These days, Jungle begins its promotions even before new products or content are released.
Therefore, as soon as the production of the e-book reader was planned, the group’s PR team started moving, and the online and offline media received press releases to spread the new news.
“A new civilization’s wonder that will advance the era of e-books, the e-book reader!”
However, this news is not only spread domestically but also in countries where Jungle has expanded, like the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Due to this, interest in the U.S. surged, and one of the people paying close attention to this news was Steve Job.
“E-books, e-book readers.”
He didn’t think it was a bad idea either.
In fact, upon hearing that Macro Soft was making a PDA operating system, Pineapple was also in the process of finding a new product to be a driving force.
Upon seeing the e-book reader, it fit perfectly with Steve Job’s desire for something new.
However, he was angry.
“Why does Jungle always discover these things before me?”
This anger was exacerbated by the stress of an upcoming new product launch.
In fact, Pineapple was soon to release a new form of computer that integrated the monitor and the main body. Its name was ‘a-Mach.’
Unlike typical PCs, the very simple-looking a-Mach didn’t waste space with numerous connected cables.
However, this product was strictly confidential and was not known outside of Pineapple.
Steve Job believed that products needed to have an element of mystery.
Even if not for that reason, he believed there was no benefit in revealing things prematurely.
With the current e-book reader being promoted through the media before its release,
“Should I make one too?”
He wondered if someone like him would jump into the market.
In other words, if Pineapple were to enter the e-book reader market, it would be Jungle’s fault for making a fuss about it.
“By the way, does Jungle also have good designers? No matter how I look at it, it’s exactly the design I want.”
Even though the product hadn’t been released, the case had already been exposed through photos.
This too, in Steve Job’s opinion, was foolish.
This was why he had a related conversation with designer Jordan Live shortly after.
“Have you seen the e-book reader coming out from Jungle?”
“Yes, it’s quite the buzz.”
“What do you think?”
“It must be good.”
“Hmm?”
“If you didn’t like it, you’d always call it garbage.”
“Hahaha… Did I do that?”
“Yes, do you know how many people have quit the company because of you?”
“They have to endure. If they endure, good things happen.”
Jordan Live laughed.
In reality, those who heard the word “garbage” the most had successfully started and led several companies independently.
“Still, when you talk to Ray Berlin or Mikhail Pace, please stop calling things garbage.”
“Why? What’s wrong with that? Honestly, the P2P site those two created is becoming more and more of a mess. It’s infringing on too many copyrights.”
“Sigh.”
Jordan Live sighed.
Originally, Steve Job had tried hard to bring them into his search engine project.
He highly valued their development capabilities and their flashes of genius.
But as they collaborated, they clashed a lot.
Steve Job’s chronic perfectionism was the biggest issue, as he constantly compared their work to Jungle’s search engine.
For reference, the search engine currently under development was a joint project between Pineapple, Macro Soft, and a company called Give and Take.
This Give and Take was founded by Ray Berlin and Mikhail Pace, and their main focus was the P2P website, but Steve Job kept calling it “garbage,” which naturally hurt their feelings.
“Steve, if you keep doing that, the plan to eventually bring them into the fold will fail.”
“Is there another way?”
“Really? Even though you know they’re talented, you won’t bring them in?”
“Well, as we work together, I keep realizing that they’re different from me. Strictly speaking, they’re more like that young guy from Jungle.”
“Well, they do have some similar points.”
Ray Berlin and Mikhail Pace frequently talked about sharing and openness.
Steve Job was completely against that.
“You know that only those who are qualified can innovate, and to do that, they must be thoroughly separated from the world, right?”
“You mean masterpieces are born in isolation?”
“It’s not isolation, it’s a garage! Do you think Silicon Valley could have been born without garages?”
Steve Job’s voice started to get louder.
Jordan Live had no choice but to back down.
“Yes, in some aspects, you’re right, Steve. We need to disappear from the public eye for a while, so that when we release our products or content, it has a great effect.”
“Exactly, that’s what I’m saying. Our products and content must be wrapped in mystery. Then, we surprise the public and delight their eyes and ears.”
As they continued their conversation, Jordan Live felt more and more that Give and Take and Pineapple were fundamentally incompatible.
Naturally, they also didn’t match with Jungle.
“But they’re still using Jungle’s search engine?”
When Steve Job went to Korea before, he decided after meeting Lee Hyun-woo.
To use Jungle’s search engine on Pineapple’s portal site, Ocean.
- Know your enemy to defeat them. So, we’ll use Jungle’s search engine, then create an even more powerful one to give Lee Hyun-woo a sense of defeat.
That attempt seemed unlikely to succeed.
Due to Steve Job’s perfectionism, Macro Soft and Give and Take had recently been voicing their dissatisfaction.
This was why Billy Kates came to see Steve Job.
“What the heck, you? Why do you keep rejecting the new search engine?”
