Rebirth of America, this is my time

Finance was originally an interpersonal game. The initial version 1.0 was to make money flow in society, so that it could produce greater effectiveness and gain more benefits.

Later, various middlemen appeared. They wanted to obtain interest rate differentials and turned finance into a numbers game. As a result, the updated version 2.0 was officially launched.

However, with the development of technology and the emergence of the mobile Internet era, finance has changed from a digital game to an information war driven by data. When version 3.0 comes online, traditional financial data can no longer meet the needs of investors, because the sources of those data are basically the same, and the methods of quantitative research on those data are basically the same. When investors discovered that the information everyone had was somewhat homogeneous, they wanted to gain differentiated advantages and developed new ways of playing and expanded new tracks. The specific manifestation was the collection and processing of alternative data. analyze.

When Ethan was working in this industry in his previous life, the first thing he came into contact with was alternative data. At that time, he thought this stuff was really interesting because they had done many weird things in the eyes of outsiders.

For example, they cooperated with a radio data company and asked them to go to Fremont, California, to monitor Tesla's Gigafactory and collect mobile phone signal sources there to determine the average daily working hours of Tesla's North American factory. number of people, and then calculate their real-time output and predict stock prices.

For another example, they cooperate with some AI companies and use each other's artificial intelligence software to monitor the platform data of e-commerce companies listed in America. They use the latest technology to crawl the price and sales quantity of each product on the platform to ensure that The sales data we finally saw were relatively real.

For example, they cooperate directly with the meteorological department and use satellite monitoring to obtain the latest weather information, so that they can have certain visual control over the future climate and output of agricultural products in advance, and thus make their own predictions on the futures price trend of agricultural products. judge.

To be honest, when they used technological means to collect and analyze alternative data, they were indeed ridiculed by their peers at first. Because everyone involved in finance knows that if you want to swim in this industry, what you need most is insider information. The real stock god is not Buffett at all, but everyone on Capitol Hill. Anyone who does not have inside information and wants to make money in the financial industry Yes, those are all leeks.

But when a certain catering brand got into trouble because of data fraud, those guys couldn't laugh anymore. Although inside information is the mainstream profit in the financial industry, what if someone lies?

When news meets integrity...

The only one you can trust in this industry is yourself.

Therefore, when Ethan wanted to find out whether Mi Luohua and Atari really used dirty methods to deal with him, what he wanted to do most was to use professional knowledge to analyze all this. He just wanted to It is so difficult to collect information in this day and age.

Although General Electric had already developed a mesh database as early as 1961, and IBM had developed a relational database in 1970, these had nothing to do with the intelligence of Milova and Atari. If you want to find their information, then It can only rely on libraries and archives that store books, newspapers, journals, and documents. Therefore, after receiving the job, Julis immediately took two-thirds of the administrative department's staff to the lending rooms across the Bay Area, where she continuously searched for the information her boss needed.

It took them three days to collect the general information related to Atari.

When Ethan got the information, the nearly four hundred pages of documents made him take a deep breath. After sitting down and flipping through it carefully, he did not find any useful information in it.

Since its establishment in 1972, Atari's trajectory has been very transparent. They copied games to become the most popular game company in North America, and then lost to themselves, who also copied games to become a better game company. ...hehe~

However, there was one piece of news that caught Ethan's attention.

After Nolan Bushnell was fired, Warner sent a guy named Redmond Casa, a former executive vice president and board member of Burlington Industries, as Atari's president. Has rich business experience in the industrial field. The San Jose Mercury News stated after he took office that this guy who had great success in the field of towel sales will definitely bring his successful experience to Atari, and his first goal may be to revive Atari. Lee's arcade production line, and may emulate the successful cooperation between Ethan Jones and George Lucas, and work with parent company Warner to create an interactive video game. As for the project, it is likely to be Superman.

Superman?

DC+movies+games?

Wow...this newspaper really dares to guess!

Having said that, Ethan still recorded this possibility.

There is no way, who told him that in his previous life, DC's IP was made into games by Warner again and again?

When he discovered that Atari was 'probably' normal, Ethan was slightly relieved. But three days later, when he flipped through the 5,000 pages of information related to Mi Luohua brought by Julis, he His eyebrows were furrowed, not because there was too much information, but because there seemed to be no problem with Mi Luohua's data.

