The Organization and Position of the Founder of Wang An Company
Date of birth:1February 7, 920
Country and place of birth: Shanghai, China
Education background: 1948, obtained a doctorate in applied physics from Harvard University, entered Harvard University and entered Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Occupational background1990 On March 24th, Wang An died in Massachusetts General Hospital 1989, retired from illness 1986, and his son Wang Lie took over the company 1975. Wang An Company successfully launched an epoch-making word processor 1967, and Wang An Company went public with 65438+. Wang An Laboratory was restructured into a limited company in 195 1. Wang 'an Lab was founded in 1949 with US$ 600. 1948 obtained the patent of magnetic core storage system and joined Howard Aiken Harvard Computing Lab.
Works autobiography "Lessons" (Lessons)
In the omnipotent computer industry, many descendants of dragons have joined this trend in different parts of the world and achieved amazing results. Up to now, the highest honor achieved is still Wang An. Of course, his brilliance is directly proportional to his tragic color.
1920, Wang Ansheng was born in Shanghai and graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University. 65438-0945, studying in the United States, Ph.D. in applied physics, Harvard University. 1948, he joined Howard Akon's "Harvard Computing Lab", participated in the development of "Mark 4" computer, and became a colleague of Ms. Hope. Once, I introduced Wang to a visitor. Tell Wang that the development of computers has just started and there are still many problems to be solved. One of them will never forget Wang: "Remember, the wave of the future is computers." .
When Wang first went to America to look for a training company, he thought of IBM. This is the company he has been longing for for for a long time. A guy as fat as a pig received him. A sense of fear rose in Wang An's mind, which made the poor English even more incoherent. It took him a lot of effort to make his intentions clear. The man laughed and said contemptuously, "IBM is a first-class enterprise in the United States, and we are engaged in high technology." Can you little China people do it? I think you'd better try your luck in a garage. " Prejudice and discrimination made Wang an very angry, and he left angrily.
1949101October 2 1 day, Wang An applied to the Patent Office for the patent of "storage magnetic core". IBM, with a keen sense of smell, immediately realized the broad commercial application prospect of this invention, decided to buy a patent, and kept asking Wang An for information. The patent fee for the storage core has not been finalized. 1953165438+10/6, the two sides finally reached an agreement. But two years later, IBM canceled the original royalties, and they also rejected Wang An's one-time purchase fee of $2.5 million, and threatened Wang An with pending patent applications. In order to avoid falling into a protracted lawsuit, Wang finally had to accept the final price of 500 thousand dollars. Since then, fighting against IBM has become Wang An's lifelong belief.
195 1 year, Wang An left Harvard University and founded Wang Lab with only $600. 1954, moved to Cambridge. The following year, the laboratory was reorganized into Wang An Company Limited. During this period, Wang designed a pulse coordination counting device with storage cores, shift registers, logic circuits and other components. Since the late 1950s, Wang An Company has developed a semi-automatic phototypesetting system. Later, Wang turned to developing desktop calculators. In 1960s, the calculators of Wang An Company were unique in the world. Since 1970, with the advent of Intel chips, the whole calculator market has suddenly changed, and Wang An's calculator market is under siege. Wang An made an amazing move: completely quit the calculator market. Later, as expected, the calculator market in the whole world almost bled in the bullets of the chip. With his foresight, Wang An escaped a big robbery.
197 1 year1month, the company launched 1200 word processor. This was the most advanced word processing equipment in the world at that time. It immediately aroused great interest in the press. When thomas jr, who was hospitalized for heart disease at that time, saw the news in the newspaper, it was said that his face changed greatly and he immediately fainted. 1972, Wang An Company introduced an improved 2200-word processing system (WPS), and the word WPS officially appeared from then on, and became a household name in just a few years. In view of the increasingly fierce competition, Wang An Company adjusted its strategy and decided that the focus of the new generation of WPS is not the typewriter, but the secretary's requirements for the machine. 1976 In June, when the world's first word processor exhibition opened in new york, Wang An Company exhibited a brand-new word processing system, which became the most sensational event of the exhibition. This word processing system, which costs as much as 30 thousand dollars, finally enables the secretary to modify and edit the text on the display at any time. From 65438 to 0978, Wang An Company has become the largest WPS manufacturer in the world.
1979, a company named Micropro launched the first word processing software "WordStar", and another company launched "WordPerfect" software the following year. These two kinds of software are like the wings of a bird, which makes Wang An's word processing system soar. 1983, the turnover of Wang An Company soared to1500 million dollars, ranking seventh among American computer companies. In Forbes magazine's list of "America's 400 richest people", personal wealth once reached $2 billion, making it the fifth richest man in the world and the richest man among Chinese. Wang An Company set up 540 offices in 103 countries around the world, which set off a revolution in global offices. Just as engineers throw away the slide rule when they have pocket calculators, millions of secretaries have eliminated typewriters. Some people say that the "W" of WPS can also be "Wang", so the word processing unit can also be called "Wang processing system". 1986, Wang An published his autobiography "Lessons" and reviewed his experience against IBM. At this time, the PC came, and Wang An Company could no longer look for a new strategic turning point as it did when it threw away its calculator. From 65438 to 0985, Wang An Company suffered losses for the first time, and then continued to decline. 1990, Wang An died of cancer, and the empire was crumbling. 1992, the company declared bankruptcy protection. Since then, we have adjusted our business focus, taking service as the center, stepping out of the predicament and returning to the road of healthy development. 1999, finally merged.
Bill Gates said that if Wang An could complete the second strategic turn, there might not be Microsoft in the world today, and Bill Gates would not be a hero in the era of personal computers. "I may become a mathematician or a lawyer somewhere."
Confronted with IBM and DEC, but failed to establish cooperation with Intel and Microsoft, lacking a broad alliance. In the computer industry where the law of the jungle prevails, Wang An's failure is inevitable. In fact, Wang An has sprinted many times in the PC market. But without a strong alliance and numerous resources, it is impossible to succeed.