Global monopoly of technology

Shouldn't it, Lu Siming and others have become more confused. Luo Sheng is now dissecting Sony's history of failure, or summarizing the lessons of the losers.

This is what Sony has proven to be a road of failure with the price of bruises all over the body, but still jumping down?

Luo Sheng did not immediately respond to the doubts in everyone's hearts. At this time, he was holding a physical chip removed from a PS3 console, which is the Cell chip.

He stared at the chip and said:

"After a long trial and error of R&D, engineers from Sony, Toshiba, and IBM finally came up with a technical architecture of the genius level. Don’t get me wrong. This is a derogatory meaning. Just what I have in my hands: a simplified version of the PowerPC main processing unit with attached Level 2 cache; plus eight traditional PowerPC co-processing units, without cache; the main processing unit and co-processing unit each have different memory."

Bai Lang murmured: "I don't understand, this is too complicated..."

Luo Sheng glanced at him: "Yes. Why is it so complicated? Sony's idea is: The main processing unit is only responsible for general operations, and all floating-point operations related to graphics processing are still co-processing units. If you don't understand, then By the way, because no one can understand it. At the critical moment, this seemingly dangling architecture has never been realized? So it created the biggest joke in the history of the world's chip."

As he said, Luo Sheng shook his head and spread his hands.

In 2004, this year was the year when Luo Sheng and Bluestar Technology officially became famous in the world and rose rapidly. The Bluestar Technology he created was launched one after another in this year. He was hailed as the "Son of the Internet" by "Silicon Valley" magazine in 1999.

For a time, the scenery is the same.

In the same year, Sony was in a bad mood, even anxious.

Because they found that the performance of the Cell chip did not meet expectations at all. To be precise, the floating-point computing power did not meet expectations. The "simulated earth" that had been preached before became an international joke and was laughed off by the media.

What if it meets expectations?The developer does not know how to operate the eight co-processing units, which will inevitably lead to the moving picture quality of the game.

Sony is in a hurry, what should I do?

More than 4 billion U.S. dollars has been invested in the water, so I can't say throw it away.

Even the "prodigal" Luo Sheng also weighed in, so Sony had to continue to invest money again and asked Nvidia to customize a GPU, which barely gave the PS3 host a decent floating-point computing performance.

Also in the past 2004, Sony and IBM also found Jobs to sell the Cell processor to Apple.

Because considering that Apple computers have always used PowerPC processors before, switching to Cell chips based on PowerPC processors at this time is not a matter of course and a matter of course?

Both Sony and IBM felt that there was nothing wrong with pacing Jobs.

However, in the end it was the leader of Qiao's gang, he could see through the fatal shortcomings of the Cell architecture at a glance.

Even if Sony even coaxed and deceived other core technologies, Joe's gang won't take the bait.

Just kidding, at this time, Joe’s gang has no time. He is colluding with the head of his old friend Motorola to make a smart phone. Although the result is a product that is also laughed out of by the media, Joe’s gang is There is also a plan B iPhone project.

It's just that the world is too chaotic. It's not just Joe and Sony who are holding big moves. Luo Sheng, who is on the other side of the ocean, is also intensively promoting the [Azure] plan, which eventually led to the death of the iPhone.

During this period, Joe's gang was not only indifferent to Sony's temptation, but in the last backhand operation, he switched to the arms of his old enemy Intel and adopted x86 processors.

This can make Sony and IBM mad, and plastic friends are in succession.

At this time, IBM already had the idea of ​​not wanting to play with Sony. The rhythm is so bloody, Sony's bad luck is about to spread to IBM.

That year, Sony dug the hole itself, and filled it with tears.

So crazy to sell Cell to many smart home appliances, even Sony sent people to sell on the blue coast.

You must know that Luo Sheng's Azure smartphone has not yet been born, and the arrogant little book simply looks down on China's ICT business, but still sends people to sell it, showing how helpless.

How can Sony at this time have the qualifications to be picky eaters?

However, the reality is very cruel. No matter how Sony promotes their products, most people prefer the low-power ARM. Of course, the Blue Coast under the leadership of Luo Sheng will not take the bait.

In the end, it was messed up. Except for Sony, Toshiba and IMB's own hardware, the Cell processor was only used by a very small number of third-party video decompression cards that belonged to two or three cats and dogs. It was a miserable batch.

But in any case, Cell’s home base is the game console. Sony still doesn’t want to admit defeat. As long as the PS3 wins the next-generation console war, Cell’s future will be bright.

However, the ideal is very satisfying, and the reality is very skinny.

The yield rate of the Cell processor has not yet risen at this time, which directly caused the PS3 to be launched a full year later than its competitors.

What's more funny is that the competitor Xbox360 actually bought PowerPC chips from IBM, but cleverly avoided the complex Cell architecture, thus achieving a higher cost performance and faster production process.

IBM's betrayal made Sony very angry, but helpless.

From competitors to third parties, in fact, everyone knows the problem with Cell, but everyone does not say that only Sony has been taken advantage of.

