game trailblazer

Chapter 26 The Office Software Controversy ([-])

Of course, it is impossible to do research on a new computer alone, and game development naturally requires brainstorming.Zhang Lexing summoned all the designers from the PC game development team, and everyone worked together to study together. Some of them looked through development materials, and some gathered around PCjr to ponder. Zhang Lexing took a copy of PCjr's hardware briefing to read.

"Well, the processor is the same as the PC, 4.77MHz 8088. The standard memory is 128KB, and the maximum can be expanded to 736KB, which is an improvement. The display card is actually a CGA enhanced type, with the same 320×200 resolution, color There are as many as 16 types, which is a big improvement.” Zhang Lexing sighed while watching, this PCjr is really interesting.What surprised Zhang Lexing most was that PCjr can still use Modem. Although it can only reach 2400bps (the 2M broadband used by Zhang Lexing in his previous life is equivalent to 2000000bps, which is equivalent to more than 800 times), Zhang Lexing can't help but miss his modem. In the era of playing games online, the deepest memory at that time was the amount of more than three digits when paying the phone bill at the end of each month.

After researching for a while, all kinds of whimsical ideas came out of the minds of the designers. In the end, there was a pair of Williams and his wife who just joined the development team (the man’s name is Ken, and the woman’s name is Lüberta). The idea stood out. In fact, this idea was conceived by Lvberta, but it happened to be used today by chance.The background of the game is set on a continent named Daventry. The knight Graham accepted the entrustment of King Edward and set out to find three lost artifacts. The king also promised that if Graham can successfully find these three treasures , will make him heir to the crown.As a result, the knight Graham embarked on an adventurous journey, and the style of the Daventry continent will gradually be revealed, and the fog that shrouded the three artifacts will gradually dissipate.In order to show the characteristics of the PCjr machine, Luberta plans to add a series of 16-color static pictures as the game background in the game. Through these static pictures, some three-dimensional scenes are virtualized, and the protagonist of the game can walk around in these scenes. And be able to interact with items that appear in the scene.Of course, in order to reflect the PCjr's unique three-channel sound, Lüberta is also preparing to add background music and game sound effects to the game.As for the name of the game, Luberta came up with a very cool "King's Secret Envoy".

With the goal of struggle, a development team led by Luberta was quickly formed, and it didn't take long to come up with a decent Demo (a demo version of the game).After watching the wonderful demo, Estrich was overjoyed and signed the contract on the spot, and Lüberta's development team officially started working.

……

Here, IBM is fighting for "peanuts", and on the other side, a new battle for office software has kicked off. The unlucky Microsoft is taking the lead again, and this time the target is word processing software.

The full name of word processing software should be called "Word Processing System (WPS)".The world's first general-purpose word processing software for personal computers was launched by MicroPro company S. Rubinstein in 1979. The name of the software is "WordStar", or WS for short.

With its powerful editing functions, WS quickly conquered users and became the best choice under the CP/M operating system.Shortly after the PC became popular, Robinstein quickly released the PC version of WS, which continued his success.It can be said that when office secretarial staff want to write documents at this time, the first thing that comes to mind is Robinstein's WS.

WS' word processing software dynasty is powerful and vast, and it seems unshakable, but Gates doesn't think so. In his opinion, WS is actually strong on the outside and full of loopholes.

At a Microsoft internal meeting...

"WS is not scary, it's actually not perfect. For example, the much-criticized operation, if users can't remember 30 to 50 operation keys and complex layout rules, they can't play WS at all." Gates himself I really don't like the design of WS, it's too complicated, and when I use WS, I occasionally have to look through the manual.

"Our company is capable of challenging this stubborn old man. We can start from the user experience and write a more user-friendly word processing software. I am going to make word processing software a new development goal for the company. Do you have any opinions?" Gates looked around, trying to get an idea of ​​what everyone was thinking.

As he wished, there were no discordant voices, and Microsoft's new goal was determined.Simeone is still in charge of this new project. Although he encountered the Waterloo of the spreadsheet, Gates still gives him full trust.After several deliberations on the name of the software, Bill finally adopted the suggestion of the public relations department—using the "Microsoft" logo plus "word" (MS-Word), which is both short and clear for the company.

