Chapter 311 CD-ROM
Shirakawa Kaede came to Fujitsu to see how its own chips perform on computers.
However, after learning about the relevant configurations of current computers, he had some new ideas.
Whether it is a Chinese character ROM card or a floppy disk and other configurations, they are all external devices, which are commonly referred to as peripherals in later generations.
Why are these peripherals all integrated into the computer host in the future, but are now sold separately as accessories?
The reason is that they are priced too high.
The Chinese character ROM card can be solved by an input method in the future, but now this function can only be achieved by making it into a hardware device.
A Chinese character ROM card costs as much as 30,000 yen, which is more expensive than the computer's core component chip and accounts for about a quarter of the computer's total price.
The price offered by HAL Research Institute is still relatively cheap. As far as Shirakawa Kaede knows, NEC is preparing to develop similar hardware, and the price may be more than 40,000 yen.
If the Chinese character ROM card is integrated into a computer host, its selling price will increase by 20% to 30%.
It is conceivable that the already high price of computers makes things even more difficult for ordinary users.
The floppy disk is even more expensive. A floppy drive plus a floppy disk costs about 180,000 yen, which is more expensive than a computer!
If provided as a standard accessory for the main unit, this means the price of the entire device will soar to more than 300,000 yen.
This price is unbelievable not only to ordinary users but even to Baichuan Feng.
Therefore, whether it is a Chinese character ROM card or a floppy drive, they can only exist as optional peripheral accessories.
But from this we can also see that today's computer hardware has seriously slowed down the pace of computer development.
The price of a floppy disk of a few hundred KB is almost as high as that of a computer. It is simply unimaginable.
Computers are the core driving force for the development of information technology and the basic building blocks for the birth of the Internet.
The communication, transmission and sharing of data and information are its responsibilities.
Only in this way can computer technology continue to advance and make people's lives more convenient.
Among them, data storage devices such as floppy disks share part of the responsibility for information exchange.
But its high price will obviously make most people stay away from it.
Not to mention that information transmission drives technological progress, floppy disks are now luxury items and few ordinary people would buy them.
Well, for the advancement of computer technology, Shirakawa Feng felt it necessary to develop portable storage devices.
Well, after all, it’s because the prices and the market are too attractive.
A floppy drive costs hundreds of dollars. This is blatant robbery!
Baichuan Feng said that he must personally criticize this shameless business.
Capitalism is indeed extremely evil, bleeding from every pore.
Cough~ But this blood also smells like money.
So what technology and storage does Shirakawa Kaede have here?
The answer is CD, or to put it another way, compact disc!
In people's impression, CD has always been synonymous .
When you hear the word, the first thing that comes to mind is either a CD for storing music or a CD player for playing music.
But CD is actually a storage format, and music is just one of the contents it stores.
In addition to the music format CD-DA, there are also a series of extended formats such as CD-R, CD-I, CD-ROM, etc.
Of course, these extended formats have not yet been released because Sony has focused all its attention on the music CD format.
After all, this was one of the original purposes of Norio Ohga in developing CD technology. Therefore, with Sony's unremitting efforts, CDs and music have become almost bundled together.
The main reason why people have such a stereotyped impression of CDs is Sony’s promotion.
But Shirakawa Kaede did not ignore the application of CDs in other fields, such as optical discs that still exist after the millennium.
This is also another storage-related medium that he thought of after seeing the floppy drive, CD-ROM.
SIC has been working intensively on this format for nearly two years and is now nearing completion with hope in sight.
The reason why Shirakawa Kaede decided to develop this CD format was because he saw its potential as another storage format.
So Sony continued to work hard on music CDs, but Shirakawa Electric did not stop exploring the extension of CDs into other areas besides music.
Now, after comparing it with floppy disks, Baichuan Feng suddenly realized that CDs might also have great potential.
Why? According to today's specifications, the capacity of a CD is about 700MB.
It is 700MB, not 700KB, which is definitely a dimensionality reduction compared to the capacity of a floppy disk.
More importantly, the manufacturing cost of a CD is definitely cheaper than a floppy disk because its main base material is plastic and only the surface coating uses some rare materials.
However, the material used in the thin coating is limited, so the cost is naturally much lower than that of a floppy disk.
However, CD-ROM discs also have a flaw, which is that they can only read information but cannot erase or modify it.
The floppy disk can both read and write information, which is one of its advantages.
Despite this, Shirakawa Kaede still feels that CD-ROM has great potential.
As a storage medium only, the application prospects of CD-ROM are still very broad.
Databases, text and graphic materials, software, etc. can all be put into ROM discs for long-term storage.
Especially for content distributors, CD-ROM is definitely a blessing.
Since the prospects are broad and the cost is low, Shirakawa Feng will of course give it a try.
Floppy disks have floppy drives, and CDs have optical drives. This makes sense, right?
A floppy drive can be sold for $400, and my optical drive can be several times cheaper than yours. How about that, isn’t that fair?
