My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 605 Watermelon or Sesame Seed?

Singapore in 86 was similar to Hong Kong at that time, with a large number of new buildings mixed with many shophouses and old Nanyang houses.

There are also many roadside markets.

Rang Weidong's assessment was that the new ones were newer than HK, and the old ones were older than HK.

Because Hong Kong has been affected by the development of the mainland after its reform and opening up, it has definitely undergone a process of change in recent years.

Singapore, located at the entrance to the Strait of Malacca, has become wealthy for over a decade or two due to the huge energy demand generated by the economic boom in Japan and other countries during the 1960s and 70s.

More importantly, without the meddling and meddling of a colonial governor, Singapore is now focusing all its efforts on developing its economy and raising the overall education level of its citizens.

Therefore, the knowledge density surrounding Wei Dong's conversation about computers is much higher than that in Hong Kong.

With everyone enjoying a cup of teh tarik (pulled tea), they can chat animatedly over some fries and curry fish balls.

What's annoying is that it often contains English and Malay.

This made Wei Dong wonder if he should take the initiative and start discussing how to sell computers.

Just then, I overheard a college student saying that the company where his senior worked could make computers speak Chinese...

A thought suddenly flashed through Wei Dong's mind: Does the computer make a sound?

Even Apple computers can't do this now, and Steve and his team haven't put any effort into it. Apple computers only have a buzzer, which is used to beep and announce errors.

He immediately asked, "What kind of technology is it?"

They used a bunch of technical terms to explain it to him, basically saying that the motherboard and chip's processing power was no longer sufficient, so they made a separate card to plug into the computer to make it produce sound, and the computer's foundation was the Apple II computer!

Steve and his team were truly amazing. When they were making Apple computers, they left an interface so that any new computer enthusiast could develop various new devices based on that interface.

For example, the Macintosh computer that Weidong helped sell last year had an external floppy drive connected through this interface.

The domestic companies that make educational machines have also copied this interface.

Then this small workshop in Singapore made a card on this interface, which has multiple functions such as speaking, playing stereo music, and processing Chinese information.

Now that Wei Dong is a seasoned businessman, he calmly suppressed his inner turmoil and stopped asking questions, continuing the conversation with a smile about other things.

It wasn't until Qin Yuye and the others were getting sleepy from waiting that they came over to say hello, instantly attracting everyone's attention. Only then did he quietly kick the guy and give him a wink, saving it for last.

They went to their door that very night.

Actually, right next to this polytechnic college, which is still a private junior college at the time, there was a storefront and office area of ​​about ten square meters, which looked like a mobile phone repair shop.

This company undertakes all computer repair services while also developing its own software and hardware – all handmade!

It was past midnight, but the young men were still awake, shirtless, busy among various components.

The sign at the entrance reads "Innovation Computers".

It's really innovative; Wei Dong hadn't even had a chance to unlock the skill of making a computer speak in his mind yet.

The other party has already made it, although it is still very crude.

After connecting the software, stereo music was transmitted through the amplifier, echoing in the dilapidated storefront.

These guys proudly introduced it as a world first. A couple of years ago, a European company launched a card that could produce sound, but it only had MIDI electronic sounds and couldn't achieve such a stereo sound effect.

While this can hardly be called high-fidelity Hi-Fi, it is a huge leap from 0 to 5!

Even Steve and his team hadn't figured out the direction of multimedia computers yet.

It already has a basic structure.

Wei Dong quickly identified the leader among these people: "I can invest and help this product enter the Citibank market, truly becoming a high-end product that the whole world needs."

I had just played basketball and had a late-night snack; my sweat-soaked vest still smelled of curry.

Five or six young men from Singapore looked at this mainland Chinese guy who was even younger than them. Wei Dong wasn't the kind of handsome, elegant young nobleman, so they found it hard to believe that he could be promoted all over the world.
Wei Dong understood the look in her eyes, glanced around the messy desktop, and said: "You guys haven't used the 86 Macintosh computer yet, have you? Heard about their brand new memory card system? My team invented and licensed it. And the Kungfu software that's selling like hotcakes in North America right now, my team developed and licensed it..."

Therefore, it's still necessary to have results.

The saying "a person's name is like a tree's shadow" caused a change in the expressions of everyone present.

Wei Dong leaned out again and waved to the car: "Mao'er, bring me the bag of memory cards."

It can be connected to that interface immediately, and even the older Apple II can run the new graphics system and operate manually with the keyboard without a mouse.

Essentially, the Apple II and the later Macintosh computers all used the same Motorola chips. This meant that the computers Steve Jobs sold had excellent "compatibility," and the older computers could still run newer software with some difficulty.

Although the Singaporean region has not yet received its 86 Macintosh computers, they have already repaired them and read various analytical articles about Kungfu software and the new Macintosh computers in various international professional magazines.

Now it's like looking at a completely different sky from the perspective of someone sitting in a well!

