Not long ago, after completing the development of NovaEngine for 3D-Systems compatibility, Carmack was sent by Lin Lixin to assist in another of his businesses.
Redwood City, California.
NeXT.
"Lin, you've arrived."
Jobs didn't exchange any pleasantries, but his tone subtly revealed his barely suppressed excitement.
This genius, "exiled" by Apple, is still looking for an opportunity to prove himself.
He could sense that this momentous historical opportunity was drawing ever closer.
How are you feeling?
On the Table next to him sat a large black box.
A square box made of die-cast magnesium alloy with a matte black finish.
The outer shell is not plain and simple, but rather has several grooves designed to create a wonderful balance in terms of front, middle and back.
The design is simple yet sophisticated, much like GAMENOVA.
An interface for inserting storage media is clearly visible on the front of the device.
This is not a floppy disk drive, but a CD/DVD drive.
"A genuine magnetic optical disc drive," the world's first commercially available magnetic optical disc storage device.
A thick cable was wrapped around the machine and connected to the black CRT television next to it, which was also clearly a custom-made model.
The other cable connects to a keyboard and mouse set.
The mouse used is naturally the GAMENOVA NMD ergonomic mouse, a collaboration between GAMENOVA and Logitech.
Without a doubt, this is a PC.
To be precise, in terms of its positioning in this era, this is a workstation.
Jobs didn't waste any words explaining anything; he believed that Lin Lixin, with his keen eye, understood everything the moment he saw it.
And that is indeed the case.
"NeXTComputer? A beautiful masterpiece."
Lin Lixin smiled and quickly walked a few steps to the table, carefully examining this machine that had only appeared briefly in history.
It was this machine, and its successors, that caused a setback in Jobs Legend career.
But this doesn't mean the NeXT-Computer isn't a good machine.
On the contrary, its configuration is extremely extravagant by today's standards.
Lin Lixin picked up the configuration list placed on the table, his expression of surprise deepening.
" Motorola 68030? That's outrageous!"
Although this processor seems to be from the same product line as their commonly used M68000, even the slowest version of this thing has a frequency of 16MHz.
The MC68030RP25 that Jobs chose even reached a high 25MHz.
This level of quality is definitely something you'd only find in ultra-high-end models.
However, his ambitions seem to extend far beyond that.
In addition to this formidable CPU, Jobs also specially packed a Motorola 68882 math processor with a frequency of 20MHz into the NeXT-Computer.
In addition, this thing contains a 16-bit audio chip that GAMENOVA co-developed with Motorola, which can easily achieve CD-quality audio output.
With support for up to 16MB of memory and Ethernet compatibility, the 1120 is powered by a custom Nova Radeon graphics chip.
832 Ultra High Definition Monitor----
This is simply a world-destroying device with performance that could crush the world.
It's no exaggeration to say that it's terrifyingly powerful.
Because of Lin Lixin's influence, its configuration is even stronger than in the past.
but----
This is precisely why the NeXT workstation failed.
Lin Lixin silently put down the astonishing configuration list, looked at the machine in front of him, and said, "How much do you plan to sell it for? It's already more than a year behind schedule."
"Late?"
Jobs raised an eyebrow, his voice rising a notch, his tone brimming with pride, "This PC is five years ahead of its time!"
With this kind of configuration, even a few years from now, it will still be unbeatable.
He has that kind of confidence.
"As for the price—I think it will be at least $6,500."
Jobs ' tone unusually hesitant and uncertain.
Based on the current situation, this number will likely surge even higher once it is officially launched and available for sale.
Lin Lixin frowned slightly.
It's unrealistic to try to persuade him to change his mind.
Especially a genius like Jobs, who was obsessive and had an extreme need for control.
Some things he can only accept after he actually sees them.
"So how many units do you plan to sell? In the first month, or in the first year?"
"----At least ten thousand units will be sold! No, twenty thousand!"
"A PC that costs six or seven thousand dollars?"
Lin Lixin shook his head. "Then you'll have to convince 20,000 people to spend $7,000 to buy a PC for sending emails."
Jobs did not answer immediately, but his excitement gradually cooled down.
He could tell from Lin Lixin's meaning that he was clearly not optimistic about sales.
He looked at Lin Lixin without saying a word.
Because Jobs could tell that Lin Lixin hadn't finished speaking.
Sure enough, after a brief pause, Lin Lixin continued, " Hollywood paid a high price for Jim. Jim's SGI graphics station so that it could use the most advanced graphics chips to render CGI;"
"Financial securities firms are willing to spend more than the price of their buildings to purchase IBM mainframes because of their truly superior performance;"
"Ordinary people buy Commodore 64, an Apple I, or a Macintosh because they are cheap enough."
So, what is NeXT-Computer's core competitiveness?
Lin Lixin looked at Jobs and asked the most crucial question.
Why?
Why spend almost ten thousand dollars on this instead of another PC?
Jobs opened his mouth, and after a long pause, he finally gave his answer.
We have the world's best visual graphics management system----
"So I have to spend thousands more dollars? Why don't I just buy Apple Macintosh? It only costs $2,000."
Dollar."
Lin Lixin shook his head.
The graphical operating system was not NeXT's invention.
Apple has been working on this for a long time.
Microsoft, which is rapidly expanding into a giant, has also released their Windows 2.0.
For just $100, it can run on any Microsoft MS-DOS disk system.
This means that, in fact, any IBM PC and its compatible mainstream PCs can enjoy the best graphics system available today for just $100.
Desktop icon layout, shortcut keys, Word, Excel----
It has everything you need, and all of this only takes 24.2MB.
Even with NeXT's "DisplayPostScript," developed in collaboration with Adobe, which offers true native object-oriented support, it still lacks any competitive edge in the market.
"So, you don't approve of it?"
The disappointment in Jobs's tone was palpable.
For him, Lin was a kindred spirit he recognized.
He had expected to receive a different answer.
At the very least, they shouldn't be so opposed.
This opposition is especially true because it is based on the premise that Lin Lixin fully understands everything he has done and fully understands just how great NeXTSTEP is.
This only intensified his sense of frustration.
"No, no, no, what I mean is—we need to make it more—necessary, create some demand."
When Gamenova was in such a frantic state, they sent Carmack here precisely to solve these problems, didn't they?
"Of course, this is a problem that Gamenova might not be able to solve."
95
No matter how amazing Gamenova is, it's impossible for people to willingly spend thousands of dollars to buy a machine just to play games.
That was purely for laughs.
With that kind of money, you could set up several arcade machines at home.
"But... nexus might be able to solve this problem."