When the PS3 came out after a lot of calls, its price directly stunned everyone.

The base version is 499 US dollars and the high-end version is 599 US dollars, almost twice the price of competitors.

Moreover, even if it is so expensive, Sony will lose about $300 for every one sold.

The culprit for such a miserable loss is the Cell chip. Overspending in research and development and insufficient demand have led to undiluted costs. It is still a semi-finished product and cannot be produced without relying on the old Huang's NVIDIA to fight the fire.

And Sony is also a white-eyed wolf. You can't blame IBM for selling him backhand, because Sony, in order to shirk its responsibility, made a lot of public opinion, saying that it was miserable by Huang's Nvidia.

Old Huang has a sentence in his heart that MMP must say.

This kind of Sony is a miracle if it doesn't go bankrupt, and it's a strange wolf.

PS3 went public in 2006 and was still losing money in 2008, with a cumulative loss of more than $3 billion.

...

At this moment, Lu Siming and others in the hall were filled with emotion and were shocked.

Because no one had ever told them about these things before, Luo Sheng was so dear about it, as if he had experienced it on the spot, and now he is taking everyone to review the situation at that time.

Luo Sheng said: "One thing, IBM is very authentic. It was in the end that it could not bear it that it sold Sony. Before, it was considered as trying its best to get Cell up. Until last year, IBM was still trying to rescue the Cell chip. It was really helpless. Can’t save. Cell was disbanded to the R&D team and the product line was re-integrated into IBM’s mainstream chip product line."

"Huh... As for what Sony and Toshiba have learned? Forget it, it's about to go bankrupt. I still say this. Living is the first priority. In the choice of'death in self-control and control' and'death by recklessness' and'survival by resignation', choose the former It is a hero. Everyone knows that generally only the dead will be named as heroes. Now Sony and Toshiba are still lingering, so they have chosen to make everything possible."

When everyone heard the boss say this, they couldn't help laughing for a while. The hero is the one who died. This is really simple and concise.

Lu Siming asked impatiently: "Boss, what happened then? Did Sony take revenge afterwards? Oh, there is no more after, just now, then now Sony..."

Luo Sheng interrupted him: "Vengeance? Whom are you looking for?"

Lu Siming said without hesitation: "Of course I am looking for Intel, Microsoft, IBM..."

Luo Sheng, who was drinking water, was almost choked and glanced at Lu Siming: "Why should you seek revenge from them?"

Li Chunsheng said: "Because Intel has robbed the Cell market, Microsoft has caused Sony's PS3 to lose money so far. IBM has not worked hard and is still carrying Sony for private work. The client is still Sony’s enemies, and of course they should all be Sony’s enemies now. ."

"Oh...too young you guys." Luo Sheng sighed and said: "Fortunately, it is not for you to control the blue coast. If you are given the rudder of this huge ship, it will be the Titanic."

Li Chunsheng and Lu Siming's complexion flushed, and they thought: Boss, you are not younger, you are younger than us, you look old and old...

Luo Sheng said: "Let's talk about IBM, in my opinion, it really has done its best to Sony. In addition to not spending money, there is no less investment in technology and manpower. This is also a cost, and it has lost Apple, an old customer, although It sold PowerPC to Microsoft, but did not sell Cell. How come this kind of old friend has become an enemy in your eyes? IBM is now our strategic partner. If you don’t commit two or give him a chance, IMB or Very reliable, if you commit a second, like Sony, everyone will have to cheat if you see it, right?"

The two are speechless.

Luo Sheng continued: "In this chip drama, Intel hasn't even moved a finger, because it is calculated that Cell is a mud that can't support the wall, and Apple's switch to Intel is just normal behavior, and x86 is not Intel's family. Yes, there are compatible manufacturers such as AMD. In the market game, if you can't do anything with your opponent, will your opponent become your enemy? You have to be a little bit bigger, everyone."

Luo Sheng looked around at the people who didn't say a word: "As for Microsoft, it is actually quite miserable. The PowerPC architecture is not as powerful as they thought. There have also been scandals such as three reds. It is a smashed brand in the game console market. Xbox Not as good as expected is the best proof, so there is no need for hatred..."

Hearing these people couldn't help but nod their heads, they were all convinced, and sighed that the boss's mind and structure were beyond our reach.

Bai Lang curiously said: "So boss, in your opinion, Sony, Toshiba and IMB have been singing this drama for so many years. Why can't Intel be shaken, and they can't come up with an independent commercial CPU? You all say Intel fingers Without moving..."

Luo Sheng said succinctly: "Sony's failure is that his own strength can't match his ambitions. The road he walks is a road of his own power against the whole world. He can only win if he is open. He is not a failure or hell."

Everyone was puzzled.

Seeing their puzzled expressions, Luo Sheng said slowly: "If the Cell processor technology is fully utilized, it can indeed surpass the x86 architecture processor. But if you have thought about it, just say you, is it better to be a developer? To study x86, continue to do deep optimization for x86, and are not willing to learn the complex Cell architecture?"

