American History 1988
Chapter 296 - 286: Harvest

Chapter 296: Chapter 286: Harvest

The company Go no longer existed; after completing that deal with NCR, it had pretty much reached its end.

Later, with Durell’s coordination, almost the same team established a company called EO.

This time, learning from their past experiences, they quickly turned the planned product into reality.

However, the EO Communicator 440 was a bit special; it could no longer be considered the same product as the original handwriting computer.

This product used a 2MHZ AT&T chip, which was much weaker than the original product from Go.

Meanwhile, the machine was only 280x178x25mm in size, featuring a 7.5-inch screen and weighing about one kilogram.

In addition to being used as a computer, it could also be hooked up to telephone equipment for sending and receiving faxes and emails.

It must be said, this was quite an imaginative leap; the previous handwriting computers did not have these functions.

In Dean’s view, it looked like an e-reader, but its positioning was more like that of a tablet computer, akin to a smartphone.

It was a peculiar combination, with some designs being very advanced, but the hardware couldn’t keep up.

This EO machine was priced from US Dollar 1999 each, mainly sold to business professionals who often needed to handle documents via email and fax while traveling.

Without a doubt, this positioning was very high-end; it was even more expensive than the mainstream computers of the time.

So how did Durell manage to sell the EO company? Much credit goes to this machine.

When the EO Communicator 440 was released, Durell utilized his connections.

He successfully marketed it to well-known brands such as the New York Stock Exchange, Accenture Business Consulting, and Woolworth’s Retail Company.

Their orders weren’t numerous, but for Durell, they were enough.

He took these contracts and approached AT&T again, but he didn’t directly reveal his intention to sell.

Durell took a different approach; he used these contracts to borrow money from AT&T.

To be precise, he wanted AT&T to help with the manufacturing, but due to EO’s lack of funds, they couldn’t pay the deposit in advance.

These contracts were like collateral; look, I have orders, it’s just that I’m short on cash for now.

After seeing these contracts, AT&T was immediately interested.

After some internal discussions, they decided to change the terms of their cooperation with Durell.

That is, AT&T would buy EO, and AT&T would take over that order.

This was exactly what Durell had hoped for; however, to get a better price, he acted quite reluctant.

He pointed to that contract, emphasizing to the people from AT&T that EO had secured an order to ship ten thousand units.

They were worth twenty million dollars, and this was just the beginning; the prospects for the EO Communicator 440 were limitless!

People from AT&T then argued that EO didn’t have the capacity to fulfill this order and that only with AT&T could the profit be maximized.

After several back-and-forths, Durell "reluctantly" sold 70% of EO’s shares to AT&T for fifty million dollars.

Thus, EO was nominally incorporated into AT&T, and Durell’s remaining shares were not enough to influence EO’s decision-making anymore.

Of course, in return, Durell received the fifty million dollars from AT&T’s acquisition funds.

Look, adding the previous sale of the PenPoint system to NCR, and AT&T’s earlier purchase of the hardware design, Durell had recouped a total of eighty million dollars from handwriting computers.

How much had he originally invested in Go? Seventy-five million dollars.

That investment was a failure, but after a series of maneuvers, not only had Durell not lost money, but he had even made a slight profit.

Furthermore, he still held about 30% of the so-called EO company.

This was Durell, the improvisational investor; you never knew what unexpected moves he would make next.

Why was AT&T so interested in the EO company? Because the EO Communicator 440 was tailor-made for it.

Its chip came from AT&T, the hardware design was similar to what they had acquired, and the communication function was AT&T’s favorite.

After internal evaluations, they believed this device could go straight into production for AT&T.

Moreover, the design of integrating telephone equipment into this machine was particularly valued by AT&T.

The board believed that this was an opportunity for AT&T to expand into the mobile phone business.

Motorola’s business was booming, and AT&T wanted a share of the profits from not just the communications business but also the mobile devices.

Conveniently, there was already a significant number of orders at hand.

This also indirectly proved the market prospects for these devices, which is why AT&T readily bought a large portion of EO’s shares.

Perhaps in their view, AT&T had secured a great deal.

Hearing Durell’s explanation, Dean couldn’t help but smile wryly.

The man was rightfully deemed "the king of venture capital" in the future, with a boldness and courage that stood out in the venture capital field.

"Dean, when can I see the type of software you just mentioned?"

Durell was somewhat eager, wanting to get in on the game as soon as possible.

"Wait until our boss makes his visit; spring is a good time."

By then, Teresa’s side should have things pretty much in order.

...

