The Empire's Counterattack
The price of MS-DOS 4.0 that had been announced to the major vendors was over a hundred dollars. Yet this thing called Android Alpha was free, so it was impossible not to be tempted.
"Is that so? I hope the positive reviews lead to direct contact."
Yoo Jae-won was also intrigued by Remington's report. He was always looking for opportunities to connect with the giant computer manufacturers. It was all for ID Office.
Android Alpha could ride the distribution network specialized in Electronic Arts games by attaching the currently odd label of a gaming operating system. But ID Office was a very different beast. It was possible to ask Electronic Arts to handle distribution, but Yoo Jae-won would bet his entire fortune that gamers would not buy ID Office in large quantities. The biggest consumers of ID Office were corporations. To break into the corporate market, a new approach was needed. One method was to form partnerships with the large manufacturers that supplied computers to corporations. Of course, companies would order software separately when choosing the systems to be delivered, but it was crucial that ID Office appeared among the options they could select.
"Our product is good, so there will definitely be a response."
Remington spoke with confidence. Android Alpha had already been installed on the computers in the Silicon Valley office. The same was true for the developer machines. Having used it before the official market launch, their pride in Alpha was greater than anyone else's.
Even Remington, who was already comfortable with computers, found it much easier to use application programs now. The crude fonts of DOS were no longer pleasant to look at. Thanks to the outline and bitmap fonts developed while creating ID Office, even the plain text screens of PC communications had become far smoother.
The market reaction to Alpha was also enthusiastic. One hundred thousand jewel cases, packaged in the simplest possible way, had been distributed, and they were already gone. News had come in from stores in major cities with large populations that the jewel cases had sold out within hours of opening. It was only natural. Since users were not charged, the copies were simply handed out for free to the first people who entered the stores. Even with a one-per-person limit, they disappeared in an instant.
An unexpected market that showed just how hot Android Alpha was becoming was the secondhand market. Only a few days had passed, yet jewel cases were already trading for four or five dollars. In the distant future, when ID Technology had grown into a colossal corporation with a long history, they might be treated as antiques and rise in price, but right now there was demand from people who lived far from stores offering copying services. Some enterprising individuals, seeing the long lines at copying shops, had made copies in advance and were selling them for around three dollars. They were simply adding a small margin to the cost of the diskettes and selling them at their own discretion.
But no matter how much the secondhand market or these operators tried to overcharge, they could not rip people off. There were simply too many ways to obtain it for free. There were also several public FTP servers connected to PC communications and the internet. Since cooperating retail stores with Electronic Arts were providing free copies, unless someone was extremely naive, there was no reason to be overcharged by these operators.
"By the way, this messenger program is incredibly convenient."
Remington's praise extended to the messenger as well. Right now, Yoo Jae-won was not speaking with Remington over an international phone call. They were conversing through an internet messaging program that the Silicon Valley team had diligently built according to the design Yoo Jae-won had drawn. After entering the server's IP address and the user ID and password, the IDs of everyone currently connected appeared in a list. From there, one could select an ID and exchange messages one-on-one, or gather many people in a single chat room for a group meeting. It was a very basic messenger program, but the core functions were solid. Moreover, it was fast; no matter how long the sentence entered, it appeared instantly on the other person's screen.
When they had spoken over international phone calls, there had been a slight delay in voice transmission. If one was not used to it, their words would overlap and tangle. Ending every sentence with "Over" like in the military would have been strange as well. Now there was no need for that. Pressing Enter sent the message immediately.
"Haha, right now we are communicating with the most cutting-edge technology on Earth. The internet is not some grand thing. It is simply a technology that connects people beyond time and space. And although the messenger program does not look much different from a PC communication screen on the surface, it is packed with advanced technology. Just as Yoo Jae-won had designed in advance, users can exchange image files or compressed files while chatting, and they can even open a whiteboard to draw directly during the conversation. Above all, every message exchanged is encrypted in real time. Even if a hacker familiar with the internet intercepts the messages in the middle, they will never be able to read them."