Ethan briefly reviewed their business data before the launch of Odyssey, because the sixty-one-year history seemed to him of little reference value. Ethan also knew almost all the stories after the launch of Odyssey. The launch of the game console caused a sensation in North America, but unfortunately, all game players were attracted by Atari. Because of plagiarism, the two sides started a lawsuit. In the process, Milowa was acquired by Philips. The reason why Philips initiated the acquisition is also very simple. According to the Wall Street Journal, Philips' move is to ensure that their VLP Videodisc technology can be promoted smoothly in North America...

'etc! ’

‘VLP Videodisc? ’

When the word laser disc appeared, Ethan felt something hit him on the back of his head!

Because in his memory, the Philips guy was just a plate seller!

The VCD he used at home in his previous life was made by Philips!

In other words, it was precisely because of that projector that he opened the door to a new world!

And now, the purpose of Philips acquiring Mirova is to sell dishes?

Ethan felt that he had caught something. He frantically searched for reports related to Milohua Apollo in a pile of information. When he discovered that the Apollo product had a disc interface...

He instantly remembered his evaluation of the Apollo product six months ago.

At that time, he felt that this machine looked so much like the XBox of the future!

MFxxk! Isn't this why these people are guarding me? Ethan muttered to himself.

The next second, he immediately picked up the receiver on the table and dialed Professor Ralph Bell's phone, Rudolph, I have something to ask you.

I want to know what is Milova's current plan? Or, in other words, I want to know how Philips will handle the Apollo product after they take over Milova?

Oh! Yes! I know that there has been completely cut off contact with you. But I really need your help now. I have encountered some difficulties, maybe related to Philips...

Yes, yes! Please help me find out! Okay, okay...thank you, thank you...

After hanging up the phone, Ethan leaned on the sofa in the office and waited for the news.

He lay on his back, staring at the snow-white ceiling.

Although there was nothing on it, Ethan always felt like he saw a lot.

After waiting for about an hour, the phone in the office finally rang.

Ethan jumped up in surprise and picked up the receiver and answered it quickly. Then he heard Professor Ralph Bell on the other end of the phone say: Ethan, I asked several friends for you to get a general understanding of Philips's relationship with rice. Luohua Apollo’s way of dealing with it.”

After Philips took over Mirova, they decided to keep the Apollo product...

Ah, no, the word reservation is actually not appropriate, because Philips seems to be negotiating business with Wal-Mart. They want to continue to promote the Apollo product so that it can be like the light bulbs, razors, and kitchen products under their own name. Supplies have been on Walmart shelves for a long time.”

As for the reason...

According to my friends in New York, Philips is very satisfied with the video interface of the Apollo product. They think it is a very good design. If it were not for your existence, they might have gained enough potential disc share with this product. …”

Those shares more than make up for their losses on tape.

I think you should know all these things, right?

They fought over these things as early as 1972.

Ethan Jones certainly knows what Professor Ralph Bell is talking about!

Because in his memory, the video storage format war started as early as 1972!

Speaking of the video storage format war, most people think of Sony Blu-ray and Toshiba HD after the millennium. But in fact, before this, these companies had fought countless back and forth, and at the most vicious time, they even knocked the opponent's brains out.

The cause of the matter was in 1972, when Philips brought a product called Philips N1500 to the world, which was the world's first home video recorder.

Its appearance shocked the world because it meant that the film and television industry would usher in a new spring.

Before its emergence, people in the world could only engage in entertainment activities with a smaller range of options by watching TV programs at home and going to theaters to watch movies. But after its appearance, video tapes, a gadget equipped with images, can enter thousands of households. When people find that they can watch their favorite movies at home, all the entertainment giants can get a lot of money from it. income.

Precisely because this product can create countless wealth, many electronic manufacturers have joined in, wanting to get a share of the pie. In 1975, Sony launched a Betamax format video recorder. Even though the price is very expensive and the recording time is only one hour, because its picture and sound are very good, it received widespread praise from the market and sold well as soon as it was launched.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. In 1976, JVC, who wanted to reap profits, appeared with its own new product, which was a video recorder using the Video Home System format.

