booktalesy Chapter 243 Copying Homework
Chapter 243 Copying Homework
Chapter 243 Copying Homework
When the Nasdaq index surged like a rabbit that had just eaten a plate of blue-eyed hamsters, and the gains in the internet sector filled the headlines of financial news, the entire internet and financial industries were excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline.
As the leader of this market trend, Yahoo's meeting room was not filled with laughter and joy, but rather with a low-pressure atmosphere that could be marinated in spices.
CFO Jimmy's roar shook the air: "Fuck, are those guys at Google on performance-enhancing drugs? In just two days, they've come up with a complete solution and implemented it!"
Jimmy braced his hands on the conference table, his knuckles turning white from the force. The words "Unlimited Capacity" prominently displayed on the newspaper in front of him looked like a mocking grimaces to him.
"Our original plan was to capitalize on this hype surrounding email technology to steadily push Yahoo's market value to over five billion US dollars within three months. But now—"
He paused, looking at Yahoo's stock price curve on the projector. "I'm afraid this goal will be difficult to achieve."
Yahoo's stock price has risen too wildly, which is not a good thing for the company.
Yahoo was disappointed by the normal stock price growth, the gentle, slow rise, with a steady increase of one or two points each day, which reassured investors.
But this surge is like a runaway bull, trying to make up for the gains of the next two weeks in a single day.
But this is not a good thing at all. The more rapidly the stock price rises, the more likely it is to create a misconception in the market that the stock price is seriously overvalued.
It's obvious that this market rally was driven by Wall Street institutions jumping on the bandwagon.
But once retail investors start to hesitate, feeling that the stock price is too high and dare not buy, those institutions will definitely withdraw their funds and cash out immediately.
If the stock price falls, no one can guarantee how much of the previous gains will be left; it's not impossible that it will even fall below the original price.
Expecting Wall Street to have a change of heart and stop shorting? Only if Washington rises from the shadows.
A brief silence fell over the conference room, broken only by the soft hum of the air conditioning vents.
Just then, Yang Zhiyuan, who had been sitting silently in the main seat, suddenly spoke.
The founder of Yahoo did not show any reaction to the stock price fluctuations; instead, he wore an appreciative expression as he talked about Google's counterattack, saying, "I have to admit, Google's email strategy this time was indeed perfectly executed."
All eyes in the conference room were on Yang Zhiyuan, who continued, "The unlimited storage card was played brilliantly. What users care about most right now is not enough mailbox storage. They often have to delete old emails, which is a real hassle."
"Google directly introduced the concept of unlimited storage, which immediately caught the attention of all users. In comparison, our 50MB storage and Microsoft Hotmail's 30MB storage are like the difference between a small cup and a large reservoir when faced with unlimited storage. They are simply incomparable."
"But users don't see the tricks behind this unlimited capacity at all," the operations manager immediately chimed in, his tone tinged with resentment.
Because he devised Yahoo Mail's strategy, including waiting for Hotmail to make its official announcement first, and then Yahoo following suit to increase its popularity.
But now, this perfect solution has been destroyed by Google and its allies.
On the contrary, Gmail gained more attention by taking advantage of this wave of popularity.
"Users simply don't understand the time cost calculation behind the fact that you can only upgrade your storage capacity once every three months. Anyone in the internet industry knows that with the development of hardware technology, the cost of storage hardware is decreasing at an astonishing rate."
"Take the 20M capacity for example. If users want to exceed our current 50M email capacity, they will have to upgrade at least twice, which will take a full six months."
"Six months later, the cost of the same storage capacity will drop by at least 30%. Google is using the low cost six months from now to deal with current market competition, which is equivalent to using future money to fight a current battle."
Even his operations manager had to admit that this tactic was really clever.
"If they can do it this way, why can't we learn from them?" the product manager suddenly said. "I think we should follow suit immediately and launch our own unlimited storage email service. As long as we can retain users, the short-term increase in costs is nothing."
"Are you crazy?" Jimmy turned sharply to look at him, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Do you know how much financial pressure we're facing right now? If we increase investment in the email business any further, how bad will the financial statements look?"
"Strategic value is more important than short-term financial results," the product manager said firmly and resolutely.
"I really can't stand your approach of only focusing on financial statements and having no strategic vision whatsoever. When Google launched AdWordsGG, I advocated that we copy their model and quickly follow suit. But what did you do? You resolutely opposed it on the grounds of finance."
