Chapter 128: The Stirring of the Great God

William White felt helpless in the face of Marvel’s wishful thinking. He simply stated that he was not in need of money and that his comics were purely a passion project, with no possibility of being sold.

This explanation was incredibly powerful. First, if someone isn't short of money, there’s no room for negotiation. When a wealthy person pursues a hobby, it becomes even more complicated; even if one were to manage to purchase it, the price would undoubtedly be astronomical.

Since he viewed the comics as his dream, Stan Lee understood the sentiment perfectly. If it weren't for a lack of funds, he would have kicked those shareholders out long ago.

"Markkula, what is this? Is there a quality issue with our second-generation machines?"

"I’m afraid not. This was sent over by White’s company. They said they helped you make some modifications. It costs fifteen dollars, and it must be paid in cash—no credit cards or credit allowed," Markkula said with a smile.

"Damn it, it’s that marketing philosophy of his again. Markkula, I guarantee you, the performance boost isn't just worth a few dollars," Steve Jobs said, looking constipated and clearly annoyed.

Markkula didn't see it that way. His eyes were already lighting up, and he immediately began testing the computer.

"Damn it, how did he do it? Why does it feel like it’s been significantly improved?"

As industry insiders, they knew exactly what level the Apple II was at.

"Steve, don't get excited yet. Since no adapter cards were added, that means the hardware configuration was changed—wait, no, this motherboard has been drastically altered. Notify the technical department to come over immediately."

After a flurry of chaos, they finally uncovered the truth.

"He is a genius, and he is a madman," Markkula said.

"No, no, Markkula, he is a jerk. No wonder he chose to cooperate with Motorola—this was premeditated."

"Indeed. Who would have thought that while everyone else is trying to develop higher-end product lines, he would go in the opposite direction?"

"Markkula, did you say they charged fifteen dollars?"

"Yes."

"That bastard! The CPU cost an extra fifteen dollars, but don't other things need to be upgraded too?"

Of course they did, but so what? Would they dare not adopt it?

"Contact them immediately. This minor update must be done; we need to maintain our lead."

Although Jobs was annoyed, he had to admit that William White certainly had a way with things. However, this made the Lisa project look very awkward.

"Jobs, you should take a trip to Los Angeles. I don't believe they only have this one design. Since he allowed an 8-bit CPU to have 16-bit channels, he could just as easily allow a 16-bit CPU to have 32-bit channels. But if that happens, how awkward does that make the 68000 series?"

He didn't know that Motorola's development direction had already shifted; their focus had turned toward industrial applications, and they were long past caring about the personal computer market.

Pushing the potential of the 68000 to such an extreme was truly baffling, and not everyone supported this move.

There were naturally those who opposed it, but William White was confident and unbothered, promptly adjusting the job positions of some dissenters.

Sometimes he didn't understand these tech geeks. Applying what you learn is the most basic principle, and R&D is no exception. If you don't understand your target customers, what’s the point of researching anything?

Motorola's R&D was impressive, but they kept going in circles. They were good at wireless phones, but then they went off to work on satellite phones—it was absolutely absurd.

The potential of the 68000 was vast, just not suited for personal computers.

William White’s heavy-handed suppression soon yielded results.

Jobs came to negotiate in person. If the Apple II adopted this CPU, combined with William White's game console, that would represent an order of millions of units.

If Apple made the change first, coupled with White’s game console, how would the market competitors react?

The answer was self-evident.

You can be stubborn, but consumers won't buy it. When things are in a similar price bracket, such an obvious performance boost is lethal; if you don't change, you're dead.

The most delightful part was that the CPU factory was still called Motorola, so there was no reason for concern.

Well, Atari definitely had concerns, but what did that matter? It wasn't that he refused to sell to them; they were just idiots for not jumping on board.

"Steve, it’s impossible. I can give you three months of breathing room at most. You have to understand, I’m not the controlling shareholder of that company; I can't just turn away business."

"Damn it, what happens to our Lisa project then?"

"Trust me, you won't like the Lisa project. The price and performance simply don't match up."

"You knew this all along. You really are a jerk."

"Shit, how was I supposed to know if Motorola would sell me shares? If I didn't have enough to gain, do you think I would have done this?"

"You are hindering the progress of humanity."

"Pfft!" William White spat out a mouthful of coffee and began to cough violently.

"Steve, trust me, if you take too big a step, you're going to tear your balls—it's not a good idea."

"What? What does that mean?"

"Well, it's a Chinese proverb. It means you should proceed step by step. If your stride is too wide, your 'little brother' will get hurt."

Jobs clearly felt a sense of pain in his nether regions—not from tearing, but from being infuriated by this guy.

He actually knew very well that William White had already made huge concessions. His current posturing was just because he was annoyed, only to be met with such a ridiculous theory.

"William, I truly admire your foundation in Chinese. I’ve tried to learn it, but it’s really difficult."

Since they stopped bringing up those conditions, William White was very happy. Opportunities to see Jobs get frustrated were rare; usually, he was the one crushing others.

"Steve, your method is wrong."

"Oh? Tell me more."

"I’ve been studying Japanese culture lately. Look, I found a great personal assistant. If you intend to learn Chinese culture, you’ll never master it unless you find a Chinese girlfriend. And it can't be those ABCs—they're useless."

"ABCs?"

"American-born Chinese. Even if they know a little, they certainly haven't mastered it. It’s best to find those who came here for their PhDs; they are the best."

"Fine, I’ve taken your advice."

Japan's cultural invasion of the United States was very effective. It was hard to say how they managed to fool people, but both Jobs and Larry Ellison were firm believers in so-called Zen.

These were just two famous figures; there were plenty of people who believed in this stuff. William White didn't buy into these scams—they were all wholesale imports from China that had been altered beyond recognition.

Unfortunately, even China had lost much of its heritage. Many so-called dregs had been swallowed by history, and some things were lost forever.

William White saying he was studying Japanese culture was just nonsense; he was studying Japanese girls. The results were quite good—at least he had shed his "loser" tail.

There was really no helping it; the guy was developing too normally. Some things needed to be released, and deliberate suppression might lead to "stones."

Well, that was just a shameless excuse.

However, for the sake of his health, a normal life was indeed necessary. Compared to his wild friends, he was living like a saint.