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Chapter 300 Microsoft's Killer Move

In Hamilton's office, the air seemed to have been paused.

Hamilton, Igor Paterson, and Ernst were frozen in place, staring at each other in silence. Time slipped away in this eerie silence, and even the ticking of the wall clock seemed exceptionally clear.

"Is there really such a coincidence in this world?"

After a long silence, Hamilton broke the silence first, his voice filled with disbelief, as if he were wondering if he was hallucinating.

To confirm that what he was seeing was not a figment of his imagination, he even rubbed his eyes, but the image on the television screen remained unchanged.

Igor Paterson's expression was also quite interesting at this moment, with surprise, doubt and other emotions intertwined on his face. "If I didn't know that there was absolutely no possibility of our project being leaked, and that Microsoft was acquiring it rather than developing it themselves, I would have started to doubt myself and wonder if someone had leaked our project."

All eyes were once again focused on the television screen, where Microsoft's Senior Vice President Steve Ballmer stood on the stage of the press conference, looking incredibly energetic and excitedly telling the audience and the cameras about the new software that Microsoft was about to launch.

He waved his arms, a confident smile on his face, his enthusiasm seemingly bursting through the television screen and infecting everyone in the office.

What left Ernst speechless was that the name of the software was now clearly displayed in the subtitles at the bottom of the screen.

ICQ.

Yes, it's ICQ.

It was precisely because of this name that such an eerie silence fell over the office, leaving everyone in a state of bewilderment.

The three of them gathered in Hamilton's office today to discuss what time to officially launch Google Messenger, which has already completed development and testing.

Who would have thought that the three of them had barely sat down in the office and hadn't even gotten to the point when Hamilton's secretary rushed in, saying that Microsoft had suddenly held an emergency press conference to announce a major product, and that all the major media outlets were broadcasting it live.

Then, on the television screen, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's first-generation salesperson and the pioneer of online sales hosts, appeared.

This guy can truly be considered the pioneer of live-streaming e-commerce. Back in 1986, when Windows 1.0 was released, it was this guy who, with his highly infectious speeches and humorous expressions, successfully opened up the market for Windows and laid the foundation for its subsequent huge sales.

The impassioned tone and exaggerated rhetoric, along with the claims that "buying this is the right thing to do, you won't lose out, you won't be cheated" are all things that others have already done.

If this happened decades from now, he would definitely become a top streamer in the live streaming industry, and the sales volume of his live stream would probably break through the hundreds of millions in no time.

However, the three people in the office had no time to appreciate Ballmer's sales skills; all their attention was focused on the software called IcQ.

Hamilton couldn't help but mutter, "Bill Gates really seems to have some kind of special bond with Google, always managing to walk right into our line of fire."

Whenever Bill Gates felt he was about to dominate a certain field and become invincible, Google would always launch a related product immediately, dealing a heavy blow to Microsoft.

This has happened with browsers, and now it's the instant messaging field. It's as if Google was created specifically to counter Microsoft.

Igor Paterson wholeheartedly agrees, considering the current ICQ to be utter garbage.

Compared to Google Messenger, which he personally oversaw the development of, ICQ is significantly inferior in terms of functionality, interface, gameplay, and user experience. Isn't this just an attempt to highlight Google's greatness?

"What do we do now?" Hamilton turned to Ernst, who had remained silent, his tone questioning.

Ernst remained silent, his brow furrowed slightly, as if he were still deep in thought.

His silence was not, like Hamilton and Igor Paterson's, due to surprise at the coincidence, but rather because he found the trajectory of the world's internet development to be somewhat out of control.

Instead of developing its own MSN, Microsoft directly acquired ICQ, and the timing of its instant messaging software launch was much earlier than he remembered.

This unexpected development gave Ernst a strange feeling; he felt like a character in a game controlled by God, currently experiencing a game of leveling up by defeating monsters.

Why can't I just smoothly crush everything in my path? Why do you have to introduce these mini-bosses in advance to increase the difficulty of the game?

It took Ernst a while to snap out of his reverie.

He glanced at Ballmer on the TV screen, still jumping and full of energy, and a strange thought suddenly popped into his mind: Could it be that this guy will buy an NBA team in the future because he wants to continue competing with me on the court and give me a hard time?

A mischievous smile crept across his lips as he turned to Hamilton and Igor Paterson, a hint of amusement in his eyes. "Don't you think Bill Gates should be feeling incredibly smug right now?"

Hamilton chuckled at this, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. He said casually, "Of course! With ICQ and Microsoft's existing resources, he probably thinks he's about to dominate the internet social networking world and become the true industry leader, right?"

"Office software, ICQ, Hotmail—he has integrated all these products into MSN. His ambition is obvious. He doesn't just want to get a share of the instant messaging market."

