Chapter 855: The Richest Man in Tang Dynasty Surrounded by Scenic Gossip
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The promotion of the World Wide Web as the main form of Internet service and the operation of America Online were just two of the many topics about the Internet at the meeting-and they belonged to the category that was not profitable for a while.
Executives who attach great importance to profits obviously prefer real projects, at least the ones that can be seen and touched, such as adsl.
Compared with the cold reception received in Europe, the ADSL series technology is undoubtedly very popular in the United States.
The main reason for this is that AT&T did some real things before it was dismantled. Take the public telephone network covering the entire United States as an example, it is so excellent that it is definitely the first in the world-in order to build a brand new digital communication network like isdn, the European telecommunications industry directly abandons the existing one that is often accompanied by dropped calls, The old analog communication network with distortion and other problems is not so distressing, but if the US telecommunications industry does the same, it will be very uneconomical to replace it.
Under the leadership of Tang Huan, the adsl that was born out of nowhere can run on the analog communication network, which can just solve this unbearable cost problem.
Of course, adsl is not perfect, and its limitations are still very obvious.
First of all, the algorithms involved in the adsl series technology are very complex, and the computing power of the hardware equipment is relatively demanding.
Fortunately, after several years of continuous technical research and the rapid development of the semiconductor industry, this problem has been overcome by Zheru and authorized to equipment manufacturers. It is nothing more than a little expensive product for the time being.
Secondly, it is also the most serious limitation, because adsl uses the signal transmission data in the high frequency range of the traditional telephone line, so the signal attenuates significantly with the length of the copper wire, which in turn makes the communication between the access device at the telecom service provider end and the user terminal The distance cannot exceed 5 kilometers. In other words, the distance between the user's telephone line and the telephone exchange cannot exceed 5 kilometers.
At present, adsl has been operated experimentally in some universities, research institutions, and enterprises, providing an access speed of 256kbps, and its performance is remarkable. s solution.
In addition, adsl also has a competitor that cannot be ignored, that is another Internet access solution that Tang Huan sold to cable TV companies such as Turner Broadcasting Company-cable_modem, that is, cable modem.
Regarding the doubts of his subordinates about the development trend and competition relationship of the two sets of technologies, Tang Huan finally said: "They each have their own living space. And I can tell you with confidence that the power line will also be able to undertake transmission in the near future. The task of network data. There are too many concerns, it is purely unfounded, it is better to imagine the integration of radio and television networks, telecommunications networks, computer Internet, and smart grids."
This idea was so spectacular that the participants involuntarily disrupted the order and started talking about it.
After quieting down, Tang Huan turned over a page in his notebook and said slowly, "As the billions of terminals that support the Internet, the development of the personal computer industry has undergone some noteworthy changes."
Next, the representative of Fangyuan Computer Company introduced the development of home computers in the personal computer market through slides and graphs.
It must be pointed out that although the pioneers of the personal computer industry took it for granted that personal computers were popularized and affordable by everyone, the real driving force for the development of the personal computer industry was from business users. After all, not to mention a user-friendly interface, and although the price is low, it is only compared with traditional computers. These and other limitations have slowed down the development of home computers.
Jobs had ideally wanted the Mac to be the home computer, but John Sculley ultimately made it a premium product.
IBM has also noticed this market that has never had an accurate product definition.
It even launched a so-called home computer with the model ibm-pc/jr, which turned out to be a commercial failure.
The reasons are quite complicated, including the fact that the price of the almost completely new designed ibm-pc/jr is still a bit expensive, coupled with the severely shrunk hardware specifications, it is not as cost-effective as buying an ibm-pc compatible machine.
In Tang Huan's view, developing a home computer like IBM's is a thankless effort. Home users will not be willing to pay for a product that has been obviously castrated because of low requirements. In particular, the difference in operation between ibm-pc/jr and ibm-pc has significantly increased the user's learning and use costs - using a computer in the office is an operating habit, and when you go home and change a computer, the operating habit will also follow. One can imagine the annoyance of such a big change.
With the continuous improvement of the hardware performance of personal computers, it is natural for the home computer to leave a living space for all-round low-cost products of the same strain.
According to market research, the sales of home computers in the US market this year are close to 2 million units, equivalent to 20% of the annual sales of personal computers, and the growth momentum is strong.
As for the driving force of demand, it mainly comes from three aspects - family work, family financial and tax management, and children's intellectual investment.
Tang Huan expressed his opinion on this: "If this trend continues, our income structure will undergo tremendous changes. The Fangyuan personal computer platform can fully meet the needs of these home users only through the value-added form of software products, so it can It is easier to fight for the market share of home computers."
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After this long meeting, Tang Huan asked about the progress of the vcd alone.
Compared with its popularity in Southeast Asia, the acceptance of the world's first commercial digital video application solution in the United States is also increasing.
The reason for this is simple to say. Compared with the original time and space, Tang's VCD has added a digital copyright protection mechanism at the beginning of its establishment. People are also motivated to follow suit.
One point that needs to be clarified is that the role of this digital copyright protection mechanism is only to prevent dealers from cross-regional "sweeping goods" like the commodity circulation channels in the real world.
Tang Huan, who is well versed in the essence of technology, will not waste unrealistic efforts to do things that are too ideal. But as long as this digital copyright protection mechanism works properly, it is enough-after all, "there are laws to follow" is only one aspect, and "enforcement must be strict", otherwise it will eventually become a show.
Of course, Tang's vcd, which can be described as rich in functions, is also not perfect. The obvious shortcomings are that it cannot record video like the old-fashioned video tapes, and the length of time is too short-a movie often needs two to three discs. It is quite unaccustomed to those lazy American consumers.