It turns out that Lin Wangfu, the general manager and chief technician of Innovation Computer, took a path that was similar to, yet different from, that of domestic learning machines.

He used the Apple II computer, which could be placed under a television, as the basis for his research and development, without attempting to improve Citigroup's high-tech computers themselves, nor did he possess such capabilities.

But in addition to working on the Chinese word processing software like Lao Huang and the others who developed learning machines, he also developed an external hardware device that could play music.

It can be considered as a dual expertise in both software and hardware.

This is the key reason why his research and development is more advanced than that of domestic research and development.

Domestic state-owned research institutes haven't yet come up with any ideas for adding accessories outside the main body; the name they're currently working on is Sound Blaster Card!

Upon arriving here, Wei Dong vaguely felt that he had heard of this name before.

Sound cards are definitely worth considering.

Lin Wangfu and his group watched as the Kungfu software package began to appear on the screen. It consisted of three main parts: word processing, spreadsheet processing, and PowerPoint. After being polished and adjusted by Apple's engineers, the domestic software became simple and beautiful.

It's so much better than their word processing software; I felt both excited and frustrated.

It turns out there are other Chinese people in the world who are also working hard on this, but they are doing it so well, how are we supposed to live?

Wei Dong leaned against the door and said casually, "My software is sold bundled with Apple computers, and it can also be used on other computers sold separately. It's making hundreds of thousands of dollars every day. Join me, and I'll help you grow bigger and stronger. I won't take away any of your money. The only requirement is that you get to build a factory near Hong Kong."

When Lin Wangfu later gave a media interview, he said helplessly, "That's how I was tricked into going to the mainland to open a factory. I had no choice. I had never been to Hong Kong before. I thought it wouldn't be a problem to go from Yuen Long to work on the other side."

Singaporeans have absolutely no psychological barriers to opening factories in Hong Kong.

By having Wei Dong invest two million US dollars to acquire only 20% of the shares, this effectively values ​​Creative Computer at ten million US dollars!
Lin Wangfu was so surprised that he nodded repeatedly.

In addition to helping innovative computers build and start production, and becoming standard hardware for Apple computers, the new shareholders also aim to list the company in Hong Kong.

Of course, Lin Wangfu still has feelings for Singapore. The company is still registered here, and the sound card factory follows the big boss.

After we finished discussing this part of the contract, we typed it out on the computer, printed it out, signed and sealed it, and it was already dawn.

Having exceptional energy should definitely be an essential skill for a ruler.

It wasn't until Wei Dong took Lin Wangfu to the bank to transfer $200,000 that they started talking about Apple's sales strategy in Singapore.

Lin Wangfu has been in the computer repair and R&D business in Singapore for five years, so he must be very familiar with local computer information.

He frankly admitted that Singapore's biggest problem is that the local market is only so big, with a population of three million, and only ten to twenty thousand new computers are added every year, and the vast majority of them are purchased by government departments, state-owned companies, and large foreign companies.

The proportion of retail sales is not high.

Conversely, Singapore's advantage lies in being sandwiched between three major countries: Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, allowing it to radiate influence to surrounding areas.

For example, he does computer repair and software development, and can still maintain an annual turnover of seven or eight hundred thousand US dollars.

Now, with Sound Blaster, he was seeking funding from all sides in hopes of expanding his business, but unexpectedly, he found a perfect opportunity and directly developed into a company worth tens of millions of US dollars.

He originally planned to sell Sound Blaster cards to surrounding areas, and he thought that it would be quite good if the annual output value reached three to four million.

However, small-scale production will definitely have higher costs, since the decoding chips involved are now considered custom-made, high-cost components.

Wei Dong smiled: "The 86 Apple computers have already sold over two million units this quarter. You can calculate how much you could make if you jumped on this bandwagon. Right now, what you need to do is make this sound card more sophisticated; the sound quality still needs improvement..."

Lin Wangfu quickly explained, "The speakers also need to have good sound quality."

Wei Dong laughed heartily: "That's right, we're going to open a computer speaker factory too. Hurry up and get me some manpower and technology. I'll immediately invest the manpower and resources to get this factory up and running. I'll give you 20% of the shares in this factory. No problem, right? It'll definitely make a fortune."

His original intention was to swap shares with the sound card company to create a system of checks and balances.

Unexpectedly, Lin Wangfu actually thought about it and said, "How about we adjust the shareholding? My partners and I will take 40% for the sound card, and you will take 60%. For the speakers, you will give me 60% and you will take 40%... I'm not doing this for business reasons. My purpose in making sound cards is because I love sound. I want to make computers produce beautiful sounds. Compared to sound cards that can already produce sound, I would rather focus on speakers that make the sound even more beautiful."

Even Wei Dong was a little taken aback. Even someone as computer illiterate as him felt that the other party had lost the big picture for a small gain.

And he happens to be an expert.

But it seems that both this sesame seed and this watermelon have a bright future.

(End of this chapter)