"How is the production of the ID Office packages going?"
After talking at length about Alpha, Yoo Jae-won moved on to the next item. The program that had received far more care and attention than Android Alpha was ID Office. At the end of July, they had finally completed the final version equipped with the bootloader and the professional edition of Android Alpha, and package production was now underway.
"Yes, when it comes to package production, there is no company more specialized than Electronic Arts. Everything is proceeding smoothly."
As Remington said, the packaging of ID Office was being handled entirely by Electronic Arts. It was not like Keyboard Warrior, where they produced it themselves and then handled full distribution. ID Technology decided the production quantity, and the packaging fee was paid to Electronic Arts at cost plus an additional margin. Some of the packages produced this way would also be distributed through Electronic Arts' network, but the remaining quantity was planned to be sold directly by the U.S. Silicon Valley branch, which would find its own sales channels. Through this method, Electronic Arts would receive only a small distribution commission and would not have to worry about inventory or sales. ID Technology, in turn, would be able to keep all the profits instead of splitting them fifty-fifty as they had with the previous title. The trade-off was the major task of building their own distribution network. It seemed like a fair division of labor, but objectively speaking, it was a loss for Electronic Arts. It was no different from missing out on the big item that was ID Office.
"We will do our best to ensure the grand opening on August 15th is a success."
"Yes, if it is Vice President Remington's assurance, I can believe it."
Instead, ID Technology, which had taken on the major task of building a distribution network, also carried some burden. But Yoo Jae-won was not worried. Although they had not been able to use it with Keyboard Warrior, he had prepared all the latest marketing techniques in advance, and some were already being executed. At the prestigious universities on both the East and West Coasts that Remington had penetrated with his solid reading skills, ID Office was receiving rave reviews. Over 90 percent of academic administration documents, student reports, and professors' papers were being created using ID Office. These schools had already promised to make large purchases once ID Office was officially released. That alone amounted to thousands of copies. In addition, many research institutes and companies affiliated with the schools were also inquiring about purchasing ID Office. Although there were no orders of ten thousand copies at once like in Korea, as these orders accumulated, ID Office would become the dominant choice in the education sector.
"Yes! The flagship stores are almost ready as well."
Another weapon being prepared for the release of ID Office was ID Technology's own dedicated retail stores. Two of them, in fact. One was in the busiest area of Silicon Valley, San Jose, and the other was on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, the heart of the East Coast. The San Jose flagship store had purchased both the land and the building. Even at the already expensive Silicon Valley land prices, it would only become more valuable later. A decent property had come on the market, and they had acquired it for around two million dollars. It was a single-story building the size of two classrooms, quite old, but they had also received the land including the parking lot in full, and since the district the land belonged to was a commercial zone, the price had been reasonable. Once Silicon Valley grew further, it would be fine to demolish the building and erect a ten-story structure.
The flagship store on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York, was a long-term lease. Right next to it was the famous Central Park. It was the park boasting New York's largest green space, a place visited not only by New Yorkers but by people from all over the world. The foot traffic was of the highest order. Thanks to that, land prices had already reached the sky, and since the area was already fully developed, neither the landowner nor the building owner was eager to sell. Above all, the building owner was one of New York's well-known wealthy individuals and not someone short on money. Instead, they had secured a contract for more than ten years to enable stable store operations. In addition, if ID Technology wished to extend the contract, they would be given priority consideration. In Korea, even with such terms, there were various loopholes that allowed landlords to evict tenants at will. But in the United States, where tenant protection was thorough, as long as the contract was solid, one could truly feel at ease.
"When it opens, you will be amazed!"
