I am Hollywood

Chapter 721 - 722: Can I Take a Look Inside?

Chapter 721: Chapter 722: Can I Take a Look Inside?

[Chapter 722: Can I Take a Look Inside?]

"I don't know what to buy, let's wait until we get there," Eric said, running his fingers through his tousled hair, which Linda Evangelista had intentionally messed up. He asked the driver in the front seat, "Is there a Best Buy around here?"

Carter Moen had recently taken some time off, so the driver was another bodyguard from Eric's security team, coincidentally a New Yorker. Upon seeing Eric's drastically altered appearance, the driver initially questioned whether his employer had been replaced. Hearing him speak confirmed his identity as he replied, "There's one on Fifth Avenue, right by Bryant Park."

"Let's go there," Eric nodded and instructed the driver to head out.

Best Buy was the largest electronics retail chain in the United States, and Linda recalled the Walkman that Eric had fidgeted with during breakfast. She knew it likely had something to do with this trip.

It was past business hours, and the roads were surprisingly clear. The sedan made it from the Upper East Hydee to the Best Buy near Bryant Park in under ten minutes.

Eric and Linda got out of the car. Since there was no parking nearby, he told the driver to leave.

It was a workday during business hours, so there weren't many pedestrians on Fifth Avenue. However, once the sedan drove off, the two of them caught a few curious glances from passersby. It wasn't that anyone recognized Eric and Linda; Eric didn't even recognize himself thanks to Linda's remarkable makeup skills. The main reason for the attention was the stark contrast in their appearances.

Eric's hair was a mess, and although his face had been handsome once, Linda's touch made him look young and ordinary. At just twenty-five, he appeared more like he was in his early twenties. Today, he wore a slightly wrinkled light gray shirt, giving him the look of a disheveled college student.

In stark contrast, Linda had her hair styled into an elegant bun, wearing large sunglasses and sporting striking red lips that made her radiate glamour. Her black knee-length dress hugged her curvaceous figure perfectly, and she carried a Prada handbag, draped with a decorative fur shrug that added a touch of aristocracy. More importantly, she was wearing high heels, which accentuated her already tall stature, making Eric appear almost like a lackey carrying her bags.

Noticing the somewhat envious yet disdainful gazes from people around them, Eric chuckled at Linda's mischievous expression and said, "You seem pretty pleased with yourself right now."

Linda thought Eric was upset and quickly linked her arm through his, laughing, "Ah, I want that kind of makeup too, but I just can't pull it off!"

Eric didn't buy her excuse but shrugged it off. Having gone through two lives and reaching the current position he had, outside opinions didn't bother him much anymore.

Allowing Linda to hang onto his arm, Eric pushed through the glass doors of Best Buy. Inside, the spacious layout was filled with large home appliances. After glancing at the store directory, he led Linda inward while saying, "You know, our situation is quite fitting with a certain trend from the European court days."

Linda, like Eric, ignored the looks from others and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Back in those days, wealthy European dames often kept talented young men as lovers, and those young men enjoyed living off their riches."

Linda laughed, "I've never heard of that; you must be making it up!"

"Not at all; many historical figures benefited from this arrangement."

Still skeptical, Linda asked, "Who specifically?"

Eric thought for a moment and replied, "Rousseau."

Linda nodded, "I think I've heard that name."

"Balzac."

Her eyes widened under her sunglasses, "Wow, really?"

Eric nodded, "And Tchaikovsky."

Linda's mouth dropped in disbelief, but then she suddenly seemed to be 'in character', dramatically waving her Prada handbag and declared, "Little Eric, pick out whatever you want; I'll buy it for you."

"..."

Linda seemed a bit too excited and momentarily forgot to keep her voice low. A few other customers and staff in the store had already noticed the mismatched couple, and her words drew another wave of condescending glances toward Eric.

As they walked through the appliance area, Eric spotted the Apple brand display and led Linda over.

After browsing, Eric found himself uninterested in Apple's retro Macintosh computers and PowerBook notebooks. His current laptop was an IBM ThinkPad, and without Steve Jobs, Apple's product designs looked pretty shabby.

However, a small tablet-like device caught Eric's attention.

He gestured for the cashier, who had been shooting Linda judgmental glances, to retrieve the tablet from behind the counter. Eric examined it, and upon seeing the "on" label, he recalled that it must be Apple's early Newton tablet.

The cashier, seeing Eric clumsily fiddling with the tablet and poking at the screen, couldn't hide his contempt. He was annoyed that Eric had a stunning beauty like Linda on his arm. After watching Eric futilely poke the screen with his finger for a moment, he finally handed him a stylus, saying stiffly, "Sir, this tablet requires a stylus for use."

"Oh, I completely forgot about that," Eric mumbled, taking the stylus, and this time he was able to use it without any trouble.

"This is Apple's latest Newton MP110 series, featuring advanced handwriting recognition, great for high-end businesspeople. It's priced at $799," the cashier emphasized the price, aware that for most average people, $799 was pretty steep, especially for such a basic device, which could even be deemed luxury given its meager capabilities. To his disappointment, Eric showed no reaction at all.

Linda, concealed behind her sunglasses, raised an eyebrow and wore a mischievous grin.

After trying out the tablet's notepad, memo, and calendar features, Eric finally looked up at the cashier and asked, "What material is the screen made of?"

"What?" the cashier looked taken aback.

"I mean, is the touchscreen made from STN or TFT?"

The cashier finally understood but was unable to answer. Noticing Linda's smirk, he felt even more flustered. "I'm not quite sure about that."

