December 7, 1993 (Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Event) at 04:51 P.M. on Tuesday, Balmer, responsible for Microsoft's global marketing business, sat in front of his computer and began to write an email with high enthusiasm, the recipient is Mike Maples, head of Microsoft application development ). This letter is destined to allow Microsoft to get rid of itself and change the development direction of the Information Age.
Just one day ago, Balmer had just returned from his alma mater, Harvard University, and his heart was shocked and puzzled. As the No. 2 figure of Microsoft, the world's largest individual computer company, he came into contact with Harvard in a field unrelated to Microsoft, that is: internet. When talking about it, every Harvard student is just like taking a new drug. His eyes are shining, his face is red, his voice is high, and he can't wait to talk about his usage experience. Balmer remembers seeing similar scenes, but it was about two decades ago.
At that time, he was still a Harvard University student. In his friend Giz, he saw a look that was also a fan of God. The reason was: at that time, Giz, who was thin, Fluffy, proficient in mathematics, and fond of playing bridge, began to fall in love with computers. At that time, Giz always told Balmer that the computer would change the world and that everyone would connect through the computer, exchange of messages, archives, materials, and even unexpected things in a wide range of global electronic fields-this field is called Paul Allen) the "Wired World" in the interface ). In those years, Balmer prefers sports, mathematics, literature, and campus activities. He has nothing to say about computers, but he is impressed by the computer addiction. Now, two decades later, he once again saw the same excited look and an eager voice on the Internet. It seems that the Internet has gradually become popular on campus, and it is bound to become a mainstream trend. At this time, Balmer began to wonder: what is the significance of Microsoft in this market? How can we adjust Windows products to enter this strange new world? Problems emerged in Balmer's mind.
Balmo intuitively believes that Microsoft was developing a new version of Windows, codenamed Chicago (that is, Windows 9th Five-Year Plan), and had to catch up with this popular trend. Before that, Microsoft has declared that this upgraded version will completely change the style of the personal computer, because it will adopt a more user-friendly design, so it will be easier to use and much more powerful in functions, allows users to execute several different programs at the same time. At this moment, Balmer, who was shocked by Harvard, suddenly came up with a good idea, so he could not wait to write an email to maybes. In his letter, Balmer said that if Microsoft can promote Chicago as the most convenient cutting-edge product to the Internet, it will attract "student groups and other people with websites 」, in this way, the upgraded version is widely used.
Balmer asked meibus: Can Chicago make it easier to access the Internet? 「 Can we directly make users a node on the network? (Is this silly idea ?)」 The opposite! In fact, this idea is not ridiculous at all, but it was not an easy answer at the time (in 1993. Balmer also raised other questions in the letter, such as: Is the Chicago team capable of developing direct online email sending? That is to say, you only need to press an icon on the window to instantly send an email. Another question is: Can users use Chicago for online conversations? Chatting on the Internet is the most interesting thing for Harvard students. It is similar to chatting on the phone, but it is just typed. After surfing the Internet, users can instantly chat with one or more people through the keyboard, and all participating parties can see text messages sent by either party on their own screens. This communication method allows many people to participate. They can type and chat on their keyboard. Balmer thought, isn't it cool if users can directly connect to the so-called chat room by clicking an icon on the window?
In front of the computer, Balmer is getting harder and harder, and new ideas are emerging. His 10 thick fingers beat the keyboard as heavily as a rock drill, and the sound of loud typing sounds like the keyboard is about to break up. In his letter, Mr. Balmer asked if Chicago could provide the OLE, Object Linking, and embedding functions for some applications (such as Excel's test charts) attached to a file or email? It is also good to provide the "newsgroup" discussion function. There are various news groups on the Internet, with all topics available, from Princess Diana to mr. Spock in Star Trek.
In the discussion board, everyone can interpret the lyrics of nirvana or jokes in Seinfeld, a TV album, you can also tease Rush Limbaugh, the political talk show host, or even joke about Barney the dinghuur in the children's program. Anyone can set up a topic to invite all parties to discuss, and soon a virtual e-discussion venue will be established, like a community conference venue. Mr. Balmer thought, could Microsoft make it easier to connect the news group discussion area through windows and make the content more interesting?
Whenever Balmer gets excited, his inspiration is like a spring of water, and various ideas are successively produced. His adrenaline starts to surge, and the status is as if the basketball player is ready to win the game's key ball; his fingers become faster and faster, making the keyboard too late to respond, resulting in a hyphen. He asked Mei BAIS: Can Microsoft launch a very powerful parallel sharing software )?」 Shared software is available for free everywhere on the Internet, some of which are great, even if you pay for it after use. Finally, Balmer appended the following paragraph with no punctuation and error-prone magic pen at the end of the letter:
I did not know what I was writing, but I felt I had a business opportunity. Should I look for someone to study ?? Chat with Xuesheng. What do they know about cool? I want to sell this kind of email to Chicago. What do you mean?
What do you say ?」 The email is really amazing! In fact, Balmer's Stream of Consciousness style has always been the registered trademark of his mail. Maybes once said that the emails written by Balmer are sometimes like a pile of random letters on the screen. However, this is fine. After all, the key points that Balmer wants to express are very clear. He is a fascinating writing style, which is described by William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), the Irish poet, it is to "stimulate the spark of thinking, rather than fill the bucket. 」 In fact, Balmer knows a lot about things, but he doesn't want to show it. Even if he is confused, he can also show his wisdom. In fact, even if he doesn't know much about some of the key technologies, he can immediately sniff out the importance. The current Internet is an example.
According to the company's routine, Balmer sent a copy of the email to galz and marrez at the same time. After Microsoft has widely used emails internally, it specifies that copies of emails must be sent to relevant supervisors. For example, if the original email is sent to the person directly responsible for the business, the copy will notify the person who is interested in the subject or is jointly and severally liable. Giz is almost interested in everything inside Microsoft, so any copy of the email will be sent to him, so that he can keep abreast of the situation, even if he is not directly involved in the business. Balmer sent a copy of the email to Maritz this time because he is the supervisor of Microsoft's operating system department and is responsible for the development of the core product windows.
In Microsoft, any email may change the company's strategic direction. The next morning (December 8, 1993 09:12 A.M.), mariz transferred Balmer's email to Darryl Rubin, the company's senior network leader, and Laura Jennings, the e-mail department director) with Tom evslin, as well as windows senior director sieverberger and chase. In the forwarding letter, marryz attached a short and straightforward question: "What are your ideas ?」 And the style of Balmer. The style is concise, clear, concise, and efficient.