Chapter 112: The Grandmaster Qiao’s Lisa Project

The world of the great Joe was simple: you were either a genius or an idiot, a friend or an enemy. To someone who called him Old Joe, it was clear he counted as a friend.

Los Angeles was indeed very close to San Francisco, but unfortunately, there was no high-speed rail yet; otherwise, he would have just taken the train.

The plane began circling and descending shortly after takeoff. For such a short trip, using a private jet was truly a waste.

His own company had nothing much going on, so he just made a quick round and left. He didn’t want to be late—Great Joe would never let that slide.

“Old Joe, I’m swamped. Can’t you just talk to my CEO?” Seeing Great Joe so relaxed, William White couldn’t help but get annoyed.

“Damn it, you should stay in Silicon Valley. What’s the point of going to Los Angeles?”

William White elegantly flipped him the bird and said, “Silicon Valley is full of straight men, but Hollywood is packed with beauties. Bro, I’m still young—do you think that’s why I’m heading to Hollywood?”

Such shamelessness was rare even for William White. His words left Great Joe dumbfounded, and Dracula was equally stunned.

“What’s with those faces? Did I say something wrong?”

“Ahem, alright, William, your shamelessness has defeated me.”

Don’t be fooled by Great Joe’s serious tone—he wasn’t exactly a saint. He had gotten his girlfriend into serious trouble but refused to admit it, claiming he was powerless.

Perhaps feeling some remorse, he named a new project after his daughter. William White, however, was no longer joking about that.

“Enough about that. Come check out our Lisa computer.”

Great Joe respected William White’s computer skills. The speed with which he tapped the keyboard was almost that of a professional typist.

“16-bit? Boring. My game console is already 32-bit. If the price is right, this isn’t bad,” William White bluntly pointed out the problem.

“William, your cost control is impressive. We’re considering an OEM approach too,” Dracula said, trying to ease the tension.

“Ha, I have no choice. The U.S. lacks manufacturing capacity, and OEMs get slammed by the unions,” William White was genuinely frustrated. He was a patriot, but if the system wasn’t supportive, what could he do?

“When will your office software be ready? Feels like you’re developing a 32-bit system,” Great Joe, ever self-centered, knew Lisa was just a transitional product but still demanded White’s software keep pace.

“Honestly, there’s not much point. We’re close to updating the 8-bit system, which I believe will outlast the 16-bit one—unless you can make semiconductor prices plummet,” William White was straightforward. Friends were friends, but business was business.

Apple was planning an IPO this year and naturally needed new products to launch. From a corporate perspective, it was a bad move, but the capital markets saw it differently—they needed new products to boost investor confidence.

You couldn’t judge the matter in simple right or wrong terms; it was just a matter of perspective—none were truly mistaken.

They were all insiders; the usual Wall Street spiel wouldn’t work. William White’s game console architecture was far more advanced than their computers. Talking nonsense only made one look foolish.

“Spit it out, William. What do you want?” Dracula, a thousand-year-old fox demon, was done playing games.

William White didn’t hold back: “I’ve made some money recently. How about an investment opportunity?”

“Damn, you’re trying to rob me?”

“Calm down, Old Joe. This will help your valuation. I’m not asking for much—just a five million investment.”

Great Joe was annoyed, but Dracula was tempted. William White wasn’t bluffing; his stake could genuinely boost the valuation.

“Old Joe, don’t be upset. Before your new product launches, I’ll definitely provide office software. There’ll even be PC versions of Tetris and Pac-Man.”

Seeing William White’s expression, Great Joe was exasperated. If he wanted cooperation to hype things up, it would cost something.

With boundaries clear, it was time for serious discussion. Apple was not like White Software—one man’s decision settled everything.

Though everyone knew White Software didn’t make hardware, no one doubted their design capabilities. Not making hardware was one thing; not being able to was another.

Thinking of the Blue Giant’s checkers plan, William White sighed. Giants were giants. Even a small move could create overwhelming momentum.

Everyone had heard of IBM-compatible machines, but who had heard of Apple-compatible ones? Being a weaker brand first didn’t matter; they set the standards. No matter how hard you tried, it was futile.

Yeah, it was best to keep an eye on Bill Gates.

Though his DOS system was awful, the Blue Giant’s backing made it unassailable—they had won at the starting line.

Don’t think Americans don’t rely on connections—that’s nonsense. Bill Gates clearly rose with help from family.

Well, maybe from his mother.

Anyway, it didn’t matter. No matter how good William White’s products were, no early advantage would help—the order would never be his.

Back at his company, William White began planning the next phase. He wasn’t about to fall behind on IBM-compatible machines.

Bill Gates must be pretty conflicted, he thought mischievously.

Good. If you weren’t conflicted, how could I take advantage?

Some might ask, why not just develop a Windows system directly? Why all the fuss?

Was it really that simple?

The answer was clearly no.

Bill Gates’ success had a historical context. At the time, many software companies were more impressive. His Windows 1.0 was basically a copy of Apple’s.

Why didn’t Great Joe cause trouble?

Because Apple itself was copying—the real victim was Xerox.

They say all writing is plagiarism, and here it was true. So don’t blame Chinese knockoff manufacturers—they were simply adapting to the times.

American patents were peculiar. Inventing something was one thing; manufacturing and selling it was another. What stayed in the lab had limited protection.

Xerox’s research institute was brilliant but sadly disconnected from the market.

Forget everything else—Xerox had already achieved computer networking in the lab. Wasn’t that the earliest form of a router?

When was Cisco founded?

1984.

They took barely any time to crush Xerox’s market value.

The same went for graphical user interfaces—stolen by Great Joe, then imitated by Bill Gates. The companies who invented these technologies were eventually discarded.

Their success only highlighted others’ incompetence.

William White couldn’t understand how the mouse patent was taken away and sold at such a ridiculous price.

Xerox’s generosity was baffling. Was their leadership Russian? The company seemed to run by the rules described in Capital.

This remained one of the IT world’s greatest mysteries.