Home > Halt and Catch Fire

Up Helly Aa

"Heart of the City" playing on radio

♪ Where the alligator roams ♪

♪ I'm a little lost lamb... ♪

( Cameron groans ) How much longer?

Donna: 300 miles, give or take.

( radio tuning )

Cameron: What time do we get to Vegas?

9:00 a.m.?

"Psycho Killer" playing on radio

♪ I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax ♪

♪ I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire... ♪

There's napkins in the glove box.

♪ Don't touch me, I'm a real live wire... ♪

Nice ending. Mysterious.

Leave 'em wanting more.

Huh.

Cameron: Why are we freaking out about this, anyway?

I mean, it's a trade show.

They want the Giant. The pressure's on them.

Gordon: Okay, you think thousands of vendors

are just gonna magically swarm our booth?

- Hell, yes. Get in line. - The booth isn't the point.

That's just a way to identify the real buyers and then get them up to our suite.

For the opening night party.

Yeah, suite's where the action is.

It's where we nail down all the real deals.

Everybody's terrified.

Nobody knows which technology's gonna win.

Oh, your friends are trying to rip you off.

Your enemies are buying you drinks.

It's a catfight. It's total chaos.

It's capitalism at its finest.

( groans )

In the Scottish Isles, they hold a festival on the coldest day of the year.

The townspeople dress up in Viking costumes and compete in squads,

drinking and singing and dancing.

Finally at midnight, they march up to a huge wooden ship in the town square.

Then what?

Then the winners burn it to the ground.

♪ Better run-run, run-run, run-run run away... ♪

Why the hell did you just tell us that?

( groans )

( music continues )

Good morning. Checking in?

Cardiff Electric.

We have a three-bedroom suite on the ninth floor.

Excellent. If you'd just fill out your registration card.

I'm sorry, did you say Cardiff?

- That's right. - Excuse me for one moment.

- I'm the manager. - Uh, John Bosworth.

- Is there a problem? - I'm afraid so.

We ran your card this morning and it was declined.

We tried to call, but no answer.

Unfortunately, we had no choice but to release your room.

That's absurd.

- Let me call the credit card company. - We already did.

( quietly ) Your corporate account has been frozen... due to a pending criminal investigation.

Here, take a personal card.

You won't have any problem with this.

"Joseph MacMillan." I thought you were John Bosworth.

If I can pay, what does it matter?

I'm sorry, we're fully booked.

I'm willing to add a $200 premium per night.

I have a waiting list 30 names long for that room.

Legitimate names.

So, what now?

( sighs )

( theme music playing )

We lost our booth.

The floor manager said he might be able to squeeze us in.

I'm supposed to get back to him in 20 minutes.

- Well, that gives us time to find another hotel. - The expo's right next door.

We move off the Strip, we lose our base, all our walk-in traffic.

Our welcoming party's tonight. Everyone stays here.

But it's booked. What are we supposed to do, bribe somebody?

- I tried that. - Cameron: Christ, we're in Las Vegas.

We have $11,000 in cash.

Can we get off our asses and make a move?

Hey, Protonix Printers, suite 1475.

Those brothers from Sunnyvale, remember?

No.

They were, like, six booths away from us in '81.

I remember their demo. It sucked.

Call the floor manager. Set the meet.

I don't care where it is or how much it costs, just get us a booth.

You, find your best blue suit and change in the bathroom.

- What are we doing? - We're gonna make room in the inn.

Come on, hustle up.

"In text mode, the printer is logic-seeking.

What do I mean by that, you ask?

I mean it can print with its head moving in both directions.

Yes, you heard that right."

Man: "Now, your average dot matrix printer, your DMP,

your MX-80, restricts you to a standard output size."

"Which is fine for business letters and general accounting and such..."

"But what about those moments that demand a more personal touch?"

"That's where the OccasionMaster steps in.

With our pre-set fonts and balloons and sparkles graphics, your near and dearest are guaranteed a special feeling.

Result-- let's pass out those samples, Petey.

From the garden party to the bachelor party, the OccasionMaster is truly..."

Both: "Your master of ceremonies."

Any questions?

Serial port or parallel?

