Since Barbara said that California encourages patent inventors to make micro-innovations on patents they do not own, Ethan Jones no longer hesitated. After returning home, he immediately called Chuck Peddle and transferred the patent to him, telling him the good news that the problem had been solved.
At first, Chuck Peddle didn't believe it, but when Ethan gave his full name—Ethan Jones, the inventor of Snake Game—and said that if they doubted him, they could come to California to verify it themselves, they were stunned. Chuck Peddle immediately thanked him profusely and said he would bring his colleagues over right away. He also hoped Ethan could help contact Barbara, as they wanted to thank her in person.
Then, the next morning, the 6502 R&D team booked a flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco.
That afternoon, Ethan Jones, who came to pick them up, met a group of people in suits and ties at San Francisco International Airport.
Since they had already been in contact, they were able to converse easily once they recognized each other's faces.
After inviting everyone into the car, Ethan took them to Stanford, where Barbara—who had already been informed—was waiting.
This group of extremely excited men immediately opened their carry-on luggage, took out the gifts they had prepared, and presented them.
There were carefully crafted Pennsylvania specialties, handmade chocolates used as promotional items in Hershey's showrooms;
There were uniquely Philadelphia items, including the 1876 World's Fair commemorative album issued by the Philadelphia Museum of Art to celebrate the first time the United States hosted the World's Fair, and the special medal issued this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the U.S. hosting that event;
There was a replica model of the Liberty Bell, symbolizing American independence;
And there was also a framed chip, a Motorola 6800 with Chuck Peddle's name engraved on it. As he explained, this was from the very first batch of chips produced by Motorola, never sold publicly, and kept only by the R&D staff themselves.
When Barbara saw these gifts, she immediately smiled and said that Chuck Peddle and the others were being far too polite.
She insisted she had only done something trivial, and that Chuck Peddle and his team were the real heroes.
After much persistence from Chuck Peddle and his colleagues, Barbara accepted some of the gifts.
She was delighted by the chocolates, the Liberty Bell model, and the World Expo commemorative album, but she returned the 6800.
In her words—This is the world's medal of merit for you. I cannot accept such a thing.
Such a result was acceptable to Chuck Peddle and the others, and after a few polite exchanges, Barbara carefully explained to the 6502 design team the legality of the 6502 product under California law.
When the mos team saw the legal flow chart that allowed them to sell legitimately, several grown men began to sob. Then, a group of eight immediately stood up and bowed to Barbara.
"Ms. Babcock, thank you very much for your help.
We will remember your kindness. If there is anything we can do in the future, please feel free to contact us."
"Oh you are so polite I just did what a legal practitioner should do." Barbara smiled, helped them up, and added: "Your success is my greatest reward, because when that time comes, I too can enjoy the changes brought by technology."
"Yes, that day will come soon," Chuck Peddle promised eagerly.
For some reason, Ethan, who witnessed this scene with his own eyes, was deeply moved.
He was afraid he might never be able to reach the level of people like Chuck Peddle. He couldn't quite understand it, but He supported it.
While he sat silently, Evelyn, at his side, elbowed him and handed him a pack of tissues.
"What?" Ethan asked in confusion.
"You're crying," Evelyn said softly.
"Oh, I'm not. It's just sand in my eyes." Ethan quickly wiped the corners of his eyes with his hand.
It would have been better if he hadn't explained, because as soon as he did, Evelyn started laughing.
"Yeah sand I believe it, I believe it After all, this is California There are deserts everywhere"
...
Ethan thought that the MOS 6502 matter had come to an end at this point. After all, the patent issue of the chip had been resolved. The next step was to wait for Chuck Peddle and the others to bring the 6502 product to California, and then Ethan would go to them to discuss cooperation.
But there was no way—these guys came and went. They flew over from Philadelphia that day and flew back that same night without stopping for a moment.
Yet, when July 10th arrived a few days later, Ethan, who was staying at home, unexpectedly received a call from them.
After a few words of greeting, Chuck Peddle, speaking from far away in Pennsylvania, asked:
"Ethan, I want to ask you something. Do you have any plans to build a computer?"
"Uh… yes." Ethan thought for a moment before admitting it.
Chuck Peddle pressed further: "So, when you told me about authorized production before, did you mean you wanted to produce your own chips and build your own computers?"
"Oh, no, it's not like that."
Ethan answered: "Chuck, my friend is the one who wants to go into the computer business—Woz, the one who came to you to buy chips earlier. What I want to do is actually all the other business related to chips, because I believe that an excellent CPU will not only bring computers into the homes of thousands of families, but will also surely impact other industries as well.