The flagship stores, built with an investment of millions of dollars, had not been planned simply to showcase Android Alpha or ID Office. They had been conceived as the front lines where consumers could directly experience every product ID Technology would create. That was why the store design had also received great care. The theme chosen was a glass palace. In 1989, even building entrances had large areas of brick or concrete walls. They had torn almost all of that down and replaced it with full glass so that the inside of the store was completely visible. Inside as well, instead of cramming shelves full to display large quantities of goods, they had placed two tables in the center with computers that anyone could touch and try. They had even connected laser printers, the highest-end printing devices of the era, so customers could print out documents they had created. As an added service, they planned to offer free printing of up to ten pages for any file made with ID Office.
ID Office and other software packages were displayed on long shelves along the walls. These were sample copies that anyone could pick up and examine, while the new copies given to customers upon ordering were stored on lower shelves behind the counter so they could be retrieved quickly. The walls inside the store were white, but the fluorescent lights were set to daylight color for eye comfort, and the interior design guidelines specified using plenty of warm-toned wood for decorative elements. It would have been ideal to build the building itself to match the flagship store concept, but there had been no time. Fortunately, the interior work was simple enough to be completed by the target date. Yoo Jae-won, who had been frustrated by the delay in installing ISDN lines at the Silicon Valley office, confirmed while preparing the flagship store that with money, most problems could be solved.
"Understood. Then I will see you around the 15th."
On the 15th, along with the announcement of ID Office, the flagship store would also open. It was a historic event for ID Technology, so Yoo Jae-won could not miss it. The timing was perfect as well. Summer vacation had already begun, so traveling to the United States was no problem at all. What excited Yoo Jae-won even more was that his parents and relatives, including his uncle, had decided to accompany him on this trip to America. Last year, his parents had been reluctant about traveling to the United States, but after seeing that Yoo Jae-won's business was running stably, their minds had changed.
Yoo Jae-won had not yet mentioned his plans to attend Stanford to his parents. He was confident that after showing them so many of his capabilities, they would not say anything negative, but the anxiety of sending their child to a distant country would certainly arise. Still, he believed that making multiple visits to the United States like this would gradually ease that anxiety. After all, anxiety usually stems from the unknown and from things one does not understand well. That was why the purpose of this trip to America was less about business and more about relieving his parents' anxiety. As a result, Yoo Jae-won's schedule had been adjusted accordingly. First, on the 15th, he would attend the opening ceremony of the Silicon Valley flagship store together with his parents and relatives. After that, they would visit prestigious universities in San Francisco and tour major tourist attractions in the western United States.
The U.S. marketing of ID Office had been entrusted to Remington, who was also showing talent in sales. Moreover, since it was not the kind of software that would explode overnight like Keyboard Warrior, there was no need for Yoo Jae-won to rush in personally. The big event was Comdex, to be held in Las Vegas in November. The marketing strategy for ID Office was to wait for that moment while steadily laying the groundwork.
Time passed like that. Yoo Jae-won, his parents, and his relatives had safely entered the United States two days earlier and had already greeted the people at the Silicon Valley office. And now, the long-awaited 15th had arrived, just hours before the opening ceremony of the Silicon Valley flagship store.
"Why has this event become so big?"
"Become big? Boss, you tend to underestimate your own presence."
At Yoo Jae-won's question, Remington answered good-naturedly. The grand scale of the opening ceremony had been prepared both to show his parents the full extent of ID Technology's influence and to announce the emergence of a new powerhouse in Silicon Valley. Particular emphasis had been placed on inviting VIPs. Yoo Jae-won, Remington, and Allen had diligently sent invitation letters to everyone they knew. In fact, they had even sent them to people with whom they had no prior relationship at all, thinking that anyone who came would be welcome. Yet strangely, the event had grown even larger. People they had not expected at all had appeared at the flagship store's grand opening ceremony. For example, Art Agnos, the mayor of San Francisco. Following him, Intel's Chief Technology Officer had also come. AMD had sent a vice president. And there was even an FBI executive whom no one had invited.