wishes, with the rapid technological changes and market demand shifts overwhelming the huge IBM and AT&T.

Instead, those private small companies, which William saw as no threat, had won the favor of the crowd in the computer market.

Commodore, Atari, Apple, DEC, Compaq—any one of them could beat AT&T and the current IBM in the personal computer market.

It must be said that this outcome was ironic, but William didn’t care too much about it. He was in charge of AT&T’s long-distance telephone business, which did not intersect much with the computer field.

As long as there was no world war, no one could shake AT&T’s dominant position in the telephone field, even after an antitrust split.

Picking up his coffee and taking a sip, William turned the newspaper over. The California sun was still high in the sky, and it was a long time before the end of the workday.

Knock knock knock~ There was a knock at the door.

"Come in~" William’s gaze remained on the newspaper in his hands.

"Boss," Alex, who pushed the door and entered, greeted from afar.

"Alex, is it the three o’clock meeting? Ruth will remind me," William glanced at Alex and then nonchalantly returned his gaze to the newspaper.

"No, Boss, I think you’ll be interested in this." Alex handed him the organized documents in his hands.

"What’s this?" William flipped through the file with a frown, "A software? This isn’t our responsibility, Alex."

"Boss, this software can make free phone calls?"

"What?!" William finally looked up in shock, "You’re not joking, are you, Alex? Or is this a new round of sanctions from Congress against us?"

"Er... It’s not as serious as you think, Boss~ But this software is indeed a bit special... It does allow free calls to some extent." Seeing William’s shock, Alex quickly explained.

"Gather our lawyers, prepare to sue them. Cancel the three o’clock meeting and change it to an emergency board meeting," William, who couldn’t stand the words "free calls," ordered litigation mode without thinking.

Any company related to telephones, AT&T held an absolute monopoly in terms of technical barriers. As long as they initiated litigation, the final result would surely be the other party’s defeat.

"Boss, I think you have some misunderstandings, this is a software company. In terms of business scope, they do not intersect with us." Alex, who prematurely used a sensationalist tone to attract his boss’s attention, now had to explain the circumstances of the matter.

Obviously, there was no necessary connection between a software company and a telephone company. Teams, although it surprised Alex, was not yet a matter that AT&T needed to take seriously.

Because he had used this software, with its clear pros and cons, Alex was not sure whether Teams would threaten AT&T; so, he wanted to report it to William and hear his boss’s opinion.

"Alex, have you used this software? Talk about how it performs..." Relieved, William was ready to make a judgment after listening to Alex’s statement.

"In terms of performance, the experience between short and long distances is like two different products," Alex thought for a moment before giving an appropriate description.

"Let’s go to your office to take a look," William decided to experience the software himself, as this concerned the core business of AT&T.

Five minutes later, in Alex’s office, William sat in front of the computer waiting for the latter’s demonstration.

"According to them, this is an office software, mainly providing tools for internal company communication. Like this..." Alex lightly clicked the phone icon on the Teams software.

The computer’s speakers quickly conveyed the voice of Alex’s assistant. Shrugging at William, Alex gave a few instructions and then hung up the call.

"This is the free call you talked about?" William’s expression was somewhat peculiar.

"Yes..." Noticing his boss’s look, Alex suddenly felt a little nervous.

"Alex, do we charge for internal company calls for our corporate users? Oh no..." William raised his hand to correct himself, "Does the local Bell telephone company charge for internal company calls?"

He almost forgot that AT&T had already been split up. Now, the company bearing the AT&T name was only responsible for long-distance telephony and computer network services. Local calls were entirely handed over to seven regional Bell telephone companies.

Hearing William’s question, Alex seemed to realize the crux of the matter. "The telephone company does not charge any fees for internal company calls."

"So?" William spread his hands, "What is this software planning to compete with us on? What’s the point of their design?"

In-house calls are inherently free, a complimentary service with no profit at all. William didn’t understand why the other party would do such a thing?

The main reason telephone companies made in-house calls free was to facilitate business users to make external calls; in-house calls were more like an added perk.