Simeone lived up to expectations and successfully produced a decent work before the Comdex computer exhibition in the spring of 83.Gates has always been worried about last year's exhibition VisualSheet and Lotus1-2-3. In order to change his face, he decided to let MS-Word appear on the stage at this spring exhibition.

Gates was very satisfied with what happened at the exhibition. MS-Word attracted tens of thousands of spectators as soon as it appeared, and many new functions made the visitors overwhelmed.You can operate the software by clicking and moving the mouse, which makes people have a magical feeling. The bold font, underline, superscript and subscript effects that can be realized with simple settings bring a new experience in typesetting. What is even more exaggerated is that some people can pass Excited that a laser printer can produce a Bible that can match the effect of a printed book. MS-Word is like a "supernova" that is exploding, instantly submerging the light of WS.What makes Gates even happier is that there are no more annoying spoilers at this exhibition. He feels that Microsoft's spring is really coming this time.

MS-Word's first appearance at the exhibition achieved good results, but the coverage of the exhibition was still limited after all. In order to create a stronger sensational effect, Gates directed Microsoft's public relations department to plan an unprecedented promotion plan. Simply put, it was group bombing. .

The introduction of this plan is also because Boghini, the head of Microsoft's public relations department, has a relationship with the editor-in-chief of the famous "PC World" magazine. After learning that "PC World" is editing an album introducing best-selling software, he plans to choose Then three to five software were made into floppy disks and given to subscribers for trial use with magazines. He keenly felt that this was a good opportunity for Microsoft, and immediately reported it to his boss. Contact PC World.In this way, Microsoft spent a huge sum of 35 US dollars and sold off the production rights of all floppy disks. The promotion plan can be regarded as having a platform for execution.

With the US dollar clearing the way, "PC World" changed its original intention, and the original hodgepodge of software selections became the designated floppy disk for the trial version of MS-Word.The so-called trial version actually has almost all the functions of MS-Word, except for the printing function.With the joint efforts of Microsoft's production department and the floppy disk factory, as many as 45 MS-Word trial floppy disks were quickly prepared and packed in carefully selected hard plastic boxes.Standing in the warehouse temporarily rented by Microsoft, Gates looked at the plastic boxes piled up half of the warehouse, and he was very excited. He felt that as long as these batches of floppy disks were sent out smoothly, the whole of the United States would definitely fall for it under the bombardment of the MS-Word trial version. I am shocked that the day when Microsoft dominates word processing software is just around the corner.

Everything was ready, and the release date of "PC World" had arrived, magazine albums began to fly to all directions in the United States, and MS-Word trial version floppy disks also exploded all over the United States.Seeing the floppy disk flying into the hands of many users, Gates began to wait anxiously for the good news, but it didn't take long for him to discover that Microsoft had made a big mistake. It is true that MS-Word has powerful functions, but many functions can only be operated with a mouse. At this time, the price of the mouse is generally more than 100 US dollars, and there are few application software support, so few users consider using it. One can imagine the result of adding such an expensive gadget to one's own computer.

Soon there was another piece of news that made Gates angry. The salesmen from all over the country did not receive many business orders, but found that many college students were selling a new word processing software door-to-door. As a result, many users who were fooled by Microsoft into thinking that WS was outdated took it for granted that this new word processing software delivered to their door was the replacement product mentioned in the promotion, and they paid for it one after another.Naturally, Microsoft's sales staff were unwilling to waste their hard work some time ago, and fed back the intelligence of new opponents to the headquarters. Gates looked at the "VisualSystem Company, VisualWriter" written on many reports, and suddenly a desire surged in his heart. The feeling of crying without tears.

"Damn VisualSystem, why is it always blocking our way! Why are those users so ignorant? It is clear that Microsoft has done so much publicity, and they don't care about our MS-Word. Why do they still want to buy that damn VisualWriter? !” Gates roared in his heart, and the report in his hand was torn to pieces by himself unconsciously.

Subsequent market feedback made Gates speechless. While MS-Word was still trying to win orders, VisualWriter had quietly entered the top 10 best-selling software list.Gates sadly found that Microsoft's hard work seems to have hit a wall again, and it seems that it is going to change to a new goal, but is there really a new goal?

(End of this chapter)