The capacity is larger than that of a floppy disk and the price is lower than that of a floppy disk. Shirakawa Kaede doesn't believe that CDs will have no market.
Moreover, the principle of the optical drive is actually very similar to that of a CD player. The laser head reads the information on the disk and then parses it.
Even the optical drive is much simpler than a CD player. It does not need to output music, it only needs to restore data.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was feasible, and even Baichuan Feng was a little absent-minded when watching the computer demonstration on site.
However, since this was the first time that the SIC chip was available to mass consumers, Baichuan Feng quickly calmed down and focused his energy on it.
I observed the performance of FM-7 with people from Fujitsu and we were all quite satisfied.
As a cheap phone, it performs well in all aspects and even has some small highlights. I believe its performance in the market will not be too bad in the future.
And before leaving, Shirakawa Kaede had already received a hint from Mazuka Michiyoshi.
As long as FM-7 meets market expectations, it is not impossible for SIC's 16-bit chip to be considered for future high-end computers.
With these words, Baichuan Feng felt relieved and had great confidence in his own chips.
After dealing with matters at Fujitsu, Shirakawa Kaede went to SIC again.
The first thing to do there is to pay attention to the research and development progress of CD-ROM. Nakajima Heitaro, who has now taken over the project, said that perhaps we will be able to see the results after the CD player is on the market.
Come to think of it, it makes sense that Heitaro Nakajima and Hiroshi Ogawa were both fully supporting the development of the CD player at this time.
The CD format can only be improved after the CD player is released.
Anyway, the research and development has come to an end, and Baichuan Feng can afford to wait for this period of time.
Time is like the wind, it passes by you lightly.
By the time Shirakawa Feng finished his work at the company, it was already late May.
And on a sunny afternoon, Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank, Nomura Securities, and Hiroshi Arai, who was in charge of Hokuto Bank, all gathered together at Shirakawa Electric in Ota Ward.
Baichuan Feng, who was sitting at the top of the conference room, looked at the people coming from all sides below and secretly sighed that this day had finally come.
Yes, today is the day when Shirakawa Electric started its first round of financing, and also the last round of financing before its listing.
There is still one month left until the end of June, which will be the third anniversary of the establishment of Shirakawa Electric.
According to the Financial Services Agency's regulations, Shirakawa Electric can apply for listing as long as it is three years old.
As for the question of whether to go public, the matter has actually been decided long ago.
When Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank first contacted Shirakawa Electric and provided some assistance, Shirakawa Electric's path to listing was already determined.
When a Japanese company develops to a certain level, it is bound to come into contact with several traditional chaebols, either passively or actively, which is unavoidable.
After all, they control more than 60% of Japan's total output value. It is no exaggeration to say that they are present in every aspect of the economy.
Shirakawa Electric is not isolated from society and exists independently from Japan, so it is inevitable that it will have some intersections with the chaebols.
But to be honest, he is not opposed to the listing of Shirakawa Electric, nor is he opposed to contacting chaebols like Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank.
Although going public means that the company's financial statements will be made public, he will no longer be the sole shareholder of the company.
However, if Shirakawa Electric wants to further expand its influence, going public is one of the necessary ways.
Moreover, eating alone will never make you a transcendent existence, and the distribution of benefits is the main theme of economic activities.
Whether it is the outside world or the old employees who have been following him to build his empire, don’t they really want to get more?
Hasegawa, Yasuda, Yamaguchi, the first few seniors of Meiji, and Matsumura Masayoshi and Yamazaki Teru from SIC.
They are all living people with their own emotions and desires, not just tools who only know how to work.
Not to mention the hundreds of workers in the workshop, Baichuan Feng believed that they were extremely eager for this day.
Since various factors indicate that going public will be more beneficial to the company's operations, why is Shirakawa Kaede still hesitating?
Besides, it was precisely because of Shirakawa Kaede's original promise that a preliminary cooperation intention was reached with Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank.
It is only during this period of time that Shirakawa Electric has been able to develop smoothly to where it is today.
With one of the six largest financial groups, Dai-ichi Kangyo, standing in front, he could avoid countless overt and covert covetousness and temptations.
Now that the time has come, let's take this step and complete a more gorgeous transformation.
"Everyone, let's talk about Shirakawa Electric's valuation and financing now."
Under the expectant and eager eyes of people on both sides, Baichuan Feng finally announced the official start of this meeting.
They have been waiting for this day for a long time. They have seen the business situation of Shirakawa Electric and are jealous of it.
Now that the day of financing and listing has finally arrived, a carnival of harvesting the stock market is about to begin.
From financing to listing and stock issuance, there are too many interests involved.
Especially for Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank and Nomura Securities, the profits they can earn from operating a company's IPO are equivalent to the annual income of many companies.
At this time, Baichuan Feng announced the start of the meeting, and both sides became excited.
However, the first person to stand up and speak was Arai Yu, who was sitting next to Shirakawa Kaede.
