Siheyuan: The Era of Core Generation

Chapter 200 The IBM UC and the Apple Printer
The first thing the Asset Management Corporation did after becoming a subsidiary was to go to the United States to sign a formal memorandum of cooperation on behalf of the country and the joint factory.

The memorandum this time is not the kind that Zhao Ye and the others brought back. This time the memorandum was signed in the name of the Asset Management Corporation. It is an official document with legal force and all kinds of certificates are complete.

According to this memorandum, the new joint venture company, named IBMUC, will be located near Los Angeles.

The second thing that the asset management company did was to register a new company while sending people to Los Angeles to go through the relevant procedures.And this company directly used the name "Apple" under Zhao Ye's suggestion.

It's not because Zhao Ye is unkind, it's because the name is so impressive.Moreover, the apple with a bite missing in the company logo is equally impressive.It not only conforms to the taste of the people of the United States, but also has a strong commemorative significance.

It is said that this missing apple is to commemorate Turing. Zhao Ye was too lazy to think about it out of the idea of ​​using it.Anyway, it’s just following someone else’s path, why not?

The people from the asset management company took over the big and small affairs in the United States, and Zhao Ye returned to his own job.Currently speaking, there are three major tasks before him.

The first is to develop a server suitable for IBMUC, a joint venture company. You must know that a server that is too advanced at once is not an optimal solution in itself.When Zhao Ye first raised this point of view, the representatives of the asset management company expressed their opposition.Based on simple values, most people think that there should be a market for selling more advanced products?

Of course it’s true to think so, but it’s also time to score points!In an environment where similar products compete, of course, it is only by selling more advanced products that they can seize the market.

But what is the current environment?Not to mention that they are a technological monopoly, in fact, they are almost the same.This situation is different from the general situation.At this time, what kind of product you sell, customers can only use what kind of product, there is no choice at all.

The only choice is whether you use it or not.

In this environment, of course, the maximum commercial value of technology is squeezed out!

With such a suggestion, the asset management company expressed a little embarrassment to IBM. Unexpectedly, it was praised and agreed by IBM, and said that they have always done this!This is the right business model
An asset management company whose world view has been impacted has no choice but to scold a black-hearted capitalist behind its back and cheat its own family. That is not soft at all!But it's better this way. Of course, they don't need to object to things that can sell more money, right?
When Zhao Ye was busy in the laboratory, the country dispatched the first batch of construction teams to plan to build the first joint venture factory.In the eyes of ordinary people, the political significance of this event itself is far greater than its economic significance.

But how could Zhao Ye be an ordinary person?Zhao Ye is very serious about earning other people's money.

No, after establishing Apple, Zhao Ye started his printer project and personal computer project immediately.

This is his plan to make a lot of money. Although this Apple company is hidden behind IBMUC, few people notice it.But it won't be long before the brand new Apple will surely scare everyone.

For now, the personal computer can be put aside for now. Zhao Ye has to get the server of the joint venture factory fixed before he can spare time to work on the personal pc.

However, the personal pc can be put away, and the printer should be paid close attention.Laser printers are too high-end, and this is reserved for later use, but inkjet printers can be exchanged for money.

For inkjet printers, Zhao Ye actually started experimenting very early.According to some materials and practices of his "later generations", Zhao Ye plans to launch a monochrome inkjet version first.In principle, this printer is actually very simple.At the nozzle, there is a set of capillary tubes for the ejected ink. In this capillary tube, because of the specific capillary effect, it will not flow out by itself.At this time, an electric heating device is added to the outside of the capillary. Under the control of the chip, it is heated instantly according to the demand. In this way, a high temperature is formed in the capillary, and the ink inside will be heated. The steam is "jetted" out, which is the principle of inkjet printers.

Sounds simple?But it is not easy to do it.The first is the ink used for ejection, which cannot be done with traditional ink.The new ink formula is a "difficulty".Fortunately, this is really not difficult for Zhao Ye.

