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Answer to Chapter 313

The Google press conference hall was brightly lit, and the air seemed to be filled with the cool, sophisticated scent of technology products, mixed with the expensive perfumes and coffee worn by the attendees, creating a unique atmosphere belonging to the tech world.

On stage, Igor Paterson was giving his final thank-you speech into the microphone. His voice carried through the sound system to every corner of the hall, but the CEOs of the major PC manufacturers who had been invited to the event showed no interest in listening. They looked at each other, some even with grim expressions.

That's it?

That's it?

Compaq CEO Meldeco rolled his eyes inwardly. He felt like he was looking forward to a Michelin-starred meal, only to be served a bland and tasteless soup.

After messing around all night, I'm here to hear about your new Google Connect features?

Did you, Ernst, really need to personally call us all to Google's headquarters late at night?

Google Connect has released new features, but what does that have to do with us PC manufacturers?

Meldeco felt a surge of anger whenever he thought of Ernst.

When Ernst visited Compaq, he treated him to a lavish meal and drinks. However, Ernst then poached several of Compaq's top talents. This incident has been a thorn in Meldeco's side ever since.

"Has Ernst lost his mind? Is he bored out of his mind late at night? Are those Hollywood actresses no longer enough to satisfy him?"

Sitting next to him was Dell CEO Leadman, who, although wearing his usual gentle smile, revealed his inner turmoil through a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

He nudged Jobs on the other side with his elbow, lowered his voice, and said with a hint of confusion, "You're such a close friend of Ernst, didn't you hear anything else? He can't be so bored as to drag us all out of bed in the middle of the night just to watch a completely unrelated press conference, can he?"

Among them, Steve Jobs and Ernst had the deepest connection and were well-known friends in the industry.

Ernst is not only a major shareholder and board member of Apple, but he also strongly supported him within Apple just a few days ago.

Furthermore, he was invited by Ernst to serve as a director at Leap Games, indicating a very close personal relationship.

"I'm not sure either." Jobs frowned slightly, shook his head, and said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice, "But based on what I know of Ernst, he's definitely not the kind of person who would do something pointless. There's definitely something fishy going on here. Let's wait and see."

IBM CEO Matta, on the other hand, appeared completely at ease, with half of his body lounging back in his chair and his hands clasped on his stomach, as if he had the entire direction of the press conference under his control.

He glanced at Meldeco, whose face was full of anxiety, and slowly said, "What's the rush? We haven't said it's over yet!"

When Meldeco heard this, he almost rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "How else do you want to end this?"

He glanced at the stage, where Igor Patterson had already begun to bow in greeting. What else could this be but the end?

Just as he was about to retort, he heard the host on stage shout in a passionate voice, "Now, let's give a warm round of applause to Mr. Larry Page, CEO of Google Search, to come up to the stage and announce Google Search's newly developed blockbuster product."

Meldeco swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue. "There really is one?"

He glanced at Leadman and Jobs beside him and noticed that they also looked surprised.

Meldeco cursed Igor Patterson inwardly. There are still products to come; why all those acknowledgments? Are you trying to steal the spotlight?

This instantly replaced his initial anxiety with curiosity, and Ziguang stared intently at the stage entrance.

Although the various new features released by Google Connect are unrelated to PC manufacturers like them, it is still a great update.

Even so, it wasn't the grand finale. What kind of surprises will Google bring to everyone?

Soon, Larry Page walked confidently onto the stage, his face radiating a confidence rarely seen in someone his age.

He had only seen this kind of confidence in two other people his age: Larry Page and Google founder Ernst.

Indeed, money is the root of confidence. A man's confidence comes from having owned money, while a woman's confidence comes from having spent money.

Upon seeing him take the stage, polite and enthusiastic applause erupted in the hall. Larry Page raised his hand to quell the applause and gave a gentlemanly bow to the audience, signaling for quiet.

After the room quieted down completely, Larry Page did not immediately display the product as everyone expected. Instead, he slowly pulled a yellowed newspaper out of his pocket.

He unfolded the newspaper, held it in front of him, and said in a steady voice, "This is a news report from Christmas 1989. At that time, a user in Texas drove for two hours through a blizzard to buy Word software, only to be told that the product was sold out when he arrived."

The audience nodded in agreement. This was a fairly well-known event in the tech world, and many people had heard of it.

In those days, buying software often required going to physical stores, which was not only time-consuming and laborious, but also frequently resulted in stock shortages, leading to a very poor user experience.

Even now, many software programs are still like this, except there are many more stores selling software.

Larry Page crumpled the newspaper in his hand into a ball and threw it on the ground with force, his voice full of power: "But today, what we at Google are going to do is bury this absurdity."

As he finished speaking, the huge screen at the back of the venue suddenly lit up, and the words "Google App Store" slowly appeared in white against a pure blue background.

Upon seeing these words, the audience looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

Judging from the literal meaning, they had no idea what the Google App Store was actually for.

