HLnovel Chapter 228 Google Tunes is Released
Chapter 228 Google Tunes is Released
Chapter 228 Google Tunes is Released
As Bezos lowered his arrogant head slightly, Henry Paulson's coffee cup froze in mid-air in Goldman Sachs' top-floor office.
This financial tycoon, who had seen it all before, now had disbelief written all over his face.
"Just for a former Amazon employee?" Paulson put down his coffee cup. This was even more outrageous than hearing that Wall Street donated all its profits to charity.
In his decades-long career, he had seen people fight tooth and nail over assets and struggle to the death for control of companies, but he had never seen a capitalist willingly invite such trouble for the sake of a worker.
"Ernst is a typical capitalist. Even the person directly involved hasn't said anything, why would he bother getting involved?"
The secretary stood in front of the desk, holding a stack of documents. Hearing her boss's question, she coughed lightly. "Sir, do you remember the Amazon IPO party?"
"A listing party?" Paulson frowned, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.
At the time, Amazon had just gone public on Nasdaq and was riding high. The party was full of celebrities, and Goldman Sachs, as an underwriter, was naturally present.
Paulson slammed his hand on the table. "I remember now! I even asked you to investigate that person's background back then."
The secretary nodded quickly, handed over the documents, and said with a hint of confusion, "Yes, it's him."
"The information shows that this person is named Cassio, a scientist, or more precisely, a scientist with considerable talent in the field of computer science. But I still don't understand why Ernst values him so much."
"Logically speaking, America has no shortage of talented scientists, so there's no need for Ernst to make such a fuss."
"Go on," Paulson said, gesturing for his secretary to continue while flipping through the documents.
"We found that Ernst established a laboratory in Menlo Park called the Helios Laboratory, and this Cassio is the head of the laboratory."
"More importantly, John McCarthy, a titan in the computer industry, is now a senior advisor in this lab, and McCarthy was also Cassio's mentor."
"Why didn't you report something so important sooner?" Paulson's tone instantly turned somber, his eyes almost overflowing with displeasure.
He pointed to the name of the Sun God Laboratory on the document, his voice tinged with suppressed anger, "Didn't I tell you that you should tell me immediately about any developments related to Ernst?"
The secretary lowered her head slightly in fright, a bead of cold sweat appearing on her forehead. She quickly explained, "As you know, in America, it's perfectly normal for companies to set up laboratories, so I..."
American companies, from giants like Microsoft and IBM to small businesses with a dozen or so employees, whether famous or unknown, all have their own laboratories.
"So you didn't take it to heart and didn't report it in time?" Paulson interrupted his secretary, his tone full of disappointment.
He certainly knew that it was common for companies to set up laboratories, but that was for others. For someone like Ernst who never did anything futile, every move he made might have a grand strategy hidden behind it.
"He specifically poached Cassio from Amazon this time, and even went against Bezos for Cassio's sake. How can things be that simple?"
Paulson became increasingly convinced that things were not so simple as he spoke. He picked up the documents again and carefully examined every detail about Cassio and the Apollo Laboratory.
Although the information was brief, it was unusual in every word. He was certain that Ernst was up to something big, but he didn't know what it was yet.
"I don't want this to happen again. You must keep a close eye on this Sun God Laboratory. If there are any new developments, tell me immediately, understand?"
"Understood, I will definitely not make the same mistake again," the secretary quickly replied.
Paulson waved his hand, dismissing his secretary, and leaned back in his office chair, a shrewd glint in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Ernst, far away in Mountain View, was unaware that he had become Paulson's target. He was currently sitting in a Google conference room, receiving a thank-you call from Cassio.
"Ernst, thank you so much. Amazon has contacted me and said they're willing to return my previous 6437 Amazon shares." On the other end of the phone, Cassio's voice was largely unwavering, just as he said, he didn't care about those shares.
However, Amazon's stock price has now plummeted, falling below $20, and his shares are now worth less than $13.
Ernst gently twirled his pen and asked calmly, "My advice is to cash out once the stock price rebounds slightly to a higher level."
He will definitely get involved in the field of e-commerce, but now is not the best time, though it will be soon.
Now that he has a direct confrontation with Bezos, he is absolutely not going to let the other party catch his breath.
"Okay, I'll do as you say." Cassio agreed without hesitation, his tone full of trust.
"Actually, I don't care about this amount of money. If I cared about money, I wouldn't have left Amazon in the first place."
Ernst knew that, according to his contract with Amazon, if Cassio stayed with Amazon, he could receive another 5,000 shares within a year, and thereafter he would receive stock awards based on his performance each year.
Cassio's dedication to scientific research is what he values most.
The two chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up. After putting down his phone, Ernst glanced around at the people around him and cleared his throat. "Alright, let's continue our conversation. Where were we in the valley?"
His main purpose in visiting Google this time was to inspect the development progress of Google Tunes.
This software is a key part of Google's strategy in the music industry and will change the landscape of the entire music industry.
The software is mostly finished. Now the work is to patch things up, add and improve some functions, and find bugs.
