Ride Together

After I called Tom through Ride Together, he really did show up with his car almost immediately.

Nicholas and the others hurriedly piled into the car.

"Hey, it's cramped. Don't shove."

"You lose weight."

"Wow, it's warm. I feel alive again."

Three of them squeezed into the back seat, and Nicholas ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠took the passenger seat.

Once the car started moving and the heater had thawed out their bodies a little, Tom asked, "By the way, Nicholas. I didn't know you used Ride Together too. It's pretty famous among people with cars, though."

"Famous? ...Actually, I don't really know what Ride Together is."

"You don't know? Then how did you call me?"

"I just got an ad message through FreeChat. It said it would take me home for free when I couldn't even get a taxi, so I downloaded it on the spot. If I hadn't, I would've frozen to death."

At Nicholas's answer, Tom tilted his head.

"You got an ad on FreeChat? I didn't get one."

"Really? It came to me and Dimitrov."

Tom looked briefly puzzled, then nodded despite himself.

"Maybe they didn't send it to me because I'm already registered as a driver?"

From the back seat, Dimitrov asked Tom, "Hey, Tom. Why are you doing this anyway? Does the school give you some kind of volunteer credit for it?"

Certain departments at Stanford required a substantial number of volunteer hours as part of graduation requirements.

Even when it wasn't a formal requirement, volunteer work could still help with job hunting now and then.

"Volunteer work?"

"Exactly. You're driving us to the dorm for free."

— Right. Seriously, thanks, Tom.

— If it weren't for you, we might've had to beg the bar owner to let us wash dishes and sleep there.

— Or call the cops and spend the night in a cell.

— Guys like you are why the police are short-staffed.

As the other three chimed in, Tom turned the wheel and snorted with a laugh.

"Volunteer work, my ass. I'm doing this to make money."

"Money?"

Nicholas stared at him.

"Money? The app clearly said 'free ride'."

"I'm not charging you. The company is."

"The company pays you? I ride in your car and I don't pay anything?"

"It's a promotion right now. They said that for the time being they'd do it this way, and even if it becomes paid later, they want to help poor college students first and all that."

"Wow... that's impressive."

— Seriously, it is.

— Long live FreeChat. I switched my text plan to the cheapest one because of it.

— Same. These days I barely even text the guys still using feature phones.

— FreeChat's just too convenient. You can send photos and everything.

— But Clear Cam? That was made by the same company, right?

— Yeah, it was.

— I can't trust girls who use Clear Cam to take selfies and post them on Facebook these days.

— Ah... yeah, the difference between the photo and the real thing is pretty dramatic.

— No kidding. It's terrifying. Not makeup, not a disguise—it's basically a full-on transformation.

— Might as well be taking pictures with the Iron Man filter.

While they were chatting like that, Dimitrov and Nicholas's expressions turned serious.

"Hang on. No matter how you dress it up, you're still taking money to drive people around... isn't that a gypsy cab? If the cops catch you doing this, you're looking at a massive fine."

"Yeah. It's illegal to operate without a taxi license."

Despite his friends' concern, Tom answered with easy confidence.

"That's why this isn't a taxi. It's carpooling. The money I get isn't a fare; it's a fuel-cost split. Basically, it's a contribution."

"A split? A contribution?"

"Yeah. It's the idea that people going in the same direction chip in for gas. I worried about that too, so I looked it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up in ridiculous detail."

"But you're still taking money."

"True, but legally it's not a for-profit transport service like a taxi. It's just sharing the cost. Like splitting the bill when you eat together."

"Who says?"

"A lawyer."

At the word lawyer, Nicholas asked, "Wait... you got actual legal advice just to do this?"

So he had looked into it that carefully? Was he really that cautious of a guy?

"No way, I don't have money for that. The CEO of the FreeChat company is a lawyer. He laid everything out in the terms of service and wrote it all in insane detail."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He even posted a notice saying that if any legal problems came up, the company would take full responsibility and handle everything. He put up his own face and his law license and wrote, 'This has been reviewed and is legally perfect, so don't worry and just ride.' If you open the app and register as a driver, you'll probably see it too."

"Oh..."

Sure enough, the trustworthiness of the title lawyer carried real weight. Nicholas asked, impressed, "So, is it worth it? How much have you made?"

"Not bad. I left it on while I was wandering around campus this week, just for something to do, and I've already got a little over forty dollars saved up."

Nicholas's jaw dropped.

"Forty dollars? Just for going to school and back?"

"Yeah. If I'm going that way anyway, why not take someone along and make money? It's not bad, right?"

"Come to think of it, how much did you get for driving us?"

"The money for taking you from there to the dorm just now was..."

He stopped at a red light, checked his Apple phone, and said, "4.8 dollars."

"4.8 dollars?"

"Yep. 4.8 dollars for four people. Honestly, whether it's one person or four, the price is the same."

In other words, if four of them split it, it came out to 1.2 dollars each.

Cheaper than the bus.

And right now, it was completely free.

"A taxi—no, a car—this late at night, and it's that cheap?"

If they'd taken a taxi, how much would it have cost?

