Chapter 463: Chapter 464: Three Ideas


    ?


    [Chapter 464: Three Ideas]


    Eric and Steve Case spent the entire day discussing back and forth without reaching much of an agreement, so they decided to continue their conversation the following day.


    After work, Chris invited Eric to his home for dinner. Eric dismissed his assistant and got into Chris''s car.


    "I can''t believe that the number of inte users in North America has surpassed 1.5 million. I thought we would have to wait a while," Eric remarked once Chris started the car. He nned tounch some projects after Clinton took office, but after seeing today''s data on America Online, he felt that it was better to start sooner rather thanter.


    Though 1.5 million seemed insignificantpared to the billions of inte users inter years, it was quite an impressive number in an era when personalputers had not yet be widespread. Byying the groundwork while the user base was still small, he could position himself advantageously for when user numbers skyrocketed, potentially even setting industry standards.


    Eric vaguely remembered a saying: "First-sspanies set standards, second-sspanies rely on branding, third-sspanies sell technology, and fourth-sspanies make products." These four statements formed a sort of industry hierarchy; the higher up in the pyramid apany stood, the greater the rewards.


    Chris was unaware of Eric''s train of thought. Upon hearing Eric''sment, he asked, "Wait for what?"


    "I had some ideas. I originally nned to wait until the inte developed further before implementation, but it seems like waiting isn''t necessary. The sooner, the better," Eric exined.


    Chris nodded while steering the car towards the side of the road to let a red BMW convertible speed by, appearing somewhat distracted.


    "Did you guys move?" Eric noticed the change in scenery as they passed signs and realized that thest time he saw Chris and Emily, they were living in downtown Manhattan, but now they were nearing Central Park.


    "We bought an apartment on the Upper East Hydee recently, right at 72nd Street on Third Avenue," Chris replied.


    "Funny enough, I have a vi nearby that Drew and I boughtst year, but I haven''t moved in yet," Eric suddenly remembered something and asked, "You aren''t getting married, are you?"


    Chris shook his head. "Emily wants to wait another two years; she doesn''t n on getting married before she turns thirty."


    Eric quickly picked up on the shift in Chris''s demeanor. What started as a lively conversation became somewhat subdued, and he suspected it had something to do with dinner.


    ...


    Chris parked the car in the lot of a high-rise apartment building, and they both stepped into the elevator, soon arriving at the floor where Chris''s new home was.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Dressed casually, Emily opened the door and warmly embraced Eric. "Eric, it''s so good to see you again."


    "Likewise," Eric chuckled as he released Emily from the hug. "But I didn''t bring any red wine with me."


    "It''s fine;e on in," Emily invited Eric into the apartment, thoughtfully hanging his coat. Eric thought something felt off with the couple. While Emily was usually cheerful and amiable, today she seemed overly enthusiastic.


    "Please, have a seat, Eric. Dinner will be ready shortly," Emily said after pouring him a cup of coffee. She then shot a nce at Chris. "Chris, can youe help me for a minute?"


    Chris looked a bit exasperated but moved toward the kitchen.


    Eric merely nced in the kitchen''s direction, suppressing his curiosity as he picked up the remote from the coffee table to turn on the television. He figured they''d eventually discuss whatever it was they needed to.


    ...


    In the kitchen, Emily put on some oven mitts, opened the oven with a quick peek, then closed it before whispering, "Did you tell him yet?"


    Chris shrugged. "This is so awkward. How do you want me to bring it up?"


    "Awkward? It''s quite a normal thing," Emily insisted, irritation creeping into her voice as she red at her boyfriend. "You... you just don''t want to help me."


    "If I didn''t want to help, I wouldn''t have brought Eric here; the rest is up to you," Chris replied, picking up a knife to chop some onions.


    Emily, exasperated, snatched the knife from him. "Fine, I''ll just say it myself!"


    ...


    "That night really scared me, especially when that tractor crashed into the TV screen. I honestly thought the television was broken. Eric, how on earth did you pull that off?" During dinner, Emily reminisced about the teaser for Twister with excitement in her voice.


    "It was just a simple visual effect," Eric exined, conveying the concept without much pride. After all, the current 3D movie effects had advanced to this level, appearing more stunning. However, 3D technology was still immature; prolonged use of 3D sses led to severe eye strain, so the tech mainly worked well for short films.


    Emily leaned in, full of anticipation. "I remember Twister is set to premiere on June 5th, but that''s still a long wait. Will Firefly do a preview screening?"


    "Of course, I''ll make sure two tickets are sent your way," Eric replied with a smile. "Thanks!" Emily beamed, but then a brief silence fell over the dining table. After a moment, Emily finally mustered the courage to ask, "Eric, um, Firefly has a significant amount of funding left, right?"


    Eric nced at Chris, who was pretending to sip soup, beforeughing. "Wouldn''t Chris know better than I do?"


    Chris immediately choked on his soup, grabbing paper towels in a hurry to clean his face.


    Understanding dawned on Eric, who set down his utensils and said seriously, "Emily, just say what''s on your mind. We don''t need pleasantries between us; that only makes us feel more distant."


    Her face flushed, Emily felt slightly embarrassed. "Actually, it''s about our family''s clothingpany..."