Well, it's just parallel for now, but that's something that we hope to upgrade in the future.

And you're asking how much for it?

Oh, uh, $900 plus tax.

Gordon: What's the CPS rate?

It's 80 to 100, depending.

So, I'm supposed to pay a thousand dollars to wait 20 minutes for that thing to spit out a thank-you note when I can write my own in five?

100 CPS is quite fast, my friend.

Yeah, well, let's not act like it's lightning.

Especially with the graphics.

Can't you modify the head to go any faster?

We've been testing the OM with no problems for some time now.

- Show us. - Yeah, print something.

Fine, you want it faster?

Well, I'd like it cheaper, too.

( all chuckling )

( printer humming, whirring )

( crinkling, ripping )

( whining )

You know, I hear IBM's coming out with a multiple format paper feed.

Where'd you hear that?

I'm not supposed to tell you this, but...

We are coming out with a multiple format printer first of the year.

If I were you, I'd get out of our way.

What, just pack up and leave?

We put everything into this.

Look, I love when guys like you take us on, I really do.

A couple years ago, a gentleman out of Duluth developed his own word processor. Great features.

But it went head-to-head with DisplayWriter.

- What happened? - After his wife left him and he lost his house, he drove his car into a library.

I think he's still recuperating in a mental hospital upstate.

We already checked in. The suite's paid up through the end of the week.

Maybe I can help.

We rented two floors and we're still bursting at the seams.

I got guys sleeping on the carpet.

You know, IBM might be able to take that suite off your hands.

Full freight.

I'm not looking to screw you guys over.

If we could break even...

That would be huge.

- Except. - Man #2: What?

The big spread we ordered for tonight.

- ( sighs ) - You'd have to eat that cost.

All that shrimp.

Shrimp?

( chatter )

This is highway robbery.

Our booth was supposed to be in the middle.

You're late and your check bounced.

You're lucky I have this one left.

Hey, get down from there before you hurt yourself.

All of your material as ordered.

Wait, I need more wall space. I can't fit all this on one crummy backing.

Not my problem, lady.

- Free software? - Jesus.

Free software.

That's one way to make a living.

Donna: No, that's not their living.

They're porn stars moonlighting as "booth babes."

Vegas figured out that computer types don't gamble, so they schedule a porn convention next door.

Same time every year.

I thought the action was in the suites.

Yeah, well, no one's coming to our suite if we don't get their attention.

( Donna grunts )

What?

What are you doing?

Look, I'll get them to the party, you make sure it's one to remember, okay?

- Babe #1: Thank you. - Babe #2: Hi. How are you?

( elevator bell rings )

Minus five. Minus 12, wait.

( switch clicks )

- Uh, plus five. - Bottom line, please.

- It won't start. - Yet. Yet, okay? It's probably nothing.

What we need is an antistatic workstation.

Take off your shoes. It's not the power supply.

Pack it up. We're moving into the bedroom.

"Blister in the Sun" playing

♪ When I'm out walking, I strut my stuff ♪

♪ And I'm so strung out ♪

♪ I'm high as a kite, I just might ♪

♪ Stop to check you out ♪

♪ Let me go on ♪

♪ Like a blister in the sun ♪

♪ Let me go on ♪

♪ Big hands, I know you're the one ♪

♪ Body and beats, I stain my sheets ♪

♪ I don't even know why ♪

♪ My girlfriend, she's at the end ♪

♪ She is starting to cry ♪

♪ Let me go on ♪

♪ Like a blister in the sun ♪

♪ Let me go on ♪

♪ Big hands, I know you're the one... ♪

( rattles )

( clicks )

♪ Let me go on ♪

♪ Like a blister in the sun ♪

♪ Let me go on ♪

♪ Big hands, I know you're the one. ♪

- Donna: What is that for? - Cameron: Touch-ups.

What? What's the matter? Is it not working?

Not yet.

Meaning what, it won't boot up?

Hardware issue. Not your problem.

Pick up those clothes, please?

( sighs )

( softly ) "A small company...

No one expected it to be anything...

...evolved into something great, something magnificent."

You gonna tell us how the booth looks?

Is anyone coming?

I would.

