Perhaps because they wanted to participate in the San Francisco Electronics Show in September, MOS Company showed remarkable efficiency in forming its new subsidiary. Chuck Peddle had only spoken with Ethan Jones on the phone about the idea on July 10th, and by July 12th, MOS had already sent a working group to San Francisco to select a location.
Since this company would be engaged in chip production and operations in California, their first priority was to find a factory that could support chip manufacturing, along with a warehouse to store materials and products.
Ethan Jones thought the process of finding a factory would take a long time. After all, chip production involves advanced technology, and the requirements for the production environment are usually strict.
But after just a few days of scouting around what would later be known as Silicon Valley, the MOS team called Ethan to say they had already found a suitable factory in Mountain View. At the same time, they asked him—to come and take a look.
The news surprised Ethan. He also admitted that MOS had given him a great deal of respect, and he was happy about it. When he arrived at the site, he saw a factory covering about two acres. It had once belonged to a calculator company, but after the oil crisis they couldn't withstand the skyrocketing production costs and had relocated from California to Baja California.
Since the former company had produced TTL (transistor–transistor logic) circuits, their requirements for the facility had been relatively high. Although the place had sat unused for a long time and was covered in dust—so much so that Ethan came out with his clothes gray just from walking inside—he admitted that with a thorough cleaning, it would still be far better than building a factory from scratch.
"How much does it cost here?" Ethan asked.
"It's very cheap—two hundred thousand dollars," replied the manager of the MOS working group, a middle-aged man in a suit. He was stamping his feet, trying to shake off the black dust clinging to his trouser legs.
"Based on the size of this factory, how many production lines can we set up?" Ethan asked, his hands behind his back, striking the pose of a supervisor.
"If you use Perkin-Elmer's technology package, four production lines can fit here," the team manager replied directly, without even needing to check the documents.
Perkin-Elmer, an instrument company in Massachusetts, had invented the first projection aligner in 1973. When making CPUs, it could project the mask image directly onto the wafer without physical contact. With this, CPU yields had soared from just 2–3% using Kodak's technology to 70–80%, drastically reducing production costs.
Of course, the leap in efficiency meant the equipment was extremely expensive.
"So the company is going to buy four sets at once?" Ethan asked. "Is two million enough?"
This question made the team manager laugh. "Chuck and the others said this isn't about money—it's about face. Mr. Jones, you had no stake in the MOS 6502, yet you helped the company clear the legal roadblocks to popularizing computers. If, under such circumstances, the company held back on production, then once the news spread, the entire technology circle would laugh at us.
So, we've already communicated with Wells Fargo. Once the company is officially registered and we place the equipment orders, we'll use the new machines themselves as collateral to establish four production lines here. Mr. Jones, all you need to do is wait."
Ethan Jones applauded. He liked the feeling. Because The feeling of waiting to made money is really great!
At the same time, he was also curious about the name of this new company.
After he asked about it, the team leader in charge of forming the company laughed and said:
"Mr. Jones, our board of directors feels that this company exists because of you, so the naming rights should be given to you."
"Is it really that simple?"
Ethan was surprised. But he happily accepted the privilege.
"Then let's call it Chuck Peddle Inc."
Those words made the team manager's eyes light up. "Using the chip patentee's name as the company name? That's a great idea. I don't think anyone would refuse to leave their mark in history."
Yes—that's exactly what Ethan Jones thought! The world should remember those who change it! After the company's address was finalized, the rest actually had little to do with Ethan Jones.
Company registration, factory purchase, equipment orders, and bank loans were all handled by managers. The only thing Ethan needed to do was sign his name on various articles of association.
To protect his rights and interests, he even asked Uncle Thomas Johnson to find a lawyer to review the documents.
Why not ask Stanford for help? Perhaps because the power of money, within a week the company Chuck Peddle Inc. was successfully registered by MOS and obtained both a Federal Tax ID and a Sales Tax Permit.
For patents, they used the provisional application method: record production first, then file formally. By the end of July, the ordered production lines machines had arrived.
On August 1, assembly was completed, and test production began.
When this became reality, Ethan Jones felt like he was walking on clouds!
The MOS 6502 was the only chip in history to sell a billion units!
What does a twenty percent stake mean? Even if he earned just one dollar per unit, that would still mean two hundred million dollars—
Although these benefits would take time to accumulate, did it really matter?
This was safer than any federal pension! Holy shit! I'm only twenty years old, and I'm already living like I'm sixty?
Looking at the share contract in his hand, Ethan Jones suddenly felt that the pragmatic spirit of working three hours a day—and occasionally working overtime until the afternoon—was actually quite easy to embrace!
now, as long as Ethan Jones woke up at eight every morning and rested at noon, he could achieve. And just when Ethan was about to happily enjoy his retirement-like life, on the morning of August 3rd, he was jolted awake by a loud shout.
It was Aunt Linda—
"Ethan! Stop sleeping! Someone's looking for you!"
The sudden call nearly scared him. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, his hair sticking up like a bird's nest, he dragged himself downstairs.
"Linda, what's wrong?"
He looked at his aunt in confusion, completely lost. Linda, who was tidying up the house, just waved her hand and pointed toward the door.
"If someone's looking for you, go see for yourself."
Yawning, Ethan shuffled outside. He was still wondering who on earth was wicked enough to bother him so early in the morning—when the guy at the door turned out to be even more annoying than he was.
"Steve, why are you here?"
That's right. Standing at the door was none other than Steve Jobs.