The Empire Strikes Back
The Empire's counterattack—DOS compatible, next-generation gaming operating system—Android Alpha released! Android advertisements began appearing in computer stores across the United States. Not only stores selling game software, but also shops dealing in computer parts or assembled PCs hung posters featuring the iconic tin robot that symbolized Android. The same advertisements appeared not only in stores directly managed by Electronic Arts but also in branches with close business ties. The key selling points emphasized were DOS compatibility, gaming performance, and that it was free. Thanks to Keyboard Warrior, which had expanded Electronic Arts' network of managed stores, even small cities could see the identical ads. "Bring your diskette and we'll copy it for free."
The particularly striking phrase was the offer to copy the software for free if customers brought their own diskettes. It wasn't merely free—it sounded exactly like an advertisement from someone distributing illegal copies, yet it was an official promotion. The line appeared on a legitimate poster bearing both the ID Technology logo and the Electronic Arts logo side by side. These advertisements ran not only in offline stores but also in computer magazines. Anyone who later checked the August 1989 issues in a library would find Alpha ads even in small regional publications. It was a true advertising blitz. One million dollars had been allocated solely for Alpha's advertising campaign. After all, even though Android Alpha was adware, it was still a new product, and the strategic decision had been made to rapidly build brand awareness. ID Technology covered the entire cost. President Hawkins had offered to contribute, but accepting that money would have meant giving him a say in Android Alpha's operating policies. In the business world, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Besides, ID Technology was hardly in dire financial straits.
At the end of June, the company received its second settlement payment from Electronic Arts. This time, sales reached nearly 1.1 million units. Although the initial frenzy had cooled somewhat in the United States, the sheer size of the market meant roughly 500,000 copies sold domestically, with the remaining 600,000 moving in Europe. An enormous figure. The educational typing feature, combined with network play, drove sales, while the copy-protection system Aegis Shield proved to be a masterstroke. Because up to four players could enjoy cooperative play, the only way to game with friends was to purchase the genuine version. The settlement amount exceeded sixteen million dollars, providing ample funds for advertising. Moreover, all twenty advertising slots for Android Alpha had sold out early, and asking prices were now climbing. Electronic Arts was not the only company to recognize the power of adware. PC game publishers were making every effort to promote their titles, and a targeted advertising medium aimed at active PC gamers had finally appeared. At just ten thousand dollars per slot, the cost was irresistibly low. Hardware manufacturers joined in as well. Consequently, the twenty slots filled completely before July ended, and companies were now aggressively bidding for the second round of slots scheduled a hundred days later. Since Android Alpha had only just launched, the rate of price increases remained relatively modest. The real bidding war would likely begin only after the advertising results became clear. That moment would not be long in coming.
Best Buy in Silicon Valley was a comprehensive retailer carrying everything from household appliances to complete computer systems. It also featured a dedicated section for individual PC components and stocked everything from professional software to games. The store itself was enormous, and it offered numerous demonstration units that customers could try freely. No one complained if someone spent time with the demo machines without making a purchase. That was why sixteen-year-old Gilbert Owen loved Best Buy. Gilbert was a boy completely absorbed by computers. Preferring machines to sports, he rarely stood out at school. His after-school routine consisted of stopping by Best Buy, eyeing products he hoped to buy with saved allowance money, fiddling with the demo units, and heading home. Today was no different—except his steps felt heavier than usual after an unpleasant experience at school. He had not been bullied or subjected to violence. He had simply seen the girl he secretly liked, Elisa, smiling and chatting with that damned Lester Pierce. Lester was also sixteen, a star athlete who captained the football team and excelled academically. Though they shared the same class, Lester was Gilbert's complete opposite and someone he never associated with. In any case, Gilbert felt miserable. At times like this, the best way to relieve stress was to play games to his heart's content at Best Buy.
But today Best Buy felt different. The store was always busy, yet now it seemed even more crowded than usual. Strangely, despite the crowds, many demonstration stations stood empty. "Uncle Hamilton!" Gilbert could never contain his curiosity. He dashed over to Hamilton, who managed the game console section and demo units. They had not known each other at first, but Gilbert visited so frequently that they had grown as close as neighbors. "Is something special happening today? As far as I know, no blockbuster game is releasing." Gilbert pointed at the long line. "Owen, even you can be slow on computer news sometimes. Today a gaming-exclusive operating system was announced." "A gaming-exclusive operating system?" "That's right. It's DOS compatible and supports the latest Glide X technology." "Whoa!" "Which company made it? Microsoft?" "No. A company called ID Technology." "Keyboard Warrior!" The name ID Technology made Keyboard Warrior burst reflexively from Gilbert Owen's lips. The game was still the favorite that friends secretly played together in the school computer lab when teachers weren't looking. Having played it so much that he had become a typing master, Gilbert now amused himself during co-op sessions by deliberately making mistakes to tease his friends. "And it's free for users." "Free?" Nothing could have sounded more appealing to Gilbert, whose pockets were perpetually light. "Just bring a blank diskette and they'll copy it for free. It's not illegal copying—the usage fee is simply watching one advertisement image that appears after booting. They call it adware or something. Anyway, watching the ads makes updates and version upgrades free as well. ID Technology promised major updates every hundred days. You can come here to copy the updated version just like today." A series of "whoa"s followed. MS-DOS came bundled with new computers, but upgrading required purchasing a new version, which still cost dozens of dollars even at a discount. "So that whole line is people waiting to get copies?" "Exactly. They're lining up to try the gaming OS as soon as possible." "Whoa! Thanks for the explanation!"