"And the result? Now the gap between Yahoo's Google revenue and Google's is widening. If this continues, we won't even be able to get a share of the Google market."
He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, almost publicly revealing the conflict between them: "If we can't keep up with Google's pace, then what was the point of making Yahoo Mail free in the first place? Was it just to watch users gradually leave us now? If we don't invest now, all the money we spent on the email business before will eventually go down the drain."
Jimmy curled his lip dismissively, arms crossed. "So what? Increase investment and launch unlimited storage email, and we can beat Gmail?"
Yahoo Mail currently has 483 million users, which is less than Google's, and even less than Microsoft's Hotmail.
"You can't calculate it that way," the product manager retorted. "User numbers are accumulated gradually. As long as we can maintain user growth, we can still be at this table. If, according to your theory, we shouldn't invest if we think it's pointless, then we might as well just cut the email service altogether. Why waste time discussing this here?"
The two argued back and forth, and the others in the meeting room began to whisper among themselves, making the scene quite chaotic.
However, this time, Jerry Yang was not indecisive as usual.
He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and the meeting room fell silent instantly. "Email service and Google service are different."
His voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority: "The GG business is built from scratch, requiring the establishment of a completely new GG system, which is high-risk and time-consuming. But the email business is different. We already have a mature technical framework and user base. We only need to increase investment and upgrade the storage servers to catch up."
This time, he firmly stated, "I've made up my mind. Yahoo Mail will also offer unlimited storage. We'll hold a press conference tomorrow. We must beat Microsoft to the punch and bring back some of the users' attention."
Almost at the same time that Yahoo made its decision, the atmosphere in the conference room at Microsoft headquarters was even more oppressive than at Yahoo.
Bill Gates sat in the head seat, his face so dark it seemed to drip water, clutching a Google email research report tightly in his hand. "Tell me," he muttered, "what's wrong with Ernst's brain?"
The meeting room was deathly silent; no one dared to speak.
After a long pause, someone whispered, "Actually—it might not have been Ernst's idea; it could have been a collaborative solution from a team within Google."
The moment he finished speaking, the air in the conference room froze.
The person sitting next to him quickly nudged him with their elbow, and someone even secretly glared at him. Wasn't this just bringing up a sore spot?
Sure enough, Bill Gates' anger flared up instantly. He slammed his fist on the table and shouted, "Are you saying that Microsoft is spending so much money on a bunch of useless people?"
"Why is it that Google employees can come up with such brilliant plans, while Microsoft employees can only follow in their footsteps?" Bill Gates' voice grew louder, his eyes filled with anger. "Are the people we spend huge sums of money to recruit from top universities like Harvard and Stanford all garbage?"
Everyone present kept their heads down, and no one dared to look Bill Gates in the eye.
Everyone knows that plagiarism is Bill Gates' biggest thorn in his side and a dark chapter in Microsoft's history.
Since its inception, Microsoft has been ridiculed for copying almost every product it has produced.
When I developed the homework system, I was accused of copying Apple.
When I developed office software, I was accused of imitating Lotus Software.
Even when they later developed a browser, they were accused of copying Netscape.
The outside world's opinions were like a poisonous thorn, deeply embedded in Bill Gates' heart.
"Microsoft will never have its own original products; this is Bill Gates's inherent spirit of plagiarism."
"Microsoft doesn't need to do any research and development; they have plenty of money, so they can just buy whatever product they want."
That's why Bill Gates has always treated Microsoft's gaming business like his own child.
Because in the gaming industry, it is one of the few businesses that Microsoft has been able to shed the label of plagiarism.
The conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone held their breath, afraid of becoming the next target of Bill Gates's wrath.
After a while, Bill Gates gradually calmed down. He took a deep breath, pointed at the marketing director, and said, "Our Hotmail email service must follow suit immediately and launch an unlimited capacity version. Ernst wants to wage a capacity war, doesn't he? Well, I'll show him just how terrifying Microsoft's financial resources are. He's still too green to compete with us in terms of consumption."
The marketing director nodded quickly, "Don't worry, I'll hold an emergency meeting today to adjust the product plan and ensure it's released as quickly as possible."
Bill Gates scoffed, his gaze returning to the newspaper article about Google, his eyes filled with resentment and determination.
He wants to use this email war to let everyone know that Microsoft is still Microsoft, and not someone that can be easily provoked.