For example, in the gaming industry I'm involved in—you must know Professor Ralph Baer, right? The home game console he designed doesn't even have a CPU. Sometimes I wonder, what if the CPU were brought into the home console? What would happen then? In that case, we might be able to bring even more happiness to people."
Ethan's words were followed by silence on the other side. After a while, a burst of laughter came through the phone receiver.
"Ethan, thank you, —thank you for trusting our chip.
I called you today mainly to ask if you are willing to join us.
After we returned, we informed the board of directors how we had successfully managed to sell the MOS 6502. After discussions, we decided to set up a separate company in California and sell the MOS 6502 chip there. In this way, the product will be protected under California law.
Since the company we establish in California will only produce and operate one product—the MOS 6502—its structure will be very simple. MOS will invest two million to purchase production lines and raw materials for chip production, and it will hold 80% of the shares. As for the remaining 20%, we wonder if you would be interested?
This share is a gift from us. You don't need to pay for it. Of course, since we are all friends, we'll be honest. We gave you shares because we know you're a good person. When others questioned the authenticity of our chips, your friend Woz believed in us, and you went even further—you helped us resolve the 6502's legal issues. We want to thank you sincerely for your kindness.
The second point is that we hope to be protected by Stanford. The scientific research community is small, and everyone knows Stanford. Fred Terman is a good president, and it would be our honor to start a company near Stanford. Moreover, we also heard that your sister is a student of Professor Vinton Cerf? Oh we don't mean to pry into your background, but Professor Cerf's spirit of sharing is something we greatly admire… If given the opportunity, we would love to communicate with him as well."
When Ethan hung up the phone, his face was filled with disbelief! MOS Corporation and Chuck Peddle were willing to give him 20% of the shares of a new company outright?
Although they had clearly said it was to thank him for helping resolve the 6502's patent issue and to gain Stanford's protection, what was the difference between giving away shares like this and doing charity?
No—this wasn't charity! Nobody in this field would hand out equity like that without reason.
After marveling for a while, Ethan also felt strangely emotional—
Perhaps for those who work in technology, sincerity itself is the greatest nirvana.
Taking a deep breath, Ethan went upstairs and knocked on his sister's bedroom door.
After pushing it open, he found her reading a book. When he told her about Chuck Peddle's decision, Evelyn didn't even look up and said directly:
"Since they're willing to give it to you, then just accept it. I've said before, scientific research needs a lot of funding, so you shouldn't have any psychological burden."
"That's not what I meant," Ethan replied. "I mean—give you half?"
This suggestion made Evelyn pause, then she raised her head slightly and smiled:
"Why give me half?"
"You had a part!" Ethan said. "Although I may be a bit snobbish, I still know who's been good to me!"
"Hahaha" Evelyn laughed at his seriousness. "Oh Ethan, can you stop saying such boring things to me? If you really loved money that much, would you have shared half the Snake Game profits with me?
"I see so this is distribution according to work, just like in primitive society! If you think something's unfair, then go read more books instead of arguing with me here."
Perhaps because she didn't want to continue on this topic, Evelyn added:
"MOS is giving you equity, so just take it. If you make money, do whatever you want with it and don't worry about me.
The income from Snake Game is already a lot, and I'm busy figuring out how to avoid taxes. Otherwise, I'll end up paying half to the IRS next year, which will make me very distressed.
If you really want to thank me, then if I have a research project in the future, support me. That'll be enough."
"I won't be polite to you then. No matter how much money you make, I can burn through it for you."
Ethan was stunned for a moment, then stopped pressing the issue. "Okay, let's talk about this later."
At the same time, he asked, "What about Barbara?"
Evelyn understood what Ethan meant and replied directly: "Barbara's thanks. should wait until the 6502 is officially sold. Besides, she doesn't really need any special gifts. When she needs our help in the future, we'll just help her as much as we can."
"So?" Ethan took a deep breath, then smiled: "A favor? That's the difficult thing in the world to repay."
He had only sighed casually when saying. But in Evelyn's eyes, Ethan's words were unnecessarily troublesome.
She shook her head and smiled: "Ethan, why make things so complicated? A favor is hard to repay, but it's also the easiest way to build a bond. If you put a price on it, you'll give yourself a headache. But if you live normally, you'll find it's actually quite fun."
Evelyn waved her hand and said: "Alright, alright, don't bother me anymore. I'm hungry Go bake me a pizza I want beef on it"
This dismissal made Ethan smile and shake his head. "Okay, I'm happy to serve you, my sister."