They'd barely have been able to hail one in the first place, but if they had, it would've easily run at least twenty-five dollars.

No, with the late-night surcharge and the tip, it would've blown past thirty dollars without even trying.

Thinking about the gap in price, it really could only be described as sharing gas money, not a fare.

"If I drive people to Walmart or downtown with other students during the week, I make money. Then I give rides back from outside campus too. Forty bucks from that in one week feels pretty good."

"Since you're going that way anyway?"

"Exactly. If I had to go out of my way to pick people up, I wouldn't do it. Then it wouldn't even be about splitting gas costs."

Tom's voice was full of satisfaction with the service.

Then he gave a strange little smile and said, "But honestly, there's something even better than making money."

"Something better than money?"

Tom lowered his voice and glanced at the rearview mirror.

"You know Jake, right? The guy who always sits in the front row in class."

"Yeah. What about him?"

"He posted a long-distance ride last time he went to San Francisco. Basically, he was asking if anyone wanted to go with him, and by chance he got matched with an art-school girl who was heading to the same place."

"Oh... and?"

Nicholas leaned to the side.

The moment he heard the words girl student, his interest was piqued.

"They talked for three hours in the car on the way there, just the two of them, and apparently they hit it off. After they arrived, they spent the whole day together too, and in the end they decided to start dating."

The second those words left Tom's mouth—

"...What?!"

"Seriously?! In just one day?!"

The two friends who had been dozing in the back seat a moment ago snapped their eyes open.

The drowsiness from the alcohol vanished from their faces in an instant.

"No way, seriously? That idiot Jake was a virgin, wasn't he?!"

"That's what makes it so insane. That's why Ride Together dates are kind of catching on around campus now. They say there's just something about the vibe of a confined space like a car."

"Oh... then have you ever driven a girl student?"

"...I don't know why, but whenever a female passenger comes up, it's always a staff member. Last time I even got Professor McGill. From Target to campus."

"Professor McGill, huh... that's a little rough."

"Tell me about it..."

Dimitrov clenched his fist with a grim expression.

"I can't just stand by. I need to become a Ride Together driver too."

"You don't have a car."

"Then I'll go home and steal my dad's car. I saw somewhere that secretly taking your parents' car isn't theft, just 'unauthorized use.' Technically, it's not illegal."

"Where did you see that?"

"In a drama."

"Trying to bring drama into real life... that's an outrageous train of thought."

"No, think about it. Wouldn't doing carpool rides and spending gas money with you guys be way better for getting a girlfriend than drinking at a bar like today?"

That absurdly logical rebuttal left the others speechless.

— That's true.

— Can't argue with that.

— If I can throw away our friendship and get a girlfriend, I'd throw it away a hundred times.

In any case, one thing was certain. This app was going to blow up.

It solved both of the eternal problems faced by male college students: money and dating.

Before long, the car arrived in front of the dorm.

"Thanks, Tom. You really saved our lives."

"Yeah. Get inside. Oh, and!"

Tom stopped the friends as they got out and said seriously, "Give me five stars. Promise me."

"A rating? What's that?"

"Once you get out, you'll get a notification on FreeChat. It'll ask how the driver did today and tell you to rate me. I'm keeping a perfect 5.0 right now."

"Does a rating put food on the table?"

"Not exactly, but it still feels good to keep five stars. And if I drop below 3.0, I get permanently suspended. I won't be able to use the app again."

For some reason, Tom's eyes were dead serious.

He almost seemed to care about the app rating more than his grades.

"I told you before, right? The guy in charge of this company is a lawyer. The rules are strict as hell. Smoke in the car or act rude, and you're out immediately. So I'm going to give your ratings a good score too. Let's help each other out, got it?"

"Okay, I'll give you five stars."

Nicholas nodded.

Strict rules. But paradoxically, it was precisely those rules that made it possible to trust a stranger's car.

"I'm off. Take care!"

Whoosh.

As the car pulled away, a message really did come in through FreeChat.

Nicholas pressed five stars without hesitation.

As he did, he thought, This app... I feel like it's going to be huge.

He wanted to keep using it himself, after all.

Sunday evening, at Steve Jobs's house.

Jobs sat on the living room sofa, staring holes through his MacBook screen.

His face was twisted with the strain of a mathematician confronting an impossible problem.

"...No ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way."

The data displayed on the screen belonged to Ride Together's early metrics.

Because it was a closed service, the download numbers themselves weren't especially explosive.

But what horrified Jobs was user loyalty.

Eighty-five percent of the students who signed up were actually using the app, and ninety-two percent of those users kept coming back.

From Tuesday, when the app launched, through Friday afternoon, the traffic had been modest. But from Friday night until now, over the weekend, usage had been climbing in a vertical spike.

"And this kind of hippie app actually works...?"

Jobs rubbed his face.

It felt as if he could hear the crack in his beliefs, his philosophy.

People are selfish.

They hate sharing with others.

Human beings want to protect what is theirs, while also coveting everything they don't have.

That firm conviction was why Jobs had predicted the failure of that tacky, hippie-style service called Ride Together.

But the data said the exact opposite.

Students willingly rode in other people's cars, and willingly offered up their own.

