American History 1988
Chapter 414 - 403: A Small Condition

Chapter 414: Chapter 403: A Small Condition

"Are you so sure Gates has been here?" Jobs asked with interest, his initial surprise slightly abating.

"Not only do I know Gates has been here, but I’m also quite sure they must have proposed some terms of a deal to Apple.

This should include office software adaptation based on the Mac system, as well as setting the default browser."

Dean wasn’t clear what exactly Gates and Jobs had discussed, but it was easy to guess the general outline with a bit of analysis.

In the browser market, although Microsoft was facing an antitrust lawsuit, they had never given up on continuing to expand their browser business.

Gates always insisted on his internet strategy, and Microsoft’s top executives believed it would affect their layout and development for the coming years.

So even with the lawsuit entangling them, Microsoft wouldn’t back down in the competition until the battle was decisively concluded.

Jobs’s return meant that Apple was about to undergo significant changes.

Before him, Apple computers based on the Mac system had always used Navigator as the default browser.

This was because it had supported the Mac system from its initial version, and over the years, its ecosystem had become quite robust.

Later, Microsoft also tried to seize the browser market from Apple computers, but due to the closed nature of the Mac system, they had never succeeded.

Now with Jobs’s return and Apple seeking a new operating system, Gates believed it was the perfect opportunity for Navigator to strike.

Therefore, he personally arranged to meet with Jobs, and it was said that the two talked for a long time.

Although they intended to keep it lowkey, no sooner had Gates left than Dean arrived.

In Silicon Valley, nothing could escape his eyes.

"Alright, I did talk with Gates, and he proposed some terms that Apple would find hard to refuse."

Although their meeting lasted only a few minutes, Jobs was quite certain that Dean was a smart man, just like himself.

Since that was the case, there was no need for unnecessary secrecy; it might as well be straightforward.

Jobs’s words did not deter Dean from continuing the conversation; he smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Then could you talk about what irresistible terms Gates offered? Perhaps Apple might have better options."

Jobs cast a glance at him and thought to himself, the competition between these two men was more intense than he had imagined.

Although he felt this way, it didn’t stop him from plainly stating Microsoft’s offer.

"The Office suite, as well as an investment of 150 million US dollars."

Dean was initially stunned, then he realized, "Was that Gates’s condition?"

Honestly, he thought the deep-pocketed Microsoft would wield the big stick of money, aggressively courting Apple.

Not to mention the 150 million dollars in investment, but what the hell was the Office suite?

"Apple needs these," Jobs said candidly spreading his hands, "We need the Office suite to support the new generation of the Mac system.

We also need 150 million dollars in funds to reorganize the company’s financial confidence, which is very important for Apple at the moment."

Jobs was an optimistic person, also good at boosting the morale of Apple employees.

But Apple in ’96, in his words, was "a ship with a huge hole in the bottom."

During the years he was away from Apple, its computer market share had dropped from originally 16% to less than 4% today.

The company’s market value had hardly changed, and while other internet companies were advancing steadily, Apple’s total market value this year was less than 3 billion US dollars.

In 11 years, Apple had changed three CEOs. It had dabbled in laptops, ventured into the Newton assistant, and even boldly entered the gaming console market.

But without exception, they all failed. These projects not only failed to save Apple but further pushed it towards the abyss.

Jobs had never thought that one day Apple would be on the brink of bankruptcy.

Just before he nominated himself to return to Apple, Amelio had even been in touch with IBM, ready to sell Apple.

Yes, that was the current state of Apple. Its computer market was a complete mess, and it was also deeply in debt.

Jobs saying that it had a huge hole at the bottom was no exaggeration, so even though Microsoft’s terms were average, he was left with no room to refuse.

It was either death or take the money.

Jobs looked at Dean with a calm gaze, apparently unconcerned about revealing Microsoft’s terms or exhausted by Apple’s dire situation.

But Dean suddenly understood his mindset; he was laying his cards on the table.

Look, here are the conditions. It’s your turn to play now.

If you want to secure Apple as an ally and thoroughly suppress Microsoft in an antitrust case, then bring out your terms."

"OK, I think I understand," Dean nodded knowingly, "Office software plus an investment."

"Yes," Jobs spread his hands, that’s right.

Dean fell silent for a moment before he lifted his gaze again.

"The Office suite will be managed by Bit Inc., and additionally, I can offer Apple funding of 300 to 500 million US dollars."