    "Oh, I remember now," Eric quickly recalled the instance two years ago during Thanksgiving when he first met Chris and Emily at Jeffrey''s ce. Back then, Chris worked at Morgan Stanley and was in charge of the clothingpany''s public listing. Because of a paperwork error by Emily''s father, the IPO had fallen through. "I remember telling youst year that if I made money on the futures market, I would invest in your family''s clothingpany. I''m sorry I almost forgot about it; how much do you need?"


    To Eric''s surprise, Emily responded hesitantly, ncing at Chris. "Um... one... one hundred million?"


    Chris shot her a sharp look, and Emily hurriedly added, "Actually, sixty million would work too."


    Eric could sense Chris''s seriousness; to put it mildly, he was quite stiff. Though he controlled a significant amount of Firefly''s funds, he felt that asking for investment in his girlfriend''s family business seemed unprofessional, which likely exined his awkward expression. After acquiring Disney, Eric still had about 1.5 billion of the 8 billion dors he had siphoned off fromst year''s Gulf War. After acquiring Disney, Firefly Pictures itself could be self- sufficient in terms of funds, so he had nned to use the money for other investments.


    "How about this," Eric proposed after a moment''s thought, "I''ll be in New York for the next few days. You could prepare some materials for me. After I review them, I''ll decide whether to invest sixty million or one hundred million. Does that work?"


    "Absolutely!" Emily''s face lit up with excitement. She nearly jumped from her seat to fetch her prepared documents but soon realized the setting wasn''t appropriate for such a quick


    move.


    ...


    After dinner, Eric politely declined Chris and Emily''s offer to stay over. Chris walked him down to the street, and they strolled side by side along the bustling streets of Midtown.


    "I''ve always felt lucky. If I hadn''t run into Jeffrey and then you, I probably wouldn''t have achieved what I have. I don''t have any family left in this world; I''ve always regarded Jeffrey as a mentor," Eric mused, looking at the neon signs lining the street. He remembered a few years ago when he risked everything to produce Home Alone. If it hadn''t been for meeting Jeffrey and his crew, as a Hollywood rookie, even managing to assemble a ragtag team wouldn''t have ensured his film vision woulde to fruition.


    Chris understood why Eric suddenly shared his feelings. He did not see himself and his father as Eric''s saviors. He had enough self-awareness; without meeting Eric, he wasn''t sure whether his father could pick himself back up, nor did he know how long their cold war mightst. Plus, now he managed over two billion in assets. Had he chosen to stay at Morgan Stanley, building operations of that scale individually would have taken at least another


    decade. "Actually, we''re all quite lucky."


    Eric chuckled, "Yeah."


    Chris shoved his hands into his coat pockets. "By the way, you can trust that investment. Emily''s father has retired now; Emily is currently in charge of the clothingpany, and business has been good these past two years. If it weren''t for the incident from two years ago, getting re-listed wouldn''t be a problem."


    "Well, you and Emily can sort out the specifics of the investment. Maybe talk about it when


    you get back," Eric joked.


    "Why don''t you take the lead? I''ll try to keep my nose out of it," Chrisughed. "Anyway, you mentioned you already have some thoughts onputerworking?"


    "I didn''t think you were paying attention to that."


    "All right, just tell me what you have in mind," he encouraged.


    Eric scanned their surroundings, gesturing toward a cafe on the street. "If you aren''t in a rush,


    let''s go in there and chat. The vi I bought is just ahead, but it''s a bit empty; I only called the cleaning service beforeing today."


    Chris nodded, and they walked into the nearby cafe, ordered two coffees, and settled in by the


    window.


    Eric gathered his thoughts before continuing, "Too bad there''s noptop here; it would make exining things much easier. You''ve been researchingputer materials recently, right?" "Yeah, just go ahead; I should be able to understand," Chris replied.


    "Essentially, all my ideas are based on the widespread avability of inte technologies.


    Just like I mentioned before, I believe it''s a significant trend for the future, and the possibilities are vast. Plus, even if my gamble fails, my losses wouldn''t be substantial." Chris agreed, "I feel your assessment is quite valid. A few days ago, I noticed Emily working on a clothing design using an Appleptop, and those designs were made using software, which would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. Now, personalputers aren''t priced too high; even a regr person can buy one with a month or two of sry. Ifputer hardware keeps growing at this pace, widespread adoption is inevitable."


    "Back to theputerwork, I currently have three ideas," Eric paused and added, "I arrived at these during my everyday use ofputers. I''ve also considered forming three separatepanies to pursue these ideas. First, I have a concept for a graphical interface


    browser."


    "A graphical interface browser?" Chris echoed.


    "It''s essentially a graphical version of a web browsing tool," Eric exined, thinking for a


    moment. "To put it in simple terms, the tools we use to ess the inte now are akin to the DOS operating systems from a few years ago, requiringplexmands to operate -- very inconvenient. My idea for a graphical interface browser would present current web tools in a user-friendly graphical interface, simr to Microsoft''s Windows operating system. As you know, before the Windows system, using a personalputer was often the domain of specialized tech workers. But once Windows emerged, even ordinary people could use a personalputer. My idea would be a ''Windows tool'' that makes the web essible to


    everyone."


    *****


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