It was still February in Silicon Valley, and the region was basking in the warm winter sun.

But Clinton had already flown to the West with Gore, kicking off a heated discussion about high technology.

First, in a chic suburb of Los Gatos, at a small tavern, Dean and a group of top supporters from the high-tech industry joined the two guests from Washington for dinner.

Dean sat next to Clinton, and Baram sat next to Gore.

They sipped caffeinated Diet Coke and talked freely about the future of the information revolution.

The gathering lasted three hours, and when they stepped out of the tavern, there were thousands of locals outside welcoming them.

The crowds had been waiting outside in the cold night, firmly believing that Clinton would lead them out of the recession.

In front of groups of reporters, Clinton and Gore shook hands and played with babies until late into the night.

This was something old George had never done before, leaving a strong impression on the entire Silicon Valley.

However, the main event of the visit was scheduled for the next day, when they would meet at Byte Company’s headquarters.

"A meeting between policy experts and computer nerds, both sides evenly matched."

That’s what some journalists wrote, thinking Washington didn’t understand computers and Silicon Valley nerds didn’t understand politics.

When these two sides came together, it was like a match of checkers, each holding its own.

But obviously, this kind of Schadenfreude was destined to leave them disappointed.

When the handsome Dean, impeccably dressed in a suit, hosted a television broadcast of a town hall meeting from Byte Company’s headquarters, everyone was amazed.

What surprised them even more was that during the technical exchange, Clinton and Gore were not as clueless as expected.

Dean showed an extraordinary macro perspective in the field of economics, and Clinton and his team were well-versed in information development too.

Also on display was Byte Company’s office, so stylish it fulfilled all the students’ fantasies about their future work environment.

As one of the most successful Silicon Valley companies on Wall Street in recent years, Byte’s products had made their way into internationally renowned large corporations, including the federal government.

"As a company approaches sales of 1 billion dollars," Dean said calmly, "it should play a more prominent role in the community."

Then, Byte Company showcased their trump card technology.

Under the focus of many cameras, Dean personally demonstrated how to operate a remote video chat.

"Oh~" When Clinton saw the clear, moving image on the computer screen, he opened his mouth in astonishment.

"Are you sure there’s someone on the other side? It’s not a recording?"

Dean smiled and spoke into the microphone on the table.

"Danny, our esteemed Mr. President thinks you might not be real, so..."

"Hello Mr. Clinton, welcome to Byte Company, I’m Danny from the Texas division."

"Can you hear me speaking?" Clinton asked, intrigued.

"Of course, I can see you, and you can see me."

"Good, can you make some movements? Or even dance, that’d be fine."

Clinton’s slightly disbelieving joke, tinged with a bit of heckling, made everyone around laugh.

"Um, I’m not really good at dancing, but I’ll give it a shot."

Then Danny started to showcase his awkward samba dance moves.

The clumsy actions had everyone laughing heartily.

"OK, OK, this is amazing," Clinton nodded in praise repeatedly.

"We can also experience it live; it’s not science fiction."

Following Dean’s guidance, Clinton and Gore also held a video chat in the same office.

"When can we see this technology?" Clinton asked, still excited.

"If the lines are guaranteed, now. If we want to popularize it, it may take a few years."

This forecast honestly exceeded everyone’s expectations; they had thought it would take over a decade to become widely available.

"Fantastic, the timing of our technology policy is perfect."

Right there and then, Clinton and Gore announced the federal high-tech plan.

They would invest 17 billion dollars in new technology research and establish more organizations like the semiconductor manufacturing technology alliance.

Permanent corporate R&D tax credits, investment in fiber-optic infrastructure, and more.

Many of these were things Silicon Valley had long dreamt of, including Byte Company.

They would receive a substantial amount of budget support, corporate taxes would be significantly lowered, and the advancement of technology would be faster than planned.

Look, the efforts of Silicon Valley had paid off, and they came just in time.

Byte Company would walk away with a significant slice of the cake, as it rightly deserved.

Following the visit, it was foreseeable that the wave of the information revolution would truly begin.

A week later after seeing off the visitors from Washington, news also came from Teresa.

Calculating the time, Dean figured the browser he wanted was probably almost developed.

Good, the infrastructure, policy, and technology were all in place.

Oh right, according to CIX Alliance statistics, by the beginning of ’93, the number of internet users in America had already surpassed 5 million.

This growth rate was a bit faster than expected, and by the end of the year, no one was sure how much it would increase.

So the time was ripe, and Dean was ready to discuss the business with Jim Clark.

He couldn’t wait; the internet wave was poised to surge.

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