A Capitalist's Considerations

Henry maintained his indifferent expression. "Anyway, my contract with you, the technology I provide, and the patents belong to me. I get a share of the profits from any jointly developed technology. You want to dump everything on me, why would I have a problem with that?"

Without a word, Tony Stark immediately turned to the others and ordered, "Recruit! Expand the department. Whatever this damn bastard wants, give him as much as possible."

Everyone says this genius is a capitalist first and a scientist second. Of course he knows where the profits are, and he wouldn't just hand them all over to someone else, especially not to some annoying guy.

If it weren't for a hidden purpose, Tony Stark would never have signed that employment contract, which was practically an unequal treaty.

However, looking at the i486 computer that hadn't yet produced a result, Tony Stark roughly calculated the time in his mind and couldn't help but wonder, "What If...?, as you say, we need to develop higher-resolution cameras in the future to use them in movies..."

"This means the recorded video files will be much larger, and post-production will take much longer. Judging by this, even the latest, top-of-the-line computers wouldn't be much more efficient."

Henry explained, "Technology needs to be stockpiled. Besides, you haven't forgotten Moore's Law, have you? Computer performance doubles every eighteen months. Who knows how far ahead computers will be by the time this whole system is developed?"

"What If...? we're talking about developing this system based on the standards of currently available commercially available personal computers, then we shouldn't even be thinking about it, because it simply wouldn't be able to run. But if we wait until computer performance is adequate, what future will we have?"

Suddenly, Tony realized something. "The thing you use at home, it's not one of those slow-than-a-tortoise gadgets, is it?"

Henry said, "Heh heh, that's true. But you have to think about it, this is ultimately going to be sold as a product, and this is Stark Studios. I can't possibly come up with a way to manufacture the computer parts that come with this system, can I?"

"I wouldn't even consider this unless Stark Industries didn't have a computer division today. As for the toys at home, they're just low-class gadgets."

Tony stroked his beard and said, "Computers are the future, and Stark Industries certainly can't give them up. I'm just scaling back the commercial personal computer business; we can still manufacture computer equipment for weapons systems."

"What If...? you were to use it, it would likely be a need similar to Pixar's image processing computer. Ignoring Moore's Law's Law, how can we simulate the performance of computers from a few years in the future using current computer components to aid in development?"

Henry said, "Use a multi-core system to split large files into smaller files, allowing each core to run a portion of the file simultaneously. Finally, integrate the processed smaller files together."

"By adding this functionality to the software, the more CPUs and memory capacity available, the faster the post-production processing of videos can be."

At this point, the engineer who had been listening asked in surprise, "Is it possible to do that?"

Henry replied, "This isn't film. A roll of film can only be cut and rejoined at a time. Even a slight miscut won't work. But a digitized video file is essentially just a bunch of 0s and 1s."

"Whether the program processes data in batches or all at once during runtime is irrelevant. The important thing is that no matter how it's broken down and distributed, the final product is a playable video format."

"A multi-core system, huh?" Tony said, stroking his beard as if showing off. "Most of the designs currently on the market are commercial motherboards with two CPUs."

"What If...?, as you say, more CPUs mean greater efficiency from multi-core processing, then how many are you planning to include? Four? Eight? Soldering more slots on the motherboard won't be a problem."

"However, the bridge chip also needs to be redesigned; otherwise, how can multiple CPUs work together? What If...? we're going to achieve that, we shouldn't even think about adding more memory slots; we should just package more memory chips."

"Anyway, it seems that many of these things are custom-made and cannot be directly used from commercially available products. But have you ever thought about how much it would cost to build one of these things, and whether it would be possible to sell it as a commodity?"

Henry replied, "What If...? it's just for developing systems, and we only use these things ourselves, including the manufacturing costs in the R&D expenses, then the external sales will primarily focus on software, with hardware as a secondary focus."

"Moreover, once this dedicated computer system is built, we can use it ourselves or rent it out. Isn't that how independent film crews or small film companies operate? They only rent editing studios when they need them."

"Is this feasible?" Although he had some understanding of how film companies operated, Tony Stark still looked at the other film studio executives and asked for their opinions.

"Equipment rental and sales are both handled by the head of the equipment department." Mr. Stark, What If...? we can indeed offer rental services...

"But this is tantamount to declaring war on the entire film industry that uses film. What If...? no one wants to use our new equipment, our investment will not pay off, and it will all be a waste."

"Hmm." Tony looked at Henry. "Let's do it."

Studio executives protested loudly, "Mr. Stark, this won't do!"

Tony retorted, "What If...? what you say is true, then we're still fighting with spears, without rifles, and certainly without airplanes and cannons."

"Once the product is released, the market will choose the most advantageous option. Unless we're defeated before that. But I'm also curious who dares to challenge Stark."

In order to inherit Stark Group, Obadiah Stane, at Tony's behest, restructured the Stark Group, streamlining it into a military-industrial complex.

In the process, Stark Group relinquished many businesses. Although some viewed it as an extremely successful corporate restructuring, rumors of a spendthrift still circulated among some.

Although he didn't intend to get involved in anything outside of the military industry, Henry's development of film technology was, in Tony's eyes, actually a development of computer technology.

He uses software and demands that his hardware also be compatible. Strictly speaking, this is still within the scope of his goals.

Moreover, internal integration has almost come to an end. Now, Stark Industries has not only established a new structure but also a new network of relationships. It's time to show its teeth and make its move.

You can't become the Lion King without defeating the other lions.

However, rashly competing with other companies in the defense industry would anger generals from other factions and also affect those who supported him. For Tony, this involved unnecessary risks.

But in other areas, the military would only be his backer. So in Tony's eyes, Henry's film technology was the perfect opportunity.

It can be said that this whole affair aligns with Tony Stark's grand strategy. Letting Stark Studios try things out, even if they break things, won't damage the core of Stark Industries.

Besides, Tony is probably worried that the Stark Studios CEO he appointed is practically invisible to some people. This guy has jumped in on his own initiative; how could Tony not Reason the flames?

I need a high-performance computer. That suits my interests perfectly, so I'll build it!