( knock on door )

( knock on door )

- Is this Cardiff Electric? - Yes. Yes, it is.

Okay. All right. Let's do it, man.

Oh, wow. Radical.

Yeah! Hey, check this out.

Cameron: Hey, can I get three more?

- Bartender: You got it. - Thanks.

"Heartbreak at 10,000 Feet" playing in background

Hey! Hey, man, is it ready yet?

- Is it ready yet? - No.

I mean, almost.

It's been "almost" for two hours.

You can have it fast or you can have it work.

- It's up to you. - ( sighs )

Cameron: Oh, come on, Xerox is still a job.

Not at PARC, not to the guys who created Ethernet.

This is pure research and experimentation.

Man: Donna Clark.

Donna: Oh, Wally Turner. My God, how long has it been?

You were pregnant with, uh-- with Joanie.

Hey, I got this new program-- GraphWrite. It's productivity fare, sizable pie charts and histograms, all in full color.

I'm serious. You have to see it.

See what?

I mean, isn't everything you guys do top secret?

You're right.

I shouldn't tell you about meta-classing or hypertext or object-oriented programming.

Stop.

Hey, where's Gordon?

Oh, he should be out any minute.

Love that you two are still working together.

So many couples that break up over the home life-work life thing.

I've seen this a million times.

But you guys, you've weathered the storm.

- Hey, congrats on the Giant. - ( glasses clink )

"Space Age Love Song" playing in background

( partygoers chanting ) Giant! Giant! Giant!

It's not mounting. I can reconfigure the drive, but that's gonna take time.

They're not gonna wait much longer.

Donna, I'm well aware of that.

It's too late. We go without it.

Wait, you're gonna do the demo without the demo?

It's Las Vegas, Gordon.

- Wha-- Joe...? - Time to bluff.

Wait! Wait!

( cheering )

"( Keep Feeling ) Fascination" playing in background

Come on, get close. Check it out, guys.

( crowd quiets )

You guys want me to turn it on?

All: Yeah!

- All: Ooh. - ( scattered whistling )

- Right here, right now? - All: Yeah.

- But wait a second. - ( groaning )

Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second.

See, Las Vegas knows how hard it is to build a computer.

Especially one as sleek and fast as our little bad boy right here.

But Las Vegas doesn't want to hear that our 886 processor is running 76% faster than the IBM XT.

( cheering )

It doesn't care that our integrated LCD screen makes the Giant a featherlight 15 pounds, that it's fully portable, fully compatible, and sexy as hell.

( all cheer )

No, Las Vegas wants us to have fun!

- ( all cheer ) - Why else would it schedule the world's largest porn convention right next door?

( scattered whoops )

Which leads me to our special guest tonight.

The Cardiff Electric VIPs.

Four lovely young ladies direct from the cinema.

- All: Ooh. - Yeah.

Wait, wait, wait. I wanna show you guys some spreadsheets.

- All: No! - Come on, let's do some word processing.

- ( hooting ) - Wait, you wanna meet the girls now,

- before the demo? - ( cheering )

Okay, okay, okay.

Only if you all catch up with us tomorrow on the floor.

Only if you all show up at the Cardiff Electric booth hungover, wrung out, just to watch this machine smoke every box in COMDEX.

( cheering )

All right, it's a deal.

So, tonight let's let the Giant turn you on.

"Sex ( I'm A... )" playing

( cheering )

Yeah!

Please never tell our daughters I was a part of this.

( yelling ) Why would I?

( cheering )

( yells ) Cardiff Electric!

♪ There's the sound and the smell of love in my mind... ♪

Man: Uh, usually, like, twice a year.

Once for COMDEX, once just for fun.

For fun-- that sounds really nice.

You have to come visit.

Nothing against Dallas. It looks great on TV.

But California's where it's at.

And you're young.

- I'll think about it. - What is there to think about?

- Earthquakes. - I don't feel them anymore.

- Cults? Serial killers? - That's all down in Los Angeles.

- The Grateful Dead. - Wow, you are mean.

( laughs )

I'm hungry. You want some pancakes?

Yeah.

Hey, you guys want pancakes?

- Pancakes? - Hell, yeah.

