American History 1988
Chapter 189 - 183: No Respect for Martial Morals

Chapter 189: Chapter 183: No Respect for Martial Morals

"Boss, there’s good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"If you’re not calling me at a critical moment, then it must be good news."

Dean took a sip of the red wine from the nightstand, the rich flavor soothing his mood slightly.

"Uh... Boss, sorry to disturb you..."

"Alright, tell me the bad news first. I need it to help me cool down." Miranda’s languid posture made Dean feel an unbearable heat.

"The bad news is that our original plan to distribute Teams software with PC World magazine has fallen through, Microsoft has stolen our business."

"Microsoft?" Dean was somewhat surprised by this sudden competitor.

"Yes, they stole our idea."

"Be more specific, Jim." Dean had just heard the word "stolen."

"The people from Microsoft took our advertising concept while we were negotiating the disk advertisement with PC World magazine."

Byte Company was the first to contact PC World magazine and shared the plan for the Teams software free trial with them.

The distribution of hundreds of thousands of disks also meant substantial advertising revenue for PC World magazine.

The magazine took the deal very seriously, and with Byte Company’s sufficient budget, the two sides had almost reached a verbal agreement.

But somehow Microsoft got wind of this and directly offered twice what Byte Company had proposed, securing the disk advertising space in PC World magazine for three consecutive issues.

Before Byte Company came up with this advertising plan, the software industry had never tried such a large-scale trial marketing strategy.

Its costs were calculated in millions of US dollars, with uncertain results.

Counting the software companies in the market, perhaps only Lotus, Oracle, and Microsoft had the strength to carry out such an advertising campaign.

But having the strength and coming up with the idea are two different things; they had never considered providing trial versions for consumers.

Because including Microsoft, all of their software products were sold as permanent licenses.

Once consumers made the purchase, the transaction was complete; some software companies didn’t even involve themselves in after-sales service.

But Byte Company’s main push for its software was subscription-based; it would maintain continuous communication with customers, and offering a trial version wouldn’t affect Teams software sales.

So after several years of development in the software industry, everyone’s marketing methods were still following traditional practices.

However, a manager at Microsoft, also negotiating advertising in PC World, randomly learned about Byte’s plan and immediately informed Bill Gates.

The former had a premonition that such a large-scale trial program could potentially produce unexpected results.

Bill Gates agreed with this perspective and had a deeper understanding of this marketing model.

First cultivate users’ habits, then profit from them—the Microsoft operating system fits this marketing model perfectly.

So Bill Gates didn’t hesitate; he directly ordered the marketing department to negotiate with PC World magazine.

Gates wanted to see a trial disk of Windows 3.0 in the next issue of the magazine.

Wealthy Microsoft, waving its cash, knocked down the doors of PC World and signed a contract for three consecutive issues.

"So our Teams software is already disk-packaged but has nowhere to be distributed?"

Dean had a rough understanding of what the bad news Jim was talking about was—seven to eight hundred thousand disks, this part alone had cost Byte Company 1.5 million US dollars.

"Yes, Boss. These disks can’t lie in the warehouse forever, and they cost us a lot of money."

"Jim, there aren’t only PC World in the computer magazine category, go find Byte, Popular Electronics, PC Tech...

Anyway, we have to get these disks out, and we need to do it before Microsoft!"

Damn it! Gates is still so unscrupulous, not an ounce of gentlemanly conduct.

"Okay, Boss, I’ll personally contact them." Concerning a decision of over two million US dollars, Jim, the COO, didn’t dare to decide alone.

Byte Company wasn’t Microsoft; Microsoft could invest tens of millions of US dollars in magazine ads without a second thought.

But any financial decision over 500,000 US dollars at Byte required Dean, the CEO, to personally approve.

Motherfucker, Dean now craved for Byte to go public as soon as possible; he didn’t like feeling so constrained.

"Come on, now tell me the good news; I need something thrilling!"

"The good news is that we’ve also snatched a sponsorship spot from Microsoft!" Jim’s voice had a hint of smugness.

"Wow, I guess this sponsorship is very important for Byte, isn’t it?" Dean had some guesses in mind.

"You bet, Boss, the West Coast Computer Festival!" Jim proudly exhaled, "We’ve taken the main title sponsorship of the West Coast Computer Festival right from Microsoft’s hands!"

"Fantastic! Jim, at Byte, we don’t carry grudges overnight!" This really was good news; the impact of the West Coast Computer Festival was much greater than PC World magazine.

"But I’m curious," Dean sounded puzzled, "Did Microsoft suddenly become stingy with its marketing budget?"

They were willing to splurge millions of US dollars on magazine ads; it didn’t make sense that they couldn’t afford a few million in sponsorship fees.