Since JVC had already solved the problem of recording time when it launched the product, it extended the standard length of the video tape from one hour to two hours, which matches the length of most movies. Therefore, when JVC's product was launched, it was Welcomed by countless companies.

They went on a rampage in the entertainment market, trampling under their feet the old-timer Philips in the market, the former big star and now Niu Madam Sony, and other competitors Sanyo.

At the moment, the most awesome product in the North American videotape market is JVC’s HR-3300U!

Its market share in North America has even reached 60%!

Its peak was actually in the 1980s. At the end of the 1980s, they gained more than 90% of the global market share and achieved a complete monopoly in the true sense!

It was precisely because JVC defeated Philips and Sony in the video tape field that they changed their track and entered the optical disc field. In Ethan's memory, they also successfully revolutionized JVC's life with this move, but at the same time , both of them also hit each other hard because of the format dispute.

And that was actually the second video format war.

This battle is actually more familiar to people, because Philips cut off the cooperation between Sony and Nintendo, and was then killed by the angry Sony with PS. This war put the PS game console on the stage of history and also made the king of the gaming field Nintendo fell off the altar.

In his previous life, Ethan heard these gossips while playing games.

So my understanding of this industry is actually very one-sided, just like a summary.

But these are no longer important, right?

When the Wall Street Journal had already published that Philips' motive for acquiring Milova was to promote its own VLP Videodisc, Ethan really dared to assure himself that the accidents last year were definitely related to Milova. Those things were definitely done by them!

Holy shit! Philips wants to use Milohua's game console to promote its own video format?

They started doing these things so early?

Ethan put his head in his hands and put his fingers in his hair. He really couldn't believe his analysis.

Because this is too nonsense, right?

You know, the video game industry was really born in 1972. In the same year, Philips released a home video recorder. And when Philips was promoting home video recorders to the outside world, they were thinking about using video games to promote the next generation of products?

What's the difference between this kind of foresight and cheating with special codes?

However, Ethan just sighed and put all this behind him.

Because he feels...

I feel like I dug a big thunder!

I've stabbed Philips' future products to death. Are they afraid they will have to stare at me in the future?

After figuring everything out, Ethan felt like his head was going to explode!

He is just a game maker, so why did he inexplicably defeat all the participants in the video format war? If he also produces video tapes, laser discs, DVDs, and high-definition optical discs, then forget it. The point is that he doesn’t produce them himself! In this case...

wrong!

Shouldn't I do it?

Ethan, who was still moaning and groaning, stopped.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered that laser discs, DVDs, and high-definition discs are not just for burning movies and TV shows, or for storing song MVs. The optical discs associated with the video format war are not only profitable in the film and television industry. As a carrier for storing data, PCs have individually designed optical drives for them. PS, XBox, and Wii are all inseparable from them.

In this case, Philips was punched by them first?

Hiss...it seems like Philip is still a good person!

Although I was targeted by you, I also remembered the big gold mine of CDs!

Ethan Jones suddenly felt that it might be a good thing that he was hit by Mi Luohua's continuous blasts. If it weren't for Mi Luohua's caution, he might not be able to recall such a thing as a CD for a while. After all, at the moment In this era, the mainstream storage medium is still magnetic cartridges.

When Ethan in the current life had not wandered around in this industry, it would be very difficult to recall.

However, even if Ethan remembered the CD, he was not in a hurry now.

Firstly, the technology of optical discs is not perfect at the moment. Even though Ethan is not very familiar with this content, he also knows that the explosion of optical discs was in the late 1980s, at least ten years ago. In such a time when there is so much time, Under the circumstances, he can slowly try to plan.

Secondly, he didn't know much about this kind of product with high professional knowledge. He needed to go home first and ask Evelin for advice. Ask her if she knew how far this kind of thing had developed.

And when Ethan got home, got into Evelin's study, and asked what was on his mind, the girl who was studying circuits there suddenly looked confused.

Ethan, why do I feel that your mind jumps so fast?

Like a frog!

Haven't you been studying the conspiracy of Mi Luohua and Atari these days?

Why are you suddenly interested in CDs again?

The girl doesn't understand.

She tucked her hanging hair behind her ears, her beautiful eyes filled with confusion.

Ethan didn’t mean to hide anything and told his guess.