- Oh, yeah. - Let's go.

- Let's do it. - Yeah.

If the Giant does everything you say... it could be a contender for us.

Don't tease me if you're not for real, Dennis.

ComputerLand has nearly a thousand branches.

We invented computer retail. I can assure you, we're real.

Then why buy a specialty product from a podunk firm in Texas?

( groans )

You ever sell cars for a living, Joe?

No, never.

That's how I got started.

And I learned if you wanna sell station wagons, you'd better have a sports car to park in the window.

Looking forward to your demo tomorrow.

It's spinning. That should do it.

Load 'er up.

- ( beeps ) - Gordon: Yes.

Finally.

( all sigh )

( keyboard clicking )

Haven't done that since our honeymoon.

Oh, I haven't done that since college.

What? With who?

( humming )

Who?

Should we get him a blanket?

Hell, no. We're switching rooms.

Do you really think it'll sell?

If we nail the demo.

This could be so good.

For the girls, us.

For so long we've just gotten by.

Weird, huh?

I think they call it success, sweetheart.

( kisses )

Wally Turner dropped by. Did you see him?

Yeah, he cornered me with his sales pitch.

Still all about Wally.

I like his new software idea.

Yeah, I told him we'd spec it out on the Giant.

Wally thinks we still work together.

Yeah? What'd you tell him?

What am I gonna say? I'm really enjoying my dead-end job and having my mom raise my kids?

It's not exactly cocktail chatter.

What are you talking about, Donna?

You saved this project a dozen times.

We wouldn't have a motherboard without you.

We wouldn't have an entire machine without you.

- I know you know that. - Well, what?

You wanna join Cardiff? Get a front-row seat to the freak show?

I didn't say that.

But?

But it would've been nice if you'd asked.

You're right.

( glass taps )

I should have asked, but... look, a few months ago, I was in the Kill Room and I was working late all by myself.

And it hit me, how far behind we were.

And how hard I'd have to grind to get the Giant built.

And it was like climbing a cliff on a dare, where you hit an overhang and you can't go up, and it's too steep to climb back down.

And you realize what the word "jump" really means.

And if I held your hand and counted to three...

I wasn't sure you'd come with me.

We're married, Gordon.

We already jumped.

Yeah.

( clatters )

What's that?

A piece of the Hoover Dam.

You know what I like about it?

There's no circuits or wires.

It's so simple.

It is what it does.

( groans )

Did you have fun?

I ate pancakes and watched the sun come up with the Xerox boys.

That sounds entirely too wholesome.

When Bosworth came to me...

I should've come to you.

Cameron...

California--

what they're doing out there, it's really impressive.

Maybe you should go to Palo Alto.

Maybe we should.

( groans softly )

( Donna laughs )

Gordon, do you really need another AMD T-shirt?

Yeah, this is this year's.

Cameron: Hey, Windows looks cool.

Donna: Oh, yeah, but it was crawling with bugs.

Joe: I can't get over HP's touch screen.

Gordon: Good to see you. Yeah, it's a fad...

- Donna: Oh, look, look, look. - Gordon: ...guaranteed.

- ( crowd clapping ) - High-density floppy disks.

Oh, someone's hot.

- Cameron: Let's check it out. - Gordon: Why?

They'll be down at our booth in, like, 60 seconds.

And so I ask you, what is the point of a revolution if you have to sell your car to afford it?

Now, this isn't "The Jetsons."

We're not selling you a ray gun.

We're trying to give you the simplest product

with the most flexibility.

You want hard disk support? Plug it in.

A bigger monitor? Our fonts adjust automatically.

Of course, we think they're just fine as is.

8086 processing,

a double-sided motherboard...

- Donna... - Man: ...packed with functionality.

So strong, so fast, so simple, it's a wonder no one thought of it before.

The Slingshot.

( cameras clicking )

( crowd clapping )

Hunt: Because, as Goliath found out,

victory goes not to the swift, nor to the strong,

but to the little guy who strikes first.

Any questions?

Damn you, you son of a bitch!

- Brian: Hey, Donna! - I'm gonna kill you--

- Get off him! - Donna, come on.

Donna, let's go, come on.