Wallace Enzo, who was in charge of technology development, walked to the screen and pointed to the interface, explaining, "We just talked about Google Tunes' burning function. As you can see, compared to those complicated CD burning software programs on the market, our software is simple enough."
As Enzo spoke, he demonstrated on the computer, "It not only supports burning multiple audio formats to music CDs, but we have also made great improvements to the audio editing function."
"Users only need to open the editing function, select the song they want to edit, and they can easily adjust the volume, cut audio clips, and even add some simple sound effects, such as reverb and echo."
At this point, Enzo clicked the burn button, and a progress bar immediately appeared on the screen.
"As for the burning process, it's even simpler. Users just need to select the songs they want to burn, click the burn button, and then they can go make a cup of coffee, read the newspaper, and wait for their personalized music CD to be ready."
Enzo paused, his eyes filled with pride. "In addition, we will continue to develop new features, such as burning functions for files, pictures, and videos, striving to make Google Tunes an all-around burning software."
Ernst walked up to the computer and tried it out himself.
From audio editing to CD burning, the entire process is smooth and natural, without any lag. It is indeed much better than similar software on the market.
Moreover, the page is simple and clear, continuing Google's consistent style.
He nodded in satisfaction, acknowledging Enzo's work as "well done."
Turning around, he noticed the man standing next to Enzo's lips moving slightly, as if he wanted to say something. He smiled and asked, "..."
Paul, you seem to have something to say?
Paul glanced at Ernst but didn't rush to speak.
Ernst noticed his concerns and waved his hand. "You're the CEO of Google Tunes. Feel free to share your thoughts; don't worry about my opinion. In our work, there's no superior-subordinate relationship between us, only different ideas and suggestions."
He was the new CEO that Laszlo specifically recruited for Google Tunes. He had worked at HP for many years and was a well-known young and capable leader in the industry, decisive and with his own ideas.
Former CEO Wallace Enzo has moved to become the chief technology officer of Google Tunes, where he is responsible for his area of expertise.
Seeing Ernst's open-mindedness, Paul no longer hesitated and directly expressed his thoughts: "I think we can release Valley Tunes now, instead of continuing to wait."
"Release it now?" Ernst frowned, somewhat puzzled.
In his plan, the core strategic value of Google Tunes is a network music service centered around the MP3 music format, and there are two key prerequisites for achieving this goal.
The first issue is the music copyright problem with MGM, and the second is the launch of a matching MP3 player.
But MGM's music copyright is still under negotiation, and there's not even a trace of an MP3 player yet. What's the value of releasing Google Tunes at this time?
However, Ernst did not immediately dismiss Paul's idea, and as the CEO of Google Tunes, he should have his own basis for judging the market.
So Ernst patiently said, "Tell me your thoughts, why do you think now is a good time to release it?"
Paul indicated that this was not the place to talk and led everyone to the rest area next door.
After sitting down, Paul took a sip of coffee and cleared his throat. "I know your plans revolve around the MP3 music format, but have you considered that even if you develop an MP3 player now, the compatibility issues between Google Tunes and the player won't be resolved overnight?"
"Software and hardware compatibility requires extensive testing; it's not something you can just use out of the box."
Ernst nodded, signaling him to continue.
"More importantly, Google Tunes now needs a lot of test data to optimize performance, but we have limited manpower. Even if we work overtime to test, it is impossible to cover all use cases. The vast number of users are the best testers."
Paul's eyes gleamed. "We can release the CD editor on Google Tunes as a standalone product first. There are three advantages to doing so."
"Firstly, it allows us to test the stability and usability of the CD editor. Secondly, it enables us to optimize Google Tunes based on user feedback."
The overall performance. Thirdly, and most importantly, it cultivates user habits in advance, letting everyone know about Google Tunes, laying the foundation for the subsequent launch of MP3 music services.
As Paul explained, Ernst's brow gradually relaxed.
He had to admit that Paul's idea did make sense.
He had always compared Google Tunes to the iTunes he remembered, subconsciously believing that the core function of Google Tunes was MP3 music playback, but he ignored the current market environment.
MP3 music is still a novelty, and most users still listen to music via CDs. CD editors are the most mainstream and practical products on the market.
"You're right, I did have some preconceived notions before." Ernst smiled. "I kept thinking about associating it with MP3, but I forgot that the mainstream market is still CD. If MP3 wants to compete with CD for market share, it's better to start with the CD editor market, grab users first, and then slowly guide them to MP3."
Having figured this out, Ernst immediately took out his phone and searched for a number in his contacts.
I pressed the dial button, but the phone rang for a long time without anyone answering.
He frowned and dialed again. This time, the phone rang several times before someone finally answered, but the first words that came through almost made Ernst burst into a tirade.
"It hurts, be gentle—" came a charming female voice from the other end of the phone, with a hint of panting, sounding particularly ambiguous.
For a moment, Ernst thought he had dialed the wrong number, but he quickly dismissed the thought; how could a number in his contacts be wrong?
Then, his face darkened.