Eric asked again, "What type of battery does it use?"

The cashier was clearer on this: "It uses the latest lithium-ion battery developed by Sony, with a capacity over twice that of the standard nickel-metal hydride battery."

"Oh," Eric nodded before continuing, "What's the storage capacity and what type of storage chip does it use?"

The cashier was left speechless, caught off guard. He sensed Eric was just trying to make him squirm and, feeling embarrassed, replied angrily, "Sir, I'm just a salesperson, not an engineer. Please don't cause a scene."

Before Eric could interject, Linda was unwilling to let that slide. "Hey, if you don't know anything about the product, why are you even working as a salesperson? And with that attitude? Be careful, or I'm going to file a complaint!"

The cashier adopted a dismissive demeanor. "Lady, please don't wave your phony Prada around in front of me. My girlfriend has one just like it, bought from a proper retailer. Yours looks like a fake. I suspect you two are scammers, and if you keep causing a ruckus, I'll call security."

Linda's handbag was an internal limited edition model, vastly different from the regular styles sold in shops. It caught her off-guard to be accused of having a counterfeit. She turned to Eric, her expression one of helplessness.

Eric shrugged slightly, not wishing to escalate the situation. As he was about to lead Linda away, a middle-aged white man wearing glasses hurried over, asking the cashier, "Jack, what's going on here?"

"They..." the cashier named Jack started to whine in a low voice.

After hearing him out, the middle-aged man waved him off and turned to speak with Eric and Linda. However, when he got a good look at Eric, his eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Unable to confirm but instinctively feeling cautious, he said, "Sir, I'm the manager here, Rhett Jackman. You can call me Rhett. May I assist you?"

"Sure," Eric replied with a smile, moving closer to the counter again and resuming his inquiry about the Newton tablet.

Rhett Jackman differed from the earlier cashier; he was knowledgeable and replied with a smile, "This tablet utilizes the latest TFT LCD screen, with 1MB memory and 4MB storage, employing Toshiba's flash memory chip."

"Do you have other electronics here that use flash technology?"

"Absolutely, our phones, digital cameras, and computers all incorporate that technology."

Eric continued asking, "What's the maximum storage capacity for these types of chips?"

Rhett Jackman thought for a moment and said, "The largest capacity would belong to the CF memory card developed by SanDisk. This product was launched last year and is primarily used in digital cameras, with a maximum capacity of 16MB. If you're interested, I can show you."

Sixteen megabytes was barely enough to store four MP3 tracks. Eric felt disappointed but decided to check it out anyway. "Let's go take a look. Also, prepare five of those tablets for me; I'll take them with me."

Linda asked, puzzled, "Eric, why are you buying so many?"

Eric smiled, "Gifts."

Linda still didn't quite get it, but Rhett Jackman raised an eyebrow, sensing that although this couple appeared mismatched, they weren't what they seemed. His suspicions were further confirmed.

He instructed the cashier at the counter to prepare the items for Eric while Rhett Jackman patiently led Eric toward the digital camera section with his ever-present smile.

At another counter, Rhett Jackman handed Eric a storage card no larger than a postage stamp. "Sir, this is the CF card, with 16MB storage, capable of holding up to 100 pictures. Do you need me to demonstrate it with a digital camera?"

Eric examined the card, then shook his head, "No need; it's too large for such small capacity."

Rhett Jackman remained unfazed, smiling, "Sir, this is the current technological limit. Five years ago, when flash chips first appeared, they only had 1MB of storage. Larger capacities are only achievable with hard drives."

"Oh," Eric's tone rose slightly as he suddenly recalled, "Are there hard drives that match the size of this CF card?"

"Can't say I've seen one," Rhett Jackman shook his head. "The smallest hard drive right now is Toshiba's 1.8-inch model, used in their portable handheld computers."

"Do you have any of those computers here?"

"Yes, please follow me," Rhett Jackman said, guiding Eric to the Toshiba product display. He presented a Toshiba Libretto 20 handheld computer to Eric. "This features a 6.1-inch TFT screen, 8MB memory, and 270MB storage, utilizing an internal 1.8-inch miniature hard drive."

That morning, after seeing Cindy's Walkman, Eric quickly thought of MP3 players. At this time, the MP3 audio format patent was held by Yahoo. Due to their open licensing policy, it had become the most widely used audio format, not only online but also appearing in some CD music albums.

Last weekend, while discussing Yahoo's future strategies with Chris, they explored the possibilities of Yahoo venturing into hardware products, and now Eric realized that an MP3 player would be the ideal fit.

If he could gain control over all the related MP3 player patents, Eric could leverage Yahoo to create an online music store, effectively controlling the entire music sales supply chain from internet to hardware. North America's strict music copyright laws and the common willingness to pay for music indicated a significant potential for an online music store, especially if Yahoo established a monopolistic sales platform, potentially yielding better profits than hardware sales.

Additionally, MP3 players could be integrated into Nokia phones, presenting another growth avenue.

As he mused over all this, Eric briefly tested the Toshiba handheld computer as like a mini-laptop. Unconsciously, he asked, "Can I take a look inside?"

Rhett Jackman hesitated for a moment but quickly replied, "Of course, sir, but we don't have the tools here. Would you like to come to my office?"

Eric was about to decline, considering the request seemed a bit excessive. But upon hearing Rhett's response, he suddenly realized and smiled, "You recognized me, didn't you?"

Rhett Jackman chuckled and replied, "If you hadn't asked that question, I wouldn't have been able to put all the pieces together, Mr. Williams."

*****

/Sayonara816.