After hearing the full details from Hamilton, Gilbert considered his options. He always carried several diskettes in his bag, so obtaining a copy posed no problem. He felt a twinge of regret at the many empty demo stations, but those could wait until tomorrow. The gaming operating system, however, could be copied and taken home. Gilbert's decision was obvious: join the line. The queue was already long, and he ended up waiting nearly an hour. He had come to relieve stress, yet Gilbert returned home carrying even more. If this Alpha turned out to be garbage, he fully intended to ride his bicycle straight to the ID Technology office and complain loudly. Silicon Valley was not an enormous city, and the trip from his house took less than thirty minutes. Gilbert never made that trip. The performance he experienced exceeded every expectation. Knowing computers well, Gilbert bravely performed a full format and installed Android Alpha. "So this is the advertisement." After booting completed, Gilbert nodded at the ID Technology logo that appeared in the upper right corner. If he could use the system for free after seeing an advertisement of this quality, it was a price he was more than willing to pay. He then installed every genuine game he had purchased with saved allowance money, one by one, and confirmed they all ran flawlessly. Without any special configuration, every title worked perfectly. Moreover, the spacious Ribbon Interface felt like an entirely different world compared to DOS, where a tiny cursor blinked on a black screen. Gilbert continued exploring Alpha's features until his parents shouted at him to go to bed, and thoughts of Elisa vanished completely from his mind. He was, after all, a true computer enthusiast.
A whirlwind! The market reaction to Android Alpha could only be described as a whirlwind. There were far more people fed up with MS-DOS than anyone had anticipated. Although the OS required a fairly high-spec machine—at minimum a 286 processor, VGA card, and 1 MB or more of memory—stores across the country saw long lines of customers waiting to copy Android Alpha from the very first day of release. "Boss, the advertising unit price keeps climbing. At a remarkably steep rate." From the perspective of someone selling ad space, rising prices were welcome news. "What's the current highest bid?" "It's reached a full nineteen thousand dollars. And the buyer wants to purchase five slots simultaneously." Compared to Keyboard Warrior's revenue, the amount was negligible, yet the advertising market's importance was growing like a snowball with each passing day. In the twenty-first century, even Google, which dominated the computer industry, derived its greatest revenue not from cutting-edge AI or smartphones but from the traditional advertising market. Drawing on memories of his previous life, Yoo Jae-won knew the growth potential of Android Alpha, which had begun as adware, was limitless. Once the kernel was upgraded to a Unix-based architecture and internet connectivity was added, the value of advertising slots would rise without limit. "Have any complaints about Alpha been reported?" "It's truly remarkable, but none so far!" Remington answered Yoo Jae-won's question with certainty. While focusing on building the intelligence division, he had not lost sight of the company's new product launch. On the contrary, screening candidates for the intelligence unit had yielded useful information for ID Technology. Promising stable employment in exchange for demonstrating their abilities, the recruits had eagerly shared what they knew. Reports ranged from Microsoft's efforts in Seattle to rebuild an elite development team through internal promotions and headhunting after the Alpha Lab incident, to financial firms on the East Coast digging into ID Technology's background. Alpha's reception was among those reports. Multiple sources confirmed that many observers were watching with keen interest because the OS was DOS compatible yet delivered colorful graphics. "No formal proposals have arrived yet, but large manufacturers such as Compaq are said to be evaluating it positively." Among the reports submitted, one detail particularly caught Yoo Jae-won's attention: some computer manufacturers had responded favorably. Companies like Dell, Compaq, and HP, which supplied complete computer systems, currently obtained their operating systems through bulk contracts with Microsoft. However, complaints had surfaced that Microsoft, leveraging its monopoly position, offered little discount even on large-volume purchases. When Microsoft had competed against CP/M with DOS 1.0, the price of DOS stood at forty dollars, while CP/M cost two hundred fifty. Although the two systems were functionally identical, DOS was only one-sixth the price. CP/M had held a monopoly on 8-bit operating systems, but the market was rapidly shifting to 16-bit machines. With an entirely new architecture, backward compatibility was unnecessary. Given the enormous price difference, companies naturally chose Microsoft. Yet after CP/M's collapse, Microsoft began gradually raising DOS prices with each new version.