America 1982-Chapter 641 - 146: Press Conference_4
The fourth instance was when Mr. Donald Kennedy, the President of Stanford University, took to the stage to operate a live email debate with the former Education Minister. Broadcast live through a film crew in Washington, the big screen clearly displayed the former Education Minister bumbling over his keyboard in his study, and finally, due to his slow typing, calling his granddaughter to help him furiously email the Stanford University President. A barrage of emails helped the two convey their anger to each other.
Of course, this was also a sham, because Donald hadn’t had an email spat with the other party since the Education Minister retired. That these two old men could stand up and turn years of grudges into something akin to a live reality show was mainly because the former Education Minister had accepted a substantial appearance fee from WinStar. This email back-and-forth had nothing to do with academic or educational issues; it was purely a show.
But the big screen’s real-time display of their email content and their humorous exchange of barbs caused the audience to burst into laughter. The frequency of thirty-seven emails in ten minutes also demonstrated the immediacy and efficiency of internet email to everyone.
The fifth occurrence happened after an intermission performance, when Susy invited Guns N’ Roses to create and perform the theme song for AmigaOS, "As long as you are willing, Girl." Every set of AmigaOS came with this song built-in, allowing users to enjoy it without any charge.
At the end of the performance, Susy invited Guns N’ Roses to share their thoughts on the internet. The band’s lead singer, Axl Rose, expressed disdain, saying that he thought everything about the press conference was fake, just like their performance there. It wasn’t because they liked WinStar but because the gig paid well.
Susy claimed that all of it was real, just like the theme song said, as long as you are willing, you can do anything you want.
Then Axl Rose arrogantly asked Susy a tough question with the microphone in hand: People say we’re the best rock band in America, and if you say I can do anything with Amiga, let your Amiga lady tell me if there is a rock band on the other side of the Earth in the Soviet Union. If there is, I want to have a face-off with a Soviet rock band.
This question made many in the audience applaud loudly, and some even thought that Guns N’ Roses’ defiant attitude meant all of this couldn’t have been prearranged.
After all, not everyone was aware that America was inviting Soviets for a visit, and for the most part, to the American public, these two great nations were still in a very dangerous standoff.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Susy opened up AmigaOS, launched the browser, searched websites, and hopped from one webpage to another. Finally, the screen froze on one page, she turned around, pointed at the big screen, and confidently said, "I’ve said it before, Amiga can do anything for you if you’re willing. Here’s the answer you wanted: I’ll tell you, the Soviet Union has rock music, and AmigaOS has found them. Look, this is a Soviet website address. The string of numbers displayed there is the phone number for the agent of the Soviet Union’s most famous underground rock band. Boys, are you ready for a rock battle with the Soviet Union? I can help you make tactical moves."
"This press conference is so cool!" Quinn didn’t know when but had taken the seat next to Tommy, curling up her legs and munching on chips, her eyes fixed on the television screen, she asked, "Is that band number real, or did you just find some Russians exiled in America to pretend to be a rock band?"
"The webpage is fake; we can’t actually connect to any Soviet websites. I don’t even know if the Soviet Union has any public websites, but the number is real. It belongs to a very well-known Soviet rock band. You’re right, Susy’s level of faking things is very cool," Tommy said before turning his head to look at Quinn and scooted over, with a look of disgust, he said,
"Ma’am, could you take off that thing around your waist before you come out here? Please keep it away from me; don’t let it keep wetting my leg; I’m scared."