When the girl learned that, Ethan believed that Philips felt that they had lost the video tape war. Their VCR format could not beat JVC's VHS format, so they wanted to find another way to promote the CD...

She stood up immediately.

He grabbed Ethan's arms unceremoniously and turned him around.

What are you doing? Ethan was a little confused.

Evelin, on the other hand, stared at the back of Ethan's head and neck for a long time, and then said: I just want to see if you are an alien...

What? Ethan was shocked, What do you mean?

Because your brain is obviously different from normal people! Evelin said: I admit, JVC's video recorder is indeed very useful, but the competition between them has just begun!

Philips will definitely launch new products for its own VCR format, and the same goes for Sony. How long has it been since their Betamax came out? They gave up just after JVC released a video recorder? So what about the previous investment in R\u0026D funds? Who will bear that? What a loss!”

To Evelin, Ethan was simply whimsical.

Philips, Sony and JVC have only officially started fighting for less than a year, and then Ethan said that Philips might be trying to develop a layout for the next generation?

Only people who don’t understand technology can say this kind of thing!

Ethan, I think you may have been spoiled by us.

Evelin curled her lips and said: You may be used to me making games by myself, machines by myself, Stephen (Wozniak) making personal computers by himself, and Chuck (Pado) doing research and development with more than a dozen people. Chips, Rudolf (Bell) and five people made a circuit board game console and a dozen circuit board games, so you may not know how much normal scientific research costs.”

If Stephen and I weren't working on a game like Pac-Man, you could hire a team of 20 or 30 people outside and they could write it for you for a year.

Even if you give them a salary of 20,000 yuan, they will burn through 600,000 yuan a year.

Our knowledge reserve is not something that normal people can possess. I asked Wenton for programming alone. What Stephen's father taught him was the military thinking of building missiles. Who would a normal person understand these things? You can't regard our efficiency as the public s efficiency.

Oh Evelin, I didn't mean that... Sister's words made Ethan wake up. He was using the reserves of the whole world to analyze the entire incident. This is very unfair to people living in the present. , I just made a simple guess... he explained.

I just made a guess based on the Wall Street Journal report.

He put all the blame on the Wall Street Journal.

Looking at the guy with his hands spread out and an aggrieved look on his face, Evelin shook her head helplessly.

Don't waste time on things that can't find answers. For us now, designing a new game is more important than finding the murderer of the original incident.

I know. Ethan agreed proactively without any intention of refuting.

The well-behaved look made Evelin sit down again, pick up the pencil and continue drawing.

And just when Ethan thought that his sister didn't want to talk to him about the CD, the girl who was immersed in her creation said, If you want to know about the CD, just go directly to Steven.

What? Ethan didn't understand what his sister meant, Steven?

You mean Spielberg?

Yeah. Evelin nodded slightly.

Why?

Ethan was a little confused.

Isn't he a Hollywood director? How does he know what a CD is?

‘…’

This question made Evelin's body tremble.

She stopped painting with her right hand and looked up with a smile, Wow...Ethan, I thought you were joking with me. I didn't expect you really didn't understand CDs?

The patent for this technology is in the hands of MCA.

You heard that right.

It's MCA.

Universal's parent company, M, C, A.

Evelin said the name of MCA word by word, and then said with a smile: So, if you want to know the latest status of it, can't you just ask Steven directly?

Didn't you say that he is the prince of Universal?

With him here, you can see all the skills.

You don't even need to ask me, because I certainly don't know as much about CDs as they do.

WTF? ? ?

Ethan was shocked!

Does the optical disc patent belong to MCA?

Damn it!

What kind of outrageous plot is this!

Note: ① The alternative analysis of the financial industry written in this article does exist, and there are various ways to obtain it. The simplest is to buy it. For example, Google has been frequently exposed to selling user data before. In fact, many of them were bought by financial companies. ② There are currently four video format wars. The first one is video tape, which is the Philips, Sony and JVC mentioned in the article. The second one is laser disc, Philips Sony's CD and Hitachi Panasonic's LD. The third game is DVD, Sony Philips, Hitachi and Toshiba, and the fourth game is HD disc, Sony Philips Blu-ray and Toshiba Microsoft HD. Yes, Philips hit four times.