"Wow," Jobs raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Dean’s two conditions stunned him; an investment of 300 to 500 million dollars was several times what Microsoft had offered.

Is this what it’s like to be the richest man in the world? Transactions worth hundreds of millions of US dollars seemed like trivial matters to him.

"Right, did you just mention that Bit Company is in charge of the Office suite?" Jobs recalled that Bit Company didn’t seem to have this line of business, if he remembered correctly.

Dean did not answer him immediately; instead, he gestured toward Anna by lifting his chin slightly, and she promptly approached with a laptop in her arms.

"What is this?" Jobs looked at the computer in front of him, puzzled, until Anna opened a certain icon.

Then his world came to a standstill as he saw a suite of office tools similar to Office.

Word, Excel, PPT—everything was there, but they were not exactly the same as Office.

Throughout Anna’s demonstration, Jobs saw many innovative ways to operate the software.

This was very different from the way Microsoft’s document software was currently used; if he had to pinpoint the difference, it was that it was more simplified.

He was captivated by the user interface and the layout of the toolbar among other modules.

He was surprised that Dean had managed to produce a mature Office suite so quickly.

He was even more surprised that there was a company capable of developing its own style of office software beyond Microsoft’s creativity.

"Steve, the fact is that Bit has already developed a similar suite a long time ago.

We can port it to the Mac system anytime you need it.

So, when is Apple planning to launch the next generation Mac system?" Dean smoothly transitioned the negotiation to the next stage.

"Probably around August," Jobs replied subconsciously.

"Look, that will be plenty of time," Dean answered with a relaxed smile.

In software development, the most challenging part isn’t writing code, but designing the various detailed functionalities.

Bit had already completed this part; what followed was merely an issue of porting between different systems, and eight months was indeed ample time.

"And Bit’s Office suite offers more than just these features. Have you heard of collaborative work?"

Dean’s remark immediately perked Jobs up.

"I’ve heard a bit about it; it seems to be a concept proposed by Bit Company."

"Exactly, it’s our specialty," Dean nodded proudly, indicating that Bit’s reputation was penetrating quite effectively.

"Aside from traditional document editing functions, it also supports a multiple-user online sharing mode.

Just as you understand, the same document can be edited by numerous people, with real-time saving."

Bit was absolutely at the forefront in developing collaborative software.

The software now shown to Jobs seemed not to differ much from Microsoft’s Office.

But by simply right-clicking on a document, you would see the "Share" option; with a mild click, the current document would instantly open as a webpage.

There would be an "Invite" button on it, and if you want to complete the document with someone, just enter their email there.

Or, you could share the current webpage link with the relevant person, whether by email or Toktok, and they could directly access and enter the editing interface.

This was the powerful capability of Bit in the collaborative field, unmatched even by Microsoft.

As for why Dean could showcase Bit’s document-based office software to Jobs on the spot?

As the latter said, he had never heard that Bit had ventured into this business, nor was there any promotion.

It couldn’t possibly have appeared overnight; that was impossible.

The answer was actually simple: Bit had long been secretly developing document-based office software.

The timeline could trace back to when Microsoft launched Windows 95 in 1995, announcing the Navigator browser feature.

Consequently, Dean silently commissioned Bit to secretly develop the Office suite, in case a full-fledged battle with Microsoft arose someday, so he would have more cards to play with.

After a year and a half of meticulous craftsmanship, Bit’s Office suite had become quite mature.

Of course, to differentiate from Microsoft, Bit’s document suite was not called Office but was named BitDocs instead.

Apart from the common office software, it included services like Bit email for enterprises.

Originally, Dean planned to first apply it in Novell Company’s upcoming competitive product to the Windows system, as part of the initial ecosystem software.

But since Apple was in need, he decided to use it there first.

Gates and Jobs might have discussed some matters, and snippets of those conversations had already reached him through informers.

Many in Silicon Valley wanted to undermine Microsoft, especially since Apple was already at odds with Microsoft, having sued over the graphical operating system just a couple of years ago.

Thus, although Dean appeared to be traveling light this time, he had actually come fully prepared.

After seeing the BitDocs demonstration, Jobs immediately made up his mind.

"We hope to secure an investment of 500 million US dollars, and Apple would be honored to forge a collaboration with Bit Company.

However, I also have a small condition, which will be the premise of our transaction."

"500 million US dollars is no problem," Dean agreed swiftly, "but what do you mean by a small condition?"

"This investment should come from Bit Company, not from you as an individual," Jobs threw out the argument he had prepared in advance.

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