Google's strength in the technology field is undeniable. Its previous products, such as Google Search, Google Chrome, Gmail, and Google Tunes, have all achieved tremendous success, with each business becoming a leader in its industry and firmly occupying a dominant position in its respective market.

Therefore, every time Google launches a new product, it attracts a lot of attention from the entire technology industry.

Although the name of this Google App Store sounds unremarkable, no one dares to take it lightly. After all, as a Google product, it is highly likely to bring a different kind of impact to the industry.

"Is Google planning to enter the e-commerce field?" Leadman broke the silence first, his brows furrowed and his tone full of doubt.

The word "shopping mall" easily evokes images of online shopping, and given the booming development of the e-commerce industry, it seems reasonable for Google to want a piece of the pie.

His question went unanswered. The other CEOs remained silent, their eyes glued to the large screen on the stage, afraid of missing a single detail.

Fortunately, Larry Page didn't keep everyone waiting long. Seeing the puzzled looks on the faces of the audience, he gave a mysterious smile and then slowly revealed the answer.

"In the past, how did we install software or programs? Did we go to a store to buy a CD and carefully insert it into the computer's CD drive? Or did we search everywhere on the internet for download links and then face a bunch of densely packed terms and conditions, making brain-taxing choices?"

After Larry Page finished speaking, he paused deliberately, seemingly giving everyone time to think.

The situations he described are indeed common pain points that users have encountered when installing software in the past.

Especially for ordinary users, the process of installing software is complicated and tedious, and various problems can easily occur.

"But now, all those troubles will be history." Larry Page's voice rang out again, full of infectious energy. "All you need is the Google Play Store, a simple click, and everything can be taken care of for you."

The Google App Store software on the big screen had just finished loading and revealed its true form.

The overall interface maintains the minimalist style consistent with Google Chrome, with the main color still being Google's signature blue.

The interface uses four colors—red, yellow, and green—and clearly labels several category options at the top, such as news, social media, tools, and games, making it easy to understand at a glance.

Larry Page walked to the computer in the center of the stage, took the mouse handed to him by a staff member, and started operating it himself.

His voice, clearly transmitted through the microphone, reached every corner of the venue: "As you can see, if we click on the social category, we will find that it includes several mainstream social media apps such as Google Messenger, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail."

"Just find the software you want to install, click the download button next to it, and then you can do whatever you want without having to worry about it at all."

"You can go see a great movie with your friends, play a thrilling game of basketball outdoors, or have a romantic date with someone you like. When you come back after you've finished your work, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find that the software has been automatically installed and is ready to use at any time."

The audience below the stage stared intently at the big screen, where the download button they had just clicked had been replaced by a percentage progress bar, which had now jumped to 5%.

This speed stunned everyone. With the current network environment and hardware, downloading a regular piece of software usually takes a long time, but the speed displayed on the screen far exceeded everyone's expectations.

"This is incredibly fast!" Jobs exclaimed in surprise. He had Google Messenger installed on his computer and was familiar with the software's size and typical download speed.

But the download speed displayed on the screen was much faster than when he was downloading it.

"It's at least ten times faster, maybe even twenty times faster," Jobs said with certainty, his eyes revealing shock.

The others were initially focused on the features of the Google Play Store, but after Steve Jobs' reminder, they all realized and started paying attention to the crucial information of download speed.

They instantly understood why Ernst had gone to such lengths, inviting them all to Google headquarters late at night for this press conference.

This Google Play Store will definitely become a battleground for PC manufacturers, and Ernst's move has completely broken the deadlock that Microsoft had previously created for Google.

If Microsoft is going to pre-install it, then I'll do the same.

You're targeting my Google products, aren't you? Now I'm bringing in all the internet companies, let's see how you deal with that.

With such a convenient software download platform as the Google Play Store, it not only greatly benefits users, but is also good news for major enterprises.

With the download process simplified and the speed so fast, the download volume of many software programs will definitely increase significantly.

Take single-player games as an example. In the past, if a user wanted to play a new game, they had to go to a game store to buy the disc. If the store was far away or they didn't have time, they might give up the idea of ​​buying it.

But with the Google Play Store, users can buy and download apps online anytime, anywhere. They just need to top up their linked PayPay account, making the whole process simple and efficient.

If Microsoft dares to touch the Google Play Store and prevent major PC manufacturers from pre-installing this software, it would be defying the world and making an enemy of the entire globe.

Now, Steve Jobs's reminder has made them realize that whether or not this software exists will become the key to whether a PC will sell well in the future.

Because the download speed is so fast, once you've experienced it, no user would want to go back to the era of snail-paced downloads.

More importantly, the Google Play Store is not afraid of antitrust investigations at all, because Larry Page made it clear on stage that the Google Play Store is an open platform and will not charge merchants or users any fees.

"We're not acting as middlemen to profit from the difference; we just want to build a complete ecosystem to improve the convenience of the internet," Larry Page said, completely dispelling the concerns of the audience.

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