Chapter 291: A New Era

After wrapping up the troubles here, William White moved on, as he had more important things to focus on.

Once Intel shed its burdens, it began to operate more nimbly, frequently delaying new CPU releases before finally unveiling its secrets.

William White had no expectations for this CPU that had come about. To be frank, its architecture barely matched Motorola's 6800; the only notable achievement was that the IBM PC finally had a 32-bit processor.

Many believed it was the 80486 that solidified Intel's position in the industry. This so-called 386 had serious inherent defects.

This perspective had some merit, yet it was not entirely comprehensive. In fact, even the 80486 was of little use now, as the accompanying memory was prohibitively expensive, the hard drives were a paltry 40 megabytes or so, and having a fast CPU was just wasteful.

Correspondingly, Motorola launched the 6900 series, with specifications comparable to the 386, but it also did not impress.

Motorola voiced several concerns about this lackadaisical approach. However, William White refused to acknowledge it, stating, "If you're not satisfied, let's part ways amicably."

These fools didn't seem to know what they were thinking. Apple's new model was nowhere in sight, Commodore computers were just reheating old dishes, and his own model was basically a waste.

Faced with two unproductive partners, what could William White do? The first users of this CPU wouldn't even be computers.

Indeed, Legendary World's arcade machines underwent a complete upgrade, equipped with 2D acceleration cards and 32-bit processors, drastically changing the machines' essence.

...

"Graphics acceleration card?"

"Yeah, they've introduced an engineering card using the PCI slot that performs exceptionally well, especially with our Windows 1.0; it's quite impressive, but it comes at a steep price."

Bill Gates listened to his subordinate's report, wearing a peculiar expression. He wondered if that guy Jobs was currently ranting about it.

...

Well, the assessment from someone wasn't completely off; as an engineer, Jobs certainly understood the significance of this device. He didn't even need to test it to know that if it were used on iOS, the Macintosh would take off.

When faced with Jobs' criticisms, William White shrugged it off, saying, "Your lousy case has no space for that thing."

Furthermore, "Do you even consider the price? The cost of two Macintosh computers is about the same as one acceleration card. What computer are you planning to put this in?"

...

IBM found itself in a tough spot as White's system outright ignored them. Their advertising claimed compatibility with the 386 and 6900, making no mention of the IBM PC.

From their standpoint, this thing shouldn't even appear on a PC; this left the status of minicomputers rather awkward.

When Compaq launched its so-called graphics computer, IBM certainly felt embarrassed, realizing that its minicomputers were no competition at all.

Compaq wasn't the only one pursuing this; today's computers were capable of handling some graphic design needs. With the graphics acceleration card, the number of clients seeking these features was on the rise.

Seeing this opportunity, many savvy players began to get restless. Just having a computer wasn't enough; without software, no matter how powerful the hardware, it was all for nothing.

...

"Sir, Motorola has raised several issues about our approach."

"Oh, what's that about?"

"They'd rather produce boards than GPUs."

William White sighed. Didn't he wish he could secure everything as well? Unfortunately, the cost of memory was just unbearable, and producing it himself might not yield any profit.

"Tell them I don't agree. They can keep their opinions. If they think they're so capable, let them produce it themselves. I won't support or oppose it. They'll get a better price; that's my bottom line."

"Yes, sir."

Well, they really couldn't argue. William White had already made a concession, and it was clear he wasn't optimistic about this business.

...

In fact, what William White practiced was quite common in later years; companies producing GPUs generally released one reference version and then licensed it.

They could produce higher-end versions according to their positioning or lower-spec versions at a reduced price. As for marketing, that was solely their concern.

In the later IT world, this approach elicited little scrutiny, yet at that time, it was almost incomprehensible.

Many realized this guy truly despised factories. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never produce any goods in America.

Labor unions naturally didn't like him either. This jerk, who didn't provide American jobs, was just a stingy vampire.

The only thing that embarrassed them was that this jerk had been voted the best employer for several years, and this year's trend indicated he might continue that streak.

Yet, although his company had a union, it was remarkably weakened. To put it bluntly, it was merely a facade.

William White didn't mind sharing profits with workers, nor did he care about having partners. The only point of contention was his notoriously bad temper.

Union demands?

Not happening, not up for discussion.

Not satisfied?

Great, you can hit the road.

What ignited the most rage was that these so-called demands would soon be adopted, even exceeding what they had originally asked for.

After a few tries, no one bothered seeking out the union anymore; to the workers, they were just a bunch of useless folks.

Since William White detested running factories, Motorola had nothing to complain about. If they were to take control, it would indeed be a hard decision to make.

At least Wall Street trusted William White more. Although they equally disliked him, that wouldn't cloud their judgment. The fact was, since William White withheld support, they could still play in the mud on their own.

...

"Sir, what about government contracts?"

"Ugh, not this again."

Tom, equally frustrated, found the idea of a second supplier simply absurd.

"There's no second supplier; they don't have to use one. Besides, didn't Intel have no second supplier either? Why are they doing just fine?"

"I'll have to look into it further."

"Haha, AMD has better quality and lower prices; Andy Grove must be quite pleased, right? Hahaha!"

In response to the boss's schadenfreude, Tom was at a loss for words. He actually worried about this sort of situation; sometimes, you had to focus on either research or production. There was no way to have your cake and eat it too.

At that moment, AMD began its comeback. No matter how strong Intel was, this little survivor refused to compromise.

...

"Don't want government contracts? Is he serious?"

"Exactly, there really is no second supplier. It's strange; he's granted so many production licenses, why won't he give one for the GPU?"

"Well, he didn't provide that for CPUs either. That little tub company is just a producer without any R&D capabilities."

"Sir, are you saying he's worried about a situation like AMD's?"

"Well, if he doesn't do that, it'll definitely happen. In fact, this so-called second supplier is quite ridiculous. William White is right; I've poured so much effort into R&D, why should I let you get a deal?"

*****

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