Chapter 37: Li Kui Meets Li Gui

Bonas walked into the exhibition hall. It was crowded with people, both Chinese and foreigners like Bonas. He even saw a few familiar faces from the industry, including people from IBM, Lotus, and Sun Microsystems.

Bonas was the domestic supervisor of the hardware department established by Microsoft in 1982. Compared to the software department, Microsoft's hardware department hadn't been so bright over the years, but this was a field that Microsoft had always wanted to enter since it went public.

For those peers in the software industry who came here, they were obviously also wanting to enter the mainland market. Bonas didn't care. That was something the software department needed to care about, and it had nothing to do with him.

Although they belonged to the same company, there were factions within Microsoft, including the factions of Microsoft's two founders, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, as well as the struggle between the software department and the hardware department, etc. The hardware department was beaten by the software department at Microsoft, so Bonas had no interest in caring about the software side.

As soon as he entered the exhibition hall, Bonas went straight to the booth locations of computer companies like IBM, HP, Apple, Dai Er, Xerox, and Toshiba.

Arriving at the booths of these companies, Bonas took out his camera and took pictures. Microsoft wouldn't enter the whole computer project, but computer screens, mice, keyboards, data cables, and even computer motherboards, chips, etc., were all things Microsoft was interested in.

The reason why Microsoft didn't launch a computer brand, and it wasn't that Microsoft didn't want to, nor was it that it didn't have the money, but it was wary of the relationship with numerous computer brand companies. Once Microsoft launched a computer, it would become a mortal enemy with IBM, HP, Apple, Dai Er, etc. If these computers refused to cooperate with Microsoft and refused to carry the Microsoft system, that would be a disaster for Microsoft!

Now Microsoft was already dominating the computer system industry, but there were still a crowd of opponents like Lotus, IBM, Sun, Apple, etc., making Microsoft dare not break with the entire computer hardware industry.

It didn't dare to launch a whole computer, but boiling a frog in warm water was still possible. Microsoft occasionally launched some computer accessories, under the guise of allowing users to better experience the Microsoft system.

This trick of boiling a frog in warm water, although it disgusted a crowd of computer brands, also made them unable to stop Microsoft from researching these computer accessories.

Microsoft was just taking it step by step. When it made computer accessories, and even computer motherboards, chips, etc., launching a computer would just be a matter of one sentence.

Bonas went to every computer brand booth and took pictures, recording all the latest products launched by these companies.

However, after visiting a few booths, Bonas became uninterested, because these computer companies almost all took out old models of computers to exhibit this time, and there were even old antiques from three or four years ago.

Although these computer models placed here were still not much worse in performance than domestic computer brands, and might even be sold more expensively due to brand reasons, this obvious inventory clearing behavior made Bonas feel a bit bored. He came here to see new products, not to observe old antiques.

After finishing with the computer brands, Bona Si went on to visit the booths of computer peripheral accessory companies, including Logitech, Cherry, Filco, and the Japanese company ALPS. These computer accessory companies were Microsoft's main competitors at the moment, and they were all "persimmons" that Microsoft could easily squeeze!

However, what disappointed Bonas was that, like computer brands, these computer peripheral manufacturers also took China as a product dumping ground and took out previous products for exhibition. They didn't bring new products at all.

Turning around the computer exhibition hall for more than half a circle, the hall was very lively, and there were even orders concluded on the spot. They were all domestic computer dealers who wanted to introduce those foreign computer brands, but Bonas had no interest in watching anymore.

Putting away his camera, just as he was about to leave, Bonas's footsteps paused when he passed by a booth. He saw that it was a mouse booth, and a few people were surrounding the booth. However, he had never seen this brand before. On it, it was written in Chinese and English: "Mechanical Silver Mink Mouse." The brand owner behind it was Hanxi Dongling High-Tech Company.

Bonas hesitated for a moment, but still walked to the booth. Although he didn't hold any hope for what kind of product a domestic computer peripheral manufacturer in the mainland could develop, he had already come, so taking a look wouldn't take much time.

In a few days, Bonas needed to return to Microsoft headquarters in America to report on the domestic computer hardware situation, including what products those overseas computer giants launched in China, and by the way, report on the current level of domestic computer accessory companies. Knowing it now was not a bad thing.

Bonas walked to the Silver Mink keyboard booth, just took a casual look, and then suddenly widened his eyes, his gaze staring fixedly at the mouse provided for people to experience on the computer desk.

Looking at the mechanical Silver Mink mouse, Bonas's breathing was a bit heavy. He felt that the mechanical Silver Mink mouse was somewhat similar to the ergonomic mouse Microsoft was developing, but the details were completely different.

"Can I experience it?!"

Gao Peng at the booth heard a awkward accent, and then looked up and saw Bonas. Gao Peng's heart was overjoyed, thinking he had run into some foreign computer company.

"Of course, no problem!"

Gao Peng said, and then said to a college student majoring in English who was hired from the university town, "You explain the Silver Mink mouse to him!"

Today at the computer exhibition, Gao Peng also promoted the mechanical Silver Mink mouse to quite a few computer manufacturers, but the effect was not good. The persons in charge of those computer giant manufacturers at the exhibition, hearing that the mechanical Silver Mink mouse was developed by a domestic company, didn't even want to take a look.

And the few computer manufacturers participating in the exhibition in China were also hesitant about whether to use Silver Mink. They had experienced it, and the Silver Mink mouse was indeed more comfortable than those square mice, and the operation effect was also significantly better. But whether users would accept Silver Mink was the thing domestic computer manufacturers worried about most.

There were a few computer accessory retailers from all over the country who were willing to purchase a batch of Silver Mink to test the water. After all, Silver Mink was much cheaper than those foreign mice that cost 80 or 90 dollars each. The price of Silver Mink in China was 150 yuan, equivalent to 20 dollars each. Just this was already much cheaper than foreign goods!

