The flowers in the factory of rebirth are too fierce

At noon, everyone had a Western meal that they were not used to in the hotel restaurant.

Afterwards, everyone boarded the minibus again and headed to the Best Buy electronics store in San Francisco.

The situation is indeed as Philip described. Because of the terrorist attack, there are not many pedestrians on the streets. Even in bustling San Francisco, even in the commercial district, the roads are empty.

Everyone followed Philip into the Best Buy electronics store. The situation in the store was similar to that on the street. Rows of shelves were filled with a wide variety of electronic products, but there were few customers. There were even more sales clerks than customers.

Lin Zhiyuan stood in front of a container filled with Music Garden and Movie Forest players. Ten minutes later, he saw a young man in jeans and a baseball cap buy a Movie Forest player.

Philip had originally planned to visit a few more stores, but after seeing this situation, Lin Zhiyuan lost interest and went straight back to the hotel.

He handed Philip to his room, "Philip, are you familiar with Silicon Valley?"

Philip shook his head. He had been engaged in the sales of electronic products, and had little to do with the Internet in Silicon Valley. However, since the new boss had a request, as a subordinate, he naturally had to try his best to meet it. "Lin, I am not very familiar with the Internet companies in Silicon Valley, but I know there are intermediary companies there. If you have any needs, you can get it done through them."

"Then please help me find a more reliable agency. I want to find some technology companies."

"That's no problem at all, Lin, I'll make the call right now."

Silicon Valley was born in the 50s. There are more than technology companies in a narrow strip of land nearly kilometers from Santa Clara to San Jose. If foreign companies want to find a company here, it is no different from looking for a needle in a haystack. Where there is demand, there is supply. Therefore, intermediary companies that help customers find the technology they need are born here.

Philip was very quick, and the next morning he brought back a fat, middle-aged white man.

"Lin, Jonathan has been working in Silicon Valley for twenty years. According to him, he knows the companies here very well. If you have any questions, feel free to ask him."

Almost all agents around the world wear suits and ties, with Silicon Valley being the only exception. Probably influenced by IT guys, Jonathan dresses casually in jeans, a plaid shirt, and a pair of nb sneakers.

Although it was already September, Jonathan was still sweating profusely. He was panting after entering the room. Lin Zhiyuan waited for him for almost a minute before the fat man finally caught his breath. "Dear sir, how can I help you? I'm not exaggerating, I know every company in Silicon Valley. It's definitely the wisest choice for you to hire me."

Since the bursting of the Internet bubble last year, Jonathan's business has plummeted. To make matters worse, after the terrorist attack a few days ago, the U.S. stock market reopened after being closed for a few days and began a nightmarish plunge.

Internet companies in Silicon Valley were the hardest hit, with their market capitalizations plummeting and widespread misery. Jonathan's agency business was naturally not doing much better, and he hadn't seen any clients for several days.

Now that a customer has finally come, Jonathan will naturally do his best to make this deal.

Lin Zhiyuan directly put forward his request, "Jonathan, I can't remember the name of the company. I just know that this company has a very key technology called multi-touch, which means that you can operate directly on the screen with your fingers. I can't explain it in detail, but this is the general meaning."

Jonathan nodded. Although he didn't understand what multi-touch was, he agreed first.

"Also, I have to find a company. Luckily, this company, I remember its name, is called Universal Magic."

Jonathan took note of it carefully and asked, "Sir, can I ask you one more question? What is your purpose in looking for these two companies? Are you looking for technology transfer or to acquire their companies?"

"If possible, I would like to buy it, but if the other party's offer is too outrageous, then I can only give up." Lin Zhiyuan stared at Jonathan for a while, which made Jonathan feel uneasy. Could it be that this Oriental man was interested in his model?

Lin Zhiyuan smiled at him and said slowly, "Jonathan, if you can find these two companies and convince them to agree to my acquisition request at a reasonable price range, I will pay you a generous commission."

When Jonathan heard the words "generous commission", he jumped up like a chicken, patting his chest, which was shaking at the touch. "Don't worry, sir, I promise it will be as you wish. Just prepare the money."

Jonathan hurried out to work.

Lin Zhiyuan sat alone in the room.

The most important task of this visit to the United States is to develop smartphones.

In his previous life, he had read several articles that roughly described the development process of Fruit phones.

Although he doesn't remember it clearly, Lin Zhiyuan still has the impression that the fruit company acquired a company with multi-touch technology at that time, which led to the smartphones that we can operate directly on the screen later. In addition, the company called General Magic proposed a magical vision in 1993, allowing everyone to have a mobile terminal that can make calls and perform cloud computing anytime and anywhere.

That was in 1993, when PCs were not yet fully popularized and no one dared to think of a "personal mobile computer assistant." Concepts like the Internet and e-mail did not even exist.

But they really did it. They developed a device that can connect to the "cloud" in real time and obtain the data and information they want anytime and anywhere. They named this device "Crystal in the Palm".

General Magic has partnered with Sony and Motorola to produce several products that allow you to connect to the "cloud" by tapping on a touch-screen graphical interface, transferring information, scheduling, processing documents, and even sending and receiving faxes directly.

Unfortunately, the market has not responded well to these products. There are two reasons for this. First, the retail price of the equipment is ridiculously high: MagicLink sells for $995. It is easy to imagine how difficult it is to sell a device that costs nearly $.

Second, the network was not supported. The United States did not have wireless network at that time, so most Magic Link connections required a "cat" + telephone line, while others had to use the more expensive Ardis cellular network.

General Magic was born at the wrong time. Just as they continued to improve their products, the technology industry experienced a dramatic reversal - the Internet came!

Because browsers are simpler, lighter, and cheaper, this makes Universal Magic's products difficult to use and unappealing.

The capital market immediately turned to embrace the Internet.

At this time, "General Magic" began to lose support - co-founders Marc Porat and Billat Kinson left, and those business partners who chose the Internet also left without saying goodbye.

Subsequently, the company fell into financial crisis, and after struggling for several years, General Magic is now only one step away from bankruptcy.