"It’s not about the money, Boss. It’s because Jim Warren hates Microsoft." Then Jim detailed the reasons to Dean.

Jim Warren is the founder of the West Coast Computer Festival. In the 70s, when the first computer festival was just being planned, nobody gave it much attention.

Jim Warren was on the verge of giving up on the idea when he couldn’t find any computer manufacturers willing to exhibit.

It was then that Jobs came to his rescue, seeking out Jim Warren and expressing his desire for Apple to participate in the exhibition.

This news undoubtedly rekindled Jim Warren’s passion to host the computer festival, which, fortunately, attracted countless tech enthusiasts in its first year.

In the following years, the West Coast Computer Faire gradually developed into one of America’s largest computer exhibitions.

And thanks to Jobs’s actions back then, Jim Warren and he became good friends.

Later on, Apple and Microsoft would engage in lawsuits because Microsoft copied the graphical user interface of Apple’s Macintosh.

Jim Warren despised Microsoft’s actions, and given his good personal relationship with Jobs, he became even more antagonistic towards Microsoft.

The inspiration for Apple’s graphical interface actually came from Xerox Corporation, but at least Apple had obtained the authorization.

Microsoft just blatantly copied; they didn’t even bother to say hello, let alone secure authorization.

Due to Bill Gates’s underhanded tactics, he was generally viewed unfavorably by the geek community.

Jim Warren was among them, but the West Coast Computer Faire needed a title sponsor, so he reluctantly had to cooperate with the highest bidder, Microsoft.

But now Byte Company had come into the picture. Wanting to make a name for themselves, Dean offered a sponsorship budget for the West Coast Computer Faire that was almost on par with Microsoft’s.

So, given a choice, Jim Warren didn’t hesitate to kick Microsoft to the curb.

Look, while Microsoft might have won in business tactics, they’ve also lost something in places unseen.

"Jimmy, I want every corner of the West Coast Computer Faire to be plastered with Teams software advertisements!"

"No problem, Boss, I’ll make sure everyone at Microsoft remembers the Byte Company logo," said Jim.

"Good, get to it," Dean said casually as he hung up the phone.

"Darling, shall we continue?" Miranda had slipped on a new pair of stockings.

"Of course!" Dean loved the feeling of having them draped over his shoulders.

...

In Washington, D.C., at MCI headquarters.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Dave." Having signed the contract in his hands, Dean had successfully completed his last piece of business on the East Coast.

"Dean, Word Link is going to take people by surprise," Dave said, rising to embrace Dean’s shoulders and smiling for the camera.

Click, click... In front of them, the camera’s shutter clicked nonstop.

MCI, wanting to drum up support for Word Link, had invited many well-known media journalists from the East Coast.

Because the event was formal, representatives from both Byte Company and MCI attended the signing ceremony.

"Mr. Price, do you believe network telephony will replace traditional telephony? What do you think about AT&T’s statement accusing Byte Company?"

Dean glanced at the microphone in the CNN reporter’s hand and realized what was happening.

"I personally don’t have much of an opinion on whether network telephony will replace traditional telephony,

Of course, network telephony does have its own unique advantages - it makes communication more flexible, convenient, and cost-effective.

From the standpoint of technological development, that’s a good thing. I don’t know what AT&T is afraid of?

We always strive to provide humanity with better service technologies, but AT&T is actively trying to stop it."

"The spokesperson from AT&T claims that the actions of Byte Company and MCI are disrupting America’s telecommunications market, bringing uncertain risks to national security," the relentless CNN reporter continued.

"Network telephony is no different from traditional telephony; they are both under the supervision of the federal government."

"Do you admit that network telephony will disrupt the traditional communications market?"

"America advocates for market freedom, my dear lady."

"If network telephony replaces traditional telephony, does that mean that dangerous factions might use it to cause greater harm? Like in the movie ’WarGames’?"

"Miss, that’s just a movie. If you’re interested in Hollywood, I don’t mind playing the intermediary," Dean responded.

"Mr. Price, there are rumors that you’re dating Jennifer Connelly and that you’ve moved in together. Is this true?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, for more information about Word Link, please head to the technology display booth on the left side of the hall," interrupted Dave, standing beside Dean and maintaining his smile.

The more he listened, the less he liked where the conversation was heading; the dialogue started off on one topic and was nearly veering off towards Hollywood.

Today was the press conference for the launch of Word Link, and it was Dave’s job to ensure its exposure.

While their PR teams were busy dealing with the journalists, Dave quietly pulled Dean aside.

"Do you have any suggestions regarding Word Link?" he asked Dean.

Just as Dean was about to answer, Dave added,

"But I’m also quite curious about your situation with Jennifer Connelly."

Dean: ???

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