"So I was... wrong?"

Jobs didn't want to admit it.

But he wasn't a fool.

His genius instinct had already finished calculating how this application would spread.

Ride Together targeted students at elite universities.

That would naturally make it famous among students at other universities too.

And when those students graduated and went out into the world?

It'll spread to the general public too. Maybe it'll become famous even sooner than that.

And once the service opened itself to ordinary people—

Then the taxi industry will rise up to defend its turf, but it'll already be too late. Once the public has had a taste of it, nobody will be able to stop it.

The taxi establishment would fight back hard.

They'd strike, too.

But a service embraced by the public couldn't simply be ignored by the politicians either.

And if taxis go on strike, Another Technology might actually benefit. People will use Ride Together even more.

Besides, hadn't Another Technology already set up legal defenses before it even began business?

Neither Washington nor the mayor of any city would have a way to shut this down.

Unless they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were willing to issue an absurdly overreaching administrative order, that was.

"Just what kind of person is the real head of Another Technology... Zero?"

There was no way anyone could be that meticulous unless they were from the future.

No, even if they were from the future, they couldn't be that meticulous.

I want him.

That man.

Jobs absentmindedly toyed with his Apple phone, his feelings tangled and complicated.

Then an alert lit up on the screen.

It was his attending physician.

Jobs frowned.

He'd been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but instead of modern medical surgery, he stubbornly insisted on alternative treatments like diet therapy and meditation.

I know my own body better than anyone. Better than doctors, even.

He trusted his instincts.

His instincts had always been right.

But then—

Jobs's gaze returned to the Ride Together data on the MacBook screen.

...I thought people didn't want other people's cars.

The more elite people were, the less they wanted to share their own things with others.

There was no one who would sell his own comfort for a few dollars, or even a few cents.

That certainty of his own instincts had been spectacularly wrong.

It had been wrong about Another Technology's new services and applications.

Come to think of it... when Another Technology launched those trivial FreeChat emoticons in Japan, weren't they making a huge amount of money too?

He'd laughed when Another Technology started selling the "emoticons" used in chat.

Who would pay money for something like that?

I thought those proud Japanese people would never use such a thing.

Even his own Apple phone had been selling terribly there.

But Another Technology had succeeded right in front of his eyes.

To his shock, Japanese customers wanted to use FreeChat's emoticons.

And thanks to that, Apple's Japanese sales had shot up as a side effect.

To be honest... Apple's success in Japan isn't my doing.

It was thanks to Another Technology.

And thanks to those icons that had looked utterly worthless.

Even when they said they were updating emoticons on FreeChat, I thought it was dumb, but it worked. I never expected Clear Cam to explode like that either. And now this Ride Together app is a success too.

All at once, a disturbing thought crept into Jobs's mind.

If my instincts about my illness are wrong too, the same way I was wrong about Another Technology...

A chill ran down his spine.

Swish, swish.

But he shook his head and pushed the thought away.

Health wasn't what mattered right now.

His body was healthy. Or rather, not exactly healthy, but it wasn't urgent yet.

Jobs's eyes sharpened again.

Another Technology... and the real head behind it, Zero.

He realized that this wasn't just someone with a talent for technology.

That bastard saw the world differently.

He might have a broader perspective than Jobs himself, perhaps even broader than Jobs could imagine.

"...I need to bring this guy in."

His perspective, the way he thought.

Jobs needed all of it.

What Apple needed right now was exactly that kind of madman.

A madman in a completely different sense from himself.

The problem is... I heard Another Technology recently made some kind of deal with Samsung too.

Exactly what deal Another Technology had made with Samsung wasn't known.

But one thing was certain: Samsung was already using Google's Android OS.

And someday, it would become a powerful rival to Apple.

What if, in the middle of that, Another Technology grew too close to Samsung?

Then, with Google joining in, a three-way alliance would be born.

A formidable three-way alliance Apple would have trouble facing.

We're not exactly on bad terms with Another Technology either, but let's be honest—Google could make Another Technology some insane offer too. Just like when they acquired YouTube for $1.6 billion in 2006.

Because he was paying attention to Another Technology, Google would naturally be watching too.

So before Google could make an acquisition offer, or before Samsung did, he had to move first.

"But I don't have that man's, Zero's, contact information."

Zero had his contact information, but Jobs didn't have Zero's.

The arrogant bastard had taken his number and still hadn't contacted him even once.

He did have the contact info for Vincent, the face of the company in public.

...This is irritating for no good reason.

Jobs muttered to himself.

"Then I'll just swallow up the whole company."

He tapped calculations out in his head.

It was only a startup just getting off the ground.

But its potential might be Facebook-level, or even greater.

And in the end, he would be buying the seed of a company that might threaten Apple's future.

In that case, the price would be...

"...Five hundred million dollars."

No, too little.

Given the voice and confidence he remembered from their earlier call, five hundred million dollars wouldn't even make Zero blink.

Jobs's eyes flashed.

He decided he would make Zero an offer impossible to refuse.

"One billion dollars."

A deal worth roughly 1.4 trillion won.

The offer of the century, one that would shake Silicon Valley in 2009, was being prepared.

---