Chapter 186: I've Arrived! - Part 1

Since the new headquarters of the company had been decided upon, Ethan Jones promptly moved.

It took several days for Eurydice Nobel to procure a new set of office equipment for the new company. They hired Michael Blanco to transfer all the project documents from the original company. After getting Aaron Macy to pay for a new storefront logo...

Starting from July 15, 1977, the base of operations for the Destiny Game moved from the unremarkable Stanford Industrial Park to the upscale Stanford Research Park.

The Kismet signboard, imbued with a metallic sheen, glittered under the sunlight.

The office building was buzzing with activity.

"Oh! Shit! Could this building have been specially approved by the old chancellor?"

"That's for sure. Didn't the school say? Starting from this year, the Stanford Research Institute and our school are officially separated, becoming two independent entities. Even the current chancellor can't interfere with its operations. In this scenario, only Chancellor Terman, the founder, could have influence here!"

"Motherfucker! So, the rumors within the school are true? Senior Johnson really knows Chancellor Terman? And their relationship is actually good?"

"Oh—Isn't that common knowledge? Weren't you here last year when our company launched Pac-Man? The press conference was held in the school auditorium!"

"Uh... I just arrived this year..."

"What? So that's the case—then I really need to have a good talk with you! When our company launched Pac-Man last year, many big shots were present. Chancellor Terman attended personally, along with his student, the founder of HP. Wow~ That day was just unbelievable, many legends who only lived in textbooks appeared. Missing that was a huge loss for you..."

Since Ethan had the principle of exploiting resources to the fullest when recruiting, over seventy percent of the headquarters staff came from Stanford. Thus, when the company officially moved, those who knew the specific differences between the Research Park and the Industrial Park naturally expressed their amazement at realizing the truth.

Although they were aware that the school encouraged entrepreneurship, they never imagined the school would support promising businesses to such an extent.

Need money? They give money.

Need people? They provide people.

Need land? They offer land.

This kind of support could make even a pig fly, couldn't it?

Ah, but—

They didn't mean to imply their boss was a pig!

Because their boss was super handsome~

The employees had their little schemes, but Ethan was well aware of them since he looked in the mirror every morning.

However, as a pragmatist, he wouldn't waste his time on such trivial matters. Sitting in his new office, the visitors who came by left him no time to consider anything else.

Yes.

Since the Destiny Game moved to the campus of the Stanford Research Institute, there had been numerous visits from professors of physics and optics. After a brief exchange, they all showed a willingness to collaborate.

At first, Ethan was sentimental about how effective Chancellor Fred Terman's reputation was. But when Evelyn set aside the mainframe development tasks to spend some time seriously engaging with these professors... she suddenly punched Ethan on the arm.

"Why did you hit me?" Ethan, who was praising the old chancellor, was puzzled.

"Because you're dumb!" Evelyn was blunt with her criticism.

"..." Ethan was speechless, genuinely unaware of where he had been foolish.

Leaning back in her chair, Evelyn then tapped on the table and said, "Oh Ethan, you don't really think these professors came here just because Chancellor Terman has a special support for us, do you?"

"That's one of the factors, but definitely not the key one!"

"They came here because of you."

"What?" Ethan didn't understand.

Evelyn rolled her eyes and explained, "How many professors have we met so far? Five or six? During the meetings, every one of them mentioned Chuck Peddle, Ralph Baer, and even Steve Wozniak, right?"

"Before pushing the MOS 6502 to market, people like Chuck Peddle were just obscure researchers, to put it more precisely, engineers in the chip industry. But ever since you resolved the legal issues of the MOS 6502, preventing Motorola from pursuing their copyright infringement, the widespread adoption of the MOS 6502 made Chuck Peddle and his colleagues instant focal points in the scientific community. The professors we met already said that last year alone, Chuck Peddle and his team received numerous invitations to join associations, to give lectures, to make reports."

"Ralph Baer was the same. Odyssey might not have been a successful product, but after he joined us, our Pac-Man and Star Wars made his video game patents a breakthrough success. When you repeatedly stated in the media that video games were invented by Ralph Baer, with his original intention to bring joy to the world... his reputation in the scientific community skyrocketed! Now, in the entire United States, who hasn't heard his name

?"

"Steve Wozniak even more so. The APPLE computer is an excellent product, and Steve Wozniak is indeed very capable, but understanding within the industry and worldwide recognition are two different things, right? When you sponsored them with fifty thousand dollars to start their company, allowing them to promote their product externally with the game Snake, and continuously mentioned in newspaper columns, TV shows, 'I use APPLE, I use APPLE'... who in the industry doesn't know that the Wozniak family's kid is a superstar in the personal computing field?"