Selling computers in this day and age was a huge profit. Assembling a computer could earn thousands of yuan, not to mention components. Some computer brands' accessories claimed that accessories had to be transported from abroad, and the price was even more ridiculously expensive. The 150 yuan pricing of Silver Mink could be called a domestic conscience!

Bonas experienced the Silver Mink mouse, and the more he used it, the more shocked he became. He felt that the mechanical Silver Mink mouse was completely beyond the mouse Microsoft was developing in terms of technology and operation feel.

"Was this mouse independently developed by your company?!"

Bonas revealed his identity as a Microsoft employee and probed Gao Peng.

Afterward, he probed Gao Peng about Dongling High-Tech's news. Hearing that Dongling High-Tech was just a startup company, the headquarters was still in Pingyang City, which he had never heard of, and there was no partner overseas, Bonas breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Then looking at that Silver Mink mouse, a flash of greed flashed in his eyes. "Mr. Gao, can I take a few photos? I am very interested in this product, but I need to go back and discuss it with the headquarters. If the headquarters agrees, we can cooperate with Dongling High-Tech on this product!"

Gao Peng already knew what kind of existence Microsoft was from those two hired college students. Regarding Bonas's words, he naturally wouldn't have any suspicion. People who hadn't been set up wouldn't think of how many tricks there were in this world.

Bonas took many photos of Silver Mink and asked about some data. Only then did he leave, looking back three times at every step. After leaving the exhibition hall, Bonas went straight to the airport and bought a plane ticket to America that day.

Gao Peng also excitedly called Li Dongling. "Brother Li, Microsoft wants to cooperate with us. Today, someone from Microsoft experienced our product and even

Upon hearing the news relayed back by Gao Peng, Li Dongling was stunned for a moment, but he did not feel suspicious. Although he felt that given Microsoft's scale, they might not necessarily look down upon the current Dongling Gao Ke—the gap between the two was not much smaller than that between an ant and an elephant—if they could truly cooperate with Microsoft, even if the Silver Mink mouse didn't make money, working for Microsoft to produce mice and slapping on the Microsoft label would still be considered a gain for Dongling Gao Ke. Li Dongling was even willing to accept that!

If they could really latch onto Microsoft's thigh, even if it meant being a lackey, with Microsoft's name behind them, would they still have to worry about the Silver Mink mouse not selling?!

"Manager Spencer, I have found the future of the Microsoft mouse. We must launch it, immediately, right now!"

Bona Si, who had rushed back to Seattle, hurriedly found Spencer, the manager of Microsoft's hardware department.

"What?!"

Hearing what Bona Si said, Spencer smiled. Finding the future of the mouse industry in a place that didn't even have many computer users—Spencer felt Bona Si was joking.

But when he saw those photos, Spencer could no longer laugh. He then picked up the phone on his desk, "Lab, I want this mouse to appear on behalf of Microsoft at the computer expo trade show in Las Vegas next week. No matter what method you use, spare no expense!"

Hearing Spencer's words, Bona Si breathed a sigh of relief. He then remembered and asked Spencer, "What about the patent issue? This mouse was newly developed by that company in Hanxi..."

"Bona Si, in this world, sometimes it's not the case that whoever comes up with something first will own it forever."

Spencer laughed, "We are Microsoft. Trust me, Bona Si, this mouse will be much more useful in Microsoft's hands than in that company's hands. We are guiding the world's technological trends and contributing to human civilization!"

Listening to Spencer's words, Bona Si was somewhat hesitant to speak. It was obvious that Spencer had no intention of paying attention to the Silver Mink mouse or Dongling Gao Ke. Even if Microsoft "borrowed" from the Silver Mink mouse, so what? Over the years, Microsoft hadn't done little "borrowing" from other companies, from operating systems to office software.

Even Xerox and Apple couldn't do anything to Microsoft; would they be afraid of an unknown company from Asia?

It was like an elephant—would it be afraid of an ant blocking its path? And Microsoft was that elephant. Spencer believed that anyone who dared to block its path would be trampled to death by the elephant!

Inside the office of the New Tech Express, Lin Shiman was browsing the news sent over from America. Ever since the Computer News became a hit, a whole bunch of tech newspapers and magazines following the trend had appeared domestically. The New Tech Express was a leader among them because they could often report the latest news from the American tech industry, leading many people domestically to subscribe to it to track world tech trends.

The New Tech Express, of course, didn't have the money to station reporters in America. They mainly hired international students there to pick out reports from the local media and transmit them to the New Tech Express via email, fax, or phone, and then reprint the reports. With this trick, the New Tech Express really did often get first-hand news from the American tech industry.

This day, when Lin Shiman was looking at the news sent from overseas and browsed to Microsoft releasing a new generation of ergonomic mice in Las Vegas, she recorded this news, preparing to use it as a news report for the next issue of the New Tech Express. Lin Shiman saw that Microsoft mouse and suddenly felt it looked familiar.

She then hurriedly flipped through a large stack of newspapers at hand, and subsequently found an advertisement for the Mechanical Silver Mink mouse in one of them. It was a piece of puffery soft-copy advertising written by a newspaper for this mouse.

After comparing the Microsoft mouse with the Silver Mink mouse, Lin Shiman felt like she had discovered a new continent and rushed into the editor-in-chief's office, "Editor-in-chief, big news!"

"Technological innovation should not be plagiarism; being inferior in skill should not be a reason for theft. Silver Mink mouse plagiarizes Microsoft's latest product!"

The latest issue of the New Tech Express used a heavy headline to directly name the Silver Mink mouse plagiarism scandal, dropping a bombshell on the domestic tech industry.