Billy Kates was one of the few people who could speak bluntly to Steve Job, even when he was hysterical.
“How are we ever going to catch up with Yaho and Jungle at this rate? Huh?”
“Did you look at Jungle’s search engine and still say that? At the very least, our results need to be more accurate, but we’re far, far from that.”
“We’ve caught up a lot. You know it too, right? The more we delay, the more we fall behind Jungle in the competition, and the gap in market share will only grow.”
“Even so, I won’t compete with something that’s lacking and incomplete.”
“Damn…”
Even Billy Kates found it hard to break Steve Job’s stubbornness.
In a fleeting moment, he attacked his pride.
“Is this it? The reason you adopted Jungle’s search engine on Ocean? So you’re competing with something you made yourself again?”
“Like before?”
“Yeah, like before. After making an operating system and not being confident about it, you told us to create another one. Then you kept rejecting it because you didn’t like it.”
“If you’re talking about the operating system you copied, get lost. Don’t make me angry.”
“Yeah, that one. And there was another. You did the same with computers, right? You made Pineapple computers compete with Nest computers? What’s wrong with you? Why do you make your own products compete?”
For reference, Nest was a company Steve Job founded after being ousted from Pineapple.
“You bastard…”
Come to think of it, Steve Job always made his creations compete with each other.
Though it wasn’t intentional, the good talent and products that were filtered out of that competition often came back to Pineapple as a boomerang.
“This won’t do. I’m out. Macro Soft will create a search engine on its own, so know that.”
“If you say so, do you think I’ll hold you back? Fine. I’ll make you regret it later.”
However, a few days later, with Give and Take also pulling out following Macro Soft, the grand joint project for a search engine fell apart.
Ray Berlin and Mikhail Pace confirmed that their styles didn’t match with Steve Job’s and declared a split.
Being straightforward, they even gave interviews to the media.
The reason the joint project failed was because of Steve Job.
Naturally, this news reached Jungle through foreign media.
“Chairman, isn’t this another good opportunity?”
“Yes, the three companies were shouting to overthrow Jungle and united their efforts, but they quickly fell apart.”
“I saw this coming.”
“Honestly, I liked Steve Job, but he’ll fall here.”
“You know how eccentric that guy is. Rumor has it he always has ‘garbage’ on his lips.”
“Oh, I know about that. If he doesn’t like something, he calls it garbage.”
“Yeah, because of that, Ray and Mikhail were really hurt. From what I see, they’re highly skilled, but there’s nothing to learn from their personality.”
“Isn’t there a problem with his skills now too? At this rate, he’ll fail miserably and get kicked out of Pineapple again.”
For once, Jungle’s CTOs came to see Lee Hyun-woo and were gleefully discussing the news from the U.S.
But Lee Hyun-woo clicked his tongue and spoke to them.
“Tsk tsk tsk, you don’t know Steve Job at all…”
“What?”
“Do you think Pineapple will collapse just because they can’t beat us with one search engine?”
Lee Hyun-woo also knew very well that Steve Job was an eccentric person.
But he wasn’t someone who would go down easily.
Why did so many people consider him a role model in his past life?
“His hysteria is almost sociopathic, but the products that come out of that pain are no joke.”
This time too, it seemed that the hysteria led to the collapse of the joint project among the three companies, but paradoxically, it meant that something new from Pineapple would soon emerge.
What could it be? As Lee Hyun-woo pondered, he suddenly spoke up.
“a-Mach!”
“What?”
“What’s that?”
“…?”
“A computer will soon come out from Pineapple.”
“A computer? Are you talking about Matchin Tosh?”
“If it’s Matchin Tosh, it’s about time.”
“Right, right. Hasn’t Matchin Tosh Plus been released?”
When these three got together, it was common for the conversation to veer off-topic.
Of course, it was Lee Hyun-woo who brought up the topic of computers, leading to the Matchin Tosh discussion.
“This time, it will be different from the most recent ‘flop.’”
For the first time in a while, Lee Hyun-woo decided to reveal some secrets.
“Maybe an innovative computer will come out.”
“…”
“CEO…”
“But why are you smiling like that?”
“Just, I think it’s going to be fun.”
In his past life, a-Mach was a monumental product.
Aside from being an all-in-one computer, it marked a new era in internet connectivity.
Connecting to the internet was ultra-fast once it was powered on.
“That expensive thing sold a lot, but more importantly, it was an event that ignited Steve Job’s confidence.”
It was the start of the ‘a’ series.
After that, a-pot, a-phone, and a-pad elevated Pineapple to the top of the world.
For Lee Hyun-woo, Steve Job was one of the most regrettable figures in his return to the past.
It felt like he was enjoying the glory that Steve Job should have enjoyed.
But it was a groundless worry.
Now, he felt he would see a properly awakened Steve Job.
So he was looking forward to it.
“This is going to be fun.”