"Reputation, that's the most important thing in the scientific community!"

"The promotion of patents, the transformation of achievements, that's the 'money' professors most desire!"

"These might not mean much to you, but I have a real feeling for it."

Evelyn looked at Ethan with a sense of emotion, "How much can one person research in a lifetime? A normal person might only have a few. In a situation where the base number is already small, how many of those developed patents can be turned into products? And among those products launched into the market, how many can become hits?"

"None."

The girl shrugged, "Many people will never get the chance to stand on the podium to report their achievements."

"Because opportunities are slim, many choose to collaborate with companies. The company provides the demand, they provide the research. In this situation, they might indeed be researching something they're not interested in, but at the same time, the chances of success significantly increase."

"But there's also a problem in this process. Companies, in order to promote their own brands, thus conceal reports on those developers, letting them only be active within the industry."

"Although these are enough to make countless people envious, you're different, right?"

"You like to tell the outside world, 'This product was made by who.'"

"Which developer doesn't want people to know, to be widely known for a product they developed? Being known by the world for a product, and introducing themselves to the world, those are two different concepts, right?"

Evelyn raised her eyebrows at Ethan.

Ethan, however, just smiled and shook his head.

Alright then!

Ethan understood Evelyn's point.

The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for displacement.

As long as people live, they will have pursuits to some extent.

For capitalists entangled in interests, money might be everything, but the academic circle plays a clearly different game. Money is only a part of what they want to obtain, not a necessity. Recognition from peers, approval from universities, invitations from various symposiums, the list of senior experts for social cases, those are the treasures they desire most.

Ethan might not belong to this circle, but he did everything an employer should do, even better than most employers in the world. When one, two, three actual examples were laid out in front of them, and four, five, six people had already become prominent figures in America...

Ethan felt that being backed by Stanford allowed for seizing the early advantage.

Those insightful professors felt that this was like sunflowers turning towards spring.

"So, we're taking the initiative now?" Ethan asked with a smile.

"Hmm." Evelyn shrugged, "These professors have impressive resumes."

"Then I'll leave this matter to you. Have you decided who we'll ultimately use?" Ethan was ready to make his escape.

What did he know about technology? Currently, he didn't even know how much content a CD could hold, let alone organize a selection of project candidates. That would be nonsense!

"Oh—Are you trying to kill me with work?" Evelyn was somewhat helpless, "I have to draw the mainframe's circuit diagram on one hand, and on the other, I have to see which professor's team is more likely to yield results?"

"You really are trying to work me to death!"

"Besides, I studied computer science, not physics."

Despite the complaints, Evelyn still took on the task.

"Alright, alright, I won't talk about this anymore."

"I'd rather work than argue with you here."

Saying this, she took the professors' information and headed out.

However, she hadn't been out for long before she dashed back in.

"Move."

She kicked Ethan's executive chair, "This office is for me. I don't like the one outside; it's too close to the stairs. When someone looks for you, they always pass by me. The noise is just unpleasant."

Just like before, Ethan had turned the entire fifth floor into an office for the two of them.

Since the building given by the research park was a straight structure, with only one staircase on the very edge, the design naturally included a corridor passing through various offices.

Ethan disliked the sound of footsteps, so he hid in the innermost office.

And Evelyn...

"Okay, this office is yours."

Ethan stood up voluntarily, "You're the Boss, the company listens to you

."

"Hmph! Scram!" Evelyn couldn't be bothered with him.

Previously, she indeed thought that Philips messing with magnetic storage while promoting optical storage products seemed somewhat foolish. But when Ethan told her that Spielberg had explicitly stated Philips had found MCA to collaborate on optical storage back in the late '60s, the girl believed Ethan's analysis.

In such a situation, they were bewilderingly beaten up? Naturally, she also wanted to fight back.

Letting Ethan leave was just to think over issues in a quiet environment.

As the office door closed, the girl continued flipping through the professors' self-recommendation materials. Ethan, stepping out of the office, also breathed a sigh of relief. When the product effect was already established and technical support was underpinned by Stanford, what remained was merely investing money in experiments, and this was precisely his forte.

Hey! I'm rich!

After handing over the technical issues, Ethan just wanted to take a break. However, the appearance of a curious cat interrupted his rest. Jobs, like a thief, sneaked into the new building of Destiny Game, wandering all the way to Ethan's office. This long-haired guy even expressed his astonishment, "Motherfucker! Ethan! Are you actually running a company here?"

"Oh—This building is way cooler than our Apple headquarters!"

"Your office is so spacious!"

"Oh! Shit! There's even a TV here?"

"What's this machine? I've never seen it before?"