Furthermore, even if it were free competition, William didn’t believe this software could replace in-house calls.

The reliability of software is naturally lower than that of hardware-based landline phones, which are also more convenient to use.

"Boss, this is just one use of the voice call feature of the software. By a special method, it can even place calls to Los Angeles." This was Alex’s concern, and he thought he wasn’t making a big deal out of nothing.

"Prove it to me," William said, arms crossed.

If it could achieve the same effect with long-distance calls, then Alex was correct; it was indeed a threat.

Alex didn’t beat around the bush; this time, he chose a colleague in Los Angeles. To understand Teams thoroughly, he had called to have his colleague install the software on their computer.

As for the network line connecting the two locations, of course, it was the NSF network. AT&T was one of the NSF network’s equipment suppliers, so it was a cinch for them to access it.

As the ringing kept repeating, after a wait of a dozen seconds, a blurry voice finally came through.

"Hello~ Jack, can you hear me?" Alex shouted into the microphone.

"Buzz~ Alex~ you... buzz~ beep beep beep..." A series of signal interruption sounds followed, and the voice call was automatically disconnected.

Facing William’s inquiring gaze, Alex hesitated before speaking, "Perhaps I should try again?"

"No," William shook his head. The recent connection had already informed him of the software’s communication level.

"Alex, it seems their application of long-distance communication technology has a long way to go." After seeing it with his own eyes, William felt reassured about Teams.

At this level, to achieve a long-distance call of acceptable quality, the other party would need to invest a huge budget in research and development.

"Boss, I think..." Alex, who was in charge of the network communications, knew the internet was rapidly evolving. He believed Byte Software Company deserved sufficient attention.

"I know," William interrupted Alex before he could finish, "Alex, you may think it’s a future threat, and I completely agree with you.

So let’s hand it over to AT&T Computer Systems Company, and let them find the software’s weak spots. If there are any copyright infringements, get the legal team ready to quickly send them into bankruptcy proceedings.

If there’s no infringement, then see if we can replicate similar software. Then seize the market share and also send them into bankruptcy proceedings.

At worst, if they haven’t infringed and we can’t replicate, then let’s discuss a takeover. The Computer Systems Company needs some new ideas, but the budget won’t be much. We don’t have time to waste on these small fry."

Hearing William had already laid out all the plans, Alex was a bit stunned before he nodded in realization, "OK, I’ll take care of it right away."

"Go~" William stood up, bored, as he hadn’t finished reading his newspaper.

...

"Heard you made a fortune recently, Dean?"

"Adam, why do you say that?"

"Come on, that guy you room with, lately he’s been driving a Ferrari around campus, picking up girls left and right."

Listening to Adam’s description, Dean shrugged helplessly.

Alright, Marcus, that show-off. The first thing he did after getting Dean’s check was to buy himself a brand new red Ferrari.

In the future, this world-famous car would be coveted by countless people, but in this era, it could be had for just tens of thousands of US dollars—at this time, the purchasing power of the US dollar was unbelievably strong.

However, Dean didn’t intervene in Marcus’s showy behavior; it was his personal freedom.

In America, the vast majority of people didn’t have the habit of saving money, and consumerism prevailed. Especially when they had money, sports cars and beautiful women were considered the right way to live life.

"So..." Adam sneakily wrapped an arm around Dean’s shoulder, "is there any more of these money-making opportunities? Mother F*cker, we’re brothers from PBK, aren’t we?"

"Aha~ You didn’t have that idea when you were pranking me," Dean said, crossing his arms and looking at him skeptically.

"Bullshit, I’m helping you right now," Adam said innocently, spreading his hands, "Look, we’re on our way to meet the audio expert you asked me to find."

"OK, next time there’s an opportunity like this, I’ll definitely bring you along." Dean knew this guy was loaded, and he probably wasn’t really looking to make money, but was more likely just wanting to join in the fun.

"Seeing as you agreed so readily, follow me," Adam tossed his head, signaling for Dean to come with him.