Everyone is speechless, and in all fairness it is true, especially the engineers who do low-level design.

Luo Sheng sighed: "This is not a question of advanced technology. Over the years, x86 has built an incredible ecosystem with countless commercial software, shareware, open source software, developer communities, etc.... even Cell Can win the game console this small game, but can not shake the overall situation, how can we have a chance of winning in the broader PC market? Joe’s helpers rejected Cell and x86, we also rejected Cell and chose ARM. The real problem is not the technology Level, understand?"

An engineer at the meeting nodded, and said with a face suddenly realized: "No wonder, I recently saw an industry news that Sony itself announced the use of AMD's x86 integrated processor in the next generation of PS4 game consoles."

Luo Sheng looked at everyone and smiled: "Who said before that the Japanese semiconductor industry lost to the Americans because the United States forced them to sign an export quota agreement. Do you still think this is still the case? No matter what. They couldn't win without that Rauchi agreement."

Someone asked subconsciously: "Why?"

Luo Sheng: "Why? Because talents from all over the world are willing to go to Silicon Valley, developers all over the world are willing to cooperate with Silicon Valley, and the world's creativity is concentrated in Silicon Valley until the birth of the Blue Coast and Bluestar Technology. This situation is broken, but there are only a few cracks. Silicon Valley is still the center of the global IT industry."

"So this is not a battle between Japan and the United States at all, nor is it a battle between Sony and Intel. No matter how strong Japan is, has it beaten the world? No matter how strong Sony is, has it beaten a global developer? ?"

Everyone nodded their heads again and again, suddenly enlightened as if they had lifted a cloud to see the fog, and felt that they had won over ten years of reading.

It's just that everyone is admiring Luo Sheng's hand, and he didn't know that he silently said in his heart: oneself against the whole world, there are still people in this world, that is brother.

Luo Sheng's hand is now brewing a weapon that is enough to dare to change the sun and the moon into a new sky-artificial intelligence.

Luo Sheng still decides to walk again in person on the road Sony has walked. If others know about it, he must think he is crazy. In the case of Sony, he actually grieves without warning, and has to do it again. This is not crazy. What is it?

Of course Luo Sheng was not crazy. Sony's fiasco was that he had ambitions, but his strength did not reach that level. Luo Sheng also had ambitions. Not only could his strength reach that level, but he could break the upper limit again.

Why don't you have black technology?If Luo Sheng had left and succeeded, the blow to Sony would definitely be a murder.

There is another deeper problem here that is not shifted by Luo Sheng’s personal will, that is, the Americans will definitely suppress in the future. You don’t want to be an enemy of the whole world, but this world is deeply hostile to you. .

Luo Sheng had already made a decision in his heart whether he was born through resignation, or if he dared to change the sky to the sun and the moon.

However, these ambitions in his heart cannot be said. As the head, this kind of thing in his own mind is enough. I saw him looking around everyone and saying: "In the world of chips, I want to win and want To be the leader of martial arts, we have to have fewer and fewer enemies and more and more friends. It is best that people all over the world treat us as good friends and are willing to play with us. We all have friends from the left, center and right. cross."

Luo Shengkankan added: "In this big river and lake, if you want to be like a fish, you don't want to be fast, not ruthless, but not to kill. What do you say? Let's take a look at our Chinese civilization, ups and downs. Thousands of turbulent years, we have been counseling, we made peace in the early Han Dynasty; we have been ruthless, we have attacked the Huns in the north; we have had the grand occasion of being overwhelming and conquering all over the world, and there have been times of falling apart, life and death, but our civilization is still today Also stand in the world, why? We have turned our former enemies into friends and even relatives. Now we have 56 flowers and established a flower planter with Hemeimei. This is the mind, this is the highest state. Is the truth connected? "

In the end, everyone suddenly involuntarily offered warm applause, there should be applause here.

Luo Sheng smiled and squeezed the hand gesture, and when the warm applause gradually fell, he showed a bright smile and said: "So, our [ACC] plan can't be stunned by itself. Even if it succeeds, it has to peel off. This It’s not technological independence, but stupidity. The highest level is that both hands must be grasped and both hands must be hard, so we have a'spare tire plan'."

"But at the same time, we also have to take the initiative to cooperate with Sony, ARM, and IBM. We can cooperate with anyone. We can have as few enemies as possible and many friends. What if they don't want to be our friends? Bring out the long-sharpened machete behind his back, and ask him to reorganize the language. As a friend, I will take the machete back and kill him on the spot as an enemy. So the meaning of the'spare tire plan' It's about sharpening the machete, and the biggest function of this knife is not to use it.

Hearing this, especially the last sentence, everyone was stunned.

Fuck and ruthless!

It's too real.

After reacting, all of them couldn't help but smashed the most secretly, only then discovered that their boss said the most domineering words in the most easy-going tone.

...