The second is the technique of heating a sufficiently thin capillary.Because it is impossible to place only one capillary in a small area, this will cause a series of problems, such as how adjacent capillaries will not affect each other when one is heated and the other is not heated.There are also a series of issues such as the position control of the printer nozzle, the position control of the paper, the cost of the overall product, etc., all of which require continuous experimentation and exploration.

Zhao Ye made three types of products with reference to different user groups, which can be simply divided into three grades: large, medium and small.

Large printers are used in such occasions as government agencies and large companies.Its main feature is that it is big and has many nozzles, and correspondingly, it has a lot of ink storage.The medium-sized ones are basically aimed at small businesses or banks and other similar departments.This model pays attention to practicality, the price is medium, and the speed and accuracy are still passable.As for small printers, his only advantage is the price.

Zhao Ye didn't plan to make much money even on the printer itself, but put future profits on the consumables.This is also the characteristic of the printer market in later generations.

The printer is almost sold to you at a loss, but after you use the printer from others, the price of the consumables will really make you cry!However, if you are really asked to change one, you may not be able to make up your mind.And the biggest problem is that even if you change to a new brand, you find that these manufacturers are basically a routine, nothing more than changing the brand to make others cheat.

Zhao Ye plans to carry forward this glorious tradition, but personal PCs are not yet popularized, and even saying popularization is a bit exaggerated, because there are almost no computers specially prepared for personal use in the world.In this way, is there no market for printers?

Of course not, it cannot be printed, but you can still try to copy it, dear!

For small and medium-sized machines, the copy function is a must.

However, in the subsequent improvement, Zhao Ye still added the printing interface.After all, no printer is complete without a computer attached.

As far as lasers are concerned, Zhao Ye and the others still have some accumulation.Zhao Ye spent a month tinkering in his own No. [-] laboratory, and finally made his dream a reality.

On this day, Zhao Ye asked someone to put the three devices he had “scrambled” into the meeting room.Here, a computer was also installed.When Director Yang and the others walked into the meeting room one after another, they couldn't stop looking at the things Zhao Ye had been working on during this time.

"Yezi, what are you? It doesn't look like a server, does it?" A director of a production workshop looked at it for a long time, but he didn't see any tricks, so he couldn't help asking.

As soon as he asked the question, the entire conference room was buzzing and noisy.

Factory Manager Yang saw that this was not going to work, and immediately announced the start of the meeting, asking Zhao Ye to talk about the latest results of the laboratory.

"Leaders, what is before you now is our latest achievement, the printer. With this device, everyone can print out the contents of the computer through this device."

"Wait, this is a printing machine?" Commissar Luo interrupted Zhao Ye and asked.

"Political Commissar Luo, this one is similar, but not the same. The printing press pays attention to printing newspapers, books, etc. in batches according to typesetting. The printer is to meet the daily work needs. For example, we write an article on the computer. Articles or official letters, what should we do if we want to turn them into paper? In the past, we copied them by hand. But with a printer, it’s different, we don’t need to write and draw with that pen anymore , but can easily print the things on the computer screen to the paper through this printer."

"Ah! This is too amazing! Yezi, hurry up and show us a demonstration." A propaganda section chief in a factory said.

"Okay, Section Chief Zhao, do you have any information you want to print? Can you try it on the spot?"

"Hey, it's not easy. Here you are, and you print fifty copies for me." Section Chief Zhao of the Propaganda Section said, and threw a floppy disk to Zhao Ye.

Zhao Ye didn't say anything, and directly inserted the floppy disk into the computer in front of everyone.After a bit of manipulation, Zhao Ye saw that there was a notification message inside.

The content is not long, only two or three pages.

In this computer, Zhao Ye had already installed a printer driver card.The current computer does not have the universal USB socket of the later generations, but needs to insert a function expansion card for connecting a printer to the expansion slot of the motherboard of the computer.In this way, the mutual connection between the printer and the computer is realized.

In addition, on the computer, there is a driver installed in advance, so that the early text editor can establish contact with the printer card.

Having said so much, in fact, Zhao Ye has already debugged a lot of work long ago. Zhao Ye opened this file with text editing software, and then selected the print button in a menu bar, and it went dark immediately.

(End of this chapter)