Regarding the shortcomings of limited data capacity of vcd derived from cd, some people have already begun to discuss the next generation of new solutions, and even plan to bypass Tang Huan, the pioneer, by picking peaches.
Tang Huan regards this as a natural phenomenon of "wherever there is oppression, there is resistance." Outsiders don't want to see the benefits and make waves. You know, in order to eat the most delicious part of the good meat of digital video, in addition to advancing technology, he also spurred the film company under him, working hard.
Compared with last year's slightly low-key, Tang Huan's Hollywood companies are showing great power this year. They have a posture to make up for all the limelight lost last year. ", "Die Hard", "Ghost Love" in the summer, and "Back to the Future Part 3", which was filmed at the same time as "Back to the Future Sequel", are all harvesting box office in units of 100 million , which is amazing.
Hollywood is a big cake. If Tang Huan eats more, others will eat less accordingly. Not long ago, Universal Pictures sold itself to rb Panasonic, and it was regarded as being suppressed because of the previous copyright lawsuits that repeatedly offended the richest man. A helpless act that made life difficult.
Such a glittering and dazzling scenery naturally attracted sourness, and poured it on another movie "Dances with Wolves".
This film directed by Kevin Costner describes the story of the story of Northern Lieutenant Dunbar and the Indian Sioux at the end of the American Civil War in the 1860s, which belongs to the category of typical western films.
This is where the problem lies. You know, now Hollywood has lingering fears about the theme of Western films. Gein won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director with his 1978 Vietnam War movie "The Deer Hunter". He stumbled on the western film "Heaven's Gate", which cost 44 million US dollars during the filming process, but the box office did not even reach 3.5 million US dollars. He lost everything and dragged the producer United Artists into the quagmire of bankruptcy. .
And "Dances with Wolves" has also come along the way, stumbled, if it hadn't been favored by the richest man, whether the novel could be published would be a problem; the filming process is even more imaginative.
Because Kevin Costner was unwilling to adopt computer special effects to replace the interaction with wild animals such as bison in the movie, and insisted on real-time shooting, the cost increased greatly. The budget of 15 million US dollars suddenly rose to 22 million US dollars, and How similar was the original "Heaven's Gate"!
In addition, "Dances with Wolves" also has a decision that I can't live with, that is, the dialogue in the film mostly uses the Sioux language with English subtitles, which is extremely rare in the American film industry.
Tang Huan casually mentioned ""Dances with Wolves" is a work with great ideological connotation and is worth going to the cinema to watch" on AOL's personal page, which was interpreted as giving up hope for the film's commercial value hint.
For this reason, various film producers and media in a delicate mood made early comments, dubbing "Dances with Wolves" as "Kevin Costner's "The Gates of Heaven"".
There are even more blatant bad-mouthing voices - Lianmei, which was taken over by Tang Huan, once got a part of the income from the release of the "Gate of Heaven" video tape, which is a small compensation; now that the richest man spares no effort to promote VCD, then You can also follow suit and prepare the vcd version of "Dances with Wolves" as soon as possible.
It was in this kind of bad-mouthing, "Dances with Wolves" was released nationwide with a slight delay, but it shattered everyone's glasses. This version of "Heaven's Gate", which has been rendered as a new version, has not been on the top of the weekend box office, but it has won nearly 200 million US dollars in the box office in the United States alone.
What makes everyone's cheeks even more painful is that at some point, Mr. Richest Man added a sentence on AOL's personal page - don't worry, the VCD version of "Dances with Wolves" will be released in the first half of next year .
This is so embarrassing!
Fortunately, there are many people who have trouble with Tang Huan. The bad-tempered Sean Penn, not long after he officially divorced Madonna, finally let go of his big mouth and bombarded Mr. Richest Man.
The reason is that Sean Penn, who was unwilling to be just an actor, has been looking for an opportunity to be a formal director, and this year came, a crime movie called "the_indian_runner"-"Brothers and Enmity".
Originally, Sean Penn wanted to recruit Tom Cruise as the leading actor, but he failed; he also wanted to cooperate with MGM, which is not taboo on meat and vegetables, but he met with ashes again.
Ever since, Sean Pan, who thought he had reached the limit of tolerance, began to explode, pointing out that Tang Huan used his Hollywood power to suppress him.
The unscrupulous Sean Penn even broke the news in front of reporters - the richest man has cast a shadow on his marriage with Madonna, and even when the two had sex, Madonna would uncontrollably shout " come_on, Tang", I also found out that the other party has a collection of nude paintings with the seal of "Tang".
You know, the marriage of Sean Penn and Madonna, who are regarded as a combination of golden boy and girl, gifted men and beautiful women, has always been the focus of the entertainment industry. After the two got married in 1985, they were separated because of their respective busy careers, and they separated after more than a year. It was speculated that Madonna was killed because of scars on her face. When it came to Sean Penn's domestic violence, it spread wildly.
It was not until last year that the topical couple finally officially divorced that they had made a decision.
But until now, Sean Penn is the first time to openly talk about his divorce.
The gossip media has long been convinced that Madonna has a close relationship with Mr. Richest Man.
For example, when Tang Huan was attacked, the pop diva would bluntly dismiss it as—these were all jealousy of Tang's achievements.
Originally, this phenomenon could be explained as the artists who received a lot of resources from the record company showed their loyalty to the boss in return.
But as soon as Sean Penn fired, a new explanation came into being—Mr. Richest Man was immediately surrounded by scenery and gossip.