"Moreover, this instant messaging software is not only aimed at attacking our email business. Judging from its plans for MSN, it clearly reveals a greater ambition and has begun to develop in the direction of a portal website."

Hamilton snorted, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes, but he quickly smiled and looked at Ernst. "He really hates you to the core. He's clearly making preparations for both scenarios."

"If Microsoft wins the browser war, then Internet Explorer will be compatible with MSN. At that time, MSN will become a super complex that integrates entertainment, communication, office and other functions, and user stickiness will definitely be greatly improved."

"Even if Microsoft loses the browser war, it can still maintain a place in the search engine market by transforming into a portal website, and it will have the opportunity to make a comeback at any time."

"He's trying to take over Google's search and email services, as well as Yahoo's portal business. He's really playing a clever game."

After saying that, Hamilton's smile disappeared, replaced by a look of relief. He looked at the two of them with a serious expression. "I have to admit, Bill Gates' move was really a killer move. If we hadn't made arrangements in the instant messaging field in advance, we would probably have been caught off guard this time."

Ernst nodded in agreement. If Google hadn't developed Google Messenger in advance, Microsoft, with ICQ and its strong resource integration capabilities, would have had a very high chance of turning the tide.

Instant messaging software has an incredibly strong ability to drive traffic, especially in the current stage of internet development. The concept of online dating is extremely attractive to users, and almost no one can resist this desire that can stir their inner emotions.

Even knowing that there may be no future between two people, even if it's just through text communication, being called "wife" or "husband" by someone of the opposite sex can be addictive, making one want to stay immersed in this virtual emotional interaction.

If a large number of internet users spend a lot of time in ICQ, then the email accounts bundled with ICQ...

Search and similar products will naturally become users' first choice, since they are more convenient to use. Who would bother to open software from other companies?

Current internet speeds simply don't allow users to perform these time-wasting operations. Those tens of seconds would occupy the bandwidth, allowing Microsoft to easily dominate the market, while Google and Yahoo would be in danger.

"What a pity!" Ernst suddenly shook his head. "It would be very interesting to see Bill Gates's furious expression when he finds out that our plans have been disrupted."

Just then, Ernst seemed to suddenly remember something, his eyes lit up, and he turned to Hamilton, "I remember Yahoo's Jerry Yang was Larry Page's senior, right?"

Hamilton couldn't help but grin, a knowing look on his face. "You're not thinking of sending Jerry Yang a few potted plants too, are you? And you're going to use Larry Page's name?"

Sending flowerpots to Steve Jobs last time was one thing, since it was just friends teasing each other, but sending flowers to Jerry Yang is just...

Besides, if you're going to do something bad without using your own name, why do you have to go and interrogate other people?

"If Larry knew you sent flowers to Jerry Yang in his name, he'd probably be so angry he'd drive his car into you."

Ernst laughed and waved his hand, saying, "I was just joking. How could I really do that? The relationship between the three of us is different now than before. Why would I want to create trouble for Google?"

As Ernst pointed out, with Microsoft's integration of MSN, the relationship between Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft has also undergone subtle changes.

No matter how fierce the competition between Yahoo and Microsoft was in the past, and how much they hoped the other would go bankrupt as soon as possible, Google Mail was the obstacle they faced together, which is an indisputable fact.

Therefore, strategically, Yahoo and Microsoft would tacitly target Google, and even secretly cooperate in some areas to jointly resist Google's expansion.

But now the situation is different. By integrating MSN, Bill Gates has revealed his ambition, which Yahoo simply cannot accept because it touches on Yahoo's core interests.

For Yahoo, compared to its email business, its portal website was the lifeblood of the company and the foundation for Yahoo's foothold in the internet field.

Microsoft's intention to develop into a portal website directly threatens Yahoo's survival, and the conflict between the two sides has reached an irreconcilable point.

This led to a dramatic shift in the situation, from Yahoo and Microsoft joining forces against Google to Google and Yahoo working together to protect their own interests against Microsoft.

The sense of crisis posed by Microsoft's MSN was even greater for Yahoo than the threat it posed to Google.

"Since our richest man has started to dream his own pipe dream, we can't let him sleep too soundly. We have to give him a good whack to wake him up." A sharp glint flashed in Ernst's eyes.

Hamilton's face lit up with anticipation upon hearing this. He looked at Ernst and asked, "So you're planning to launch Google Connect tomorrow?"

Ernst's lips curled into a meaningful smile. "We should let our richest man be happy for a day first, and enjoy the joy of impending success, shouldn't we?"

Hamilton and Igor Paterson exchanged a glance at Ernst's mischievous smile.

That's like killing someone by breaking their spirit!