Okay, okay.

Payback's a bitch.

But they copied our machine. They need schematics for that.

This is corporate espionage. I need to know what was compromised and the extent of the damage.

- Gordon: Out. - Cameron: What?

I never brought anything to T.I.

There were phone calls. Maybe he overheard-- or-- or that-- the fax you sent to the hotel.

Are you sleeping with him?

Answer the question.

- Are you sleeping with him? - No.

I kissed him, once.

Yeah, you kissed him and not the other way around?

Yeah, Gordon. Yeah, I kissed him.

And for two and a half seconds, I felt better than I've felt in two years.

Christ, Donna, you're a child.

There was nothing childish about it.

- I wanted him, and there were reasons. - Donna, he--

- Donna-- - There were you-and-me reasons because you can't pretend we were on some moonlit carriage ride.

He used you! He used you!

At least he encouraged me and rewarded me.

You believe that? You're blind, Donna.

You never even saw what he was doing!

And you never even picked me up out of a hole in the ground.

I lifted you up so many times. I carried you and the kids.

And I was tired and miserable and you didn't give a shit.

It wasn't an affair, but it should've been.

All right. Go on, then. You've made your decision.

- Oh, my God. - You go down to the front desk and you ask for his suite number!

I'm sure he'll make room for you!

Like you didn't pick the Giant over me every second of every single day.

Oh, my God, Donna. Donna, you're a cliché.

Both of you. Just a cheap rip-off of something that we built together.

- I would go, but it's all ruined for me now, - Yeah? Go.

- because that's what you want. - Go.

You want to be right more than you want me.

You know what, Donna? Maybe your parents were right about me.

I'm just a small-minded, petty, resentful little tyrant.

You know, part-time alcoholic, full-time failure as a father!

But I knew what I had with you, Donna.

And I never stopped trying to live up to that.

To you, Donna. To you, I never, ever gave up.

( door bangs )

( door closes )

( sighs ) They changed their mind.

Our dynamic OS, our design-- they don't care.

They want a station wagon.

The Slingshot's faster, it's cheaper.

So we're dead.

Did you hear that, Gordon?

They'll be in stores by Christmas.

( door closes )

( shuddering )

( door closes, clattering )

My heart goes out to you.

I know how painful this must be.

But when two paths converge, intentionally or not, they don't always continue on together.

One peels off,

the other dead-ends.

( scoffs )

Let's skip the "Two Roads in a Wood" bullshit. You're not Robert Frost.

You're pawnshop hacks selling my dream under a cheap plastic mask.

( chuckles ) I heard you were touchy.

That LCD screen, where did you find it, a Taiwanese barge?

Apologize, pull your product, and I'll consider not suing.

There's no upside to litigation, Joe.

By the time you get in front of a jury, we'll be on our third generation.

And good luck persuading them that your BIOS is such a nobler copy of IBM's than ours.

We got there first. Deal with it.

You must be proud.

Hiring our sloppy seconds, pumping a competitor's wife.

That's one way to do business.

The opportunity presented itself.

No laws were broken.

Are you telling me you'd do different?

- I'd be more careful. - Oh, please.

Your SVP's under indictment, you're sleeping with your lead coder, not to mention that little incident back in Armonk.

Let me see if I get this right.

Following an argument with your father, you ruptured a water main, flooded an entire IBM data center?

Whew.

Daddy musta made you pretty angry.

Oh, yeah. I did my homework on you, all right.

You got quite the fan club back there in New York.

You recognize that number?

That's your boss, Nathan Cardiff.

Now, you're gonna go upstairs, you're gonna call him, and tell him that I offered you $2 million in Slingshot stock for the Giant.

Which is more than you're gonna get in the settlement.

Why would we sell to you?

'Cause that covers your R&D nut, gets you out whole as opposed to losing everything for nothing.

- Then you strip us for parts? - ( sighs )

There's some good ideas in that machine, Joe.

Your mistake was falling in love with that precious query-based interface.

Maybe it's ahead of its time, but it's a memory hog.

We'll never sell to you.

After we sign with ComputerLand, it's academic.

Take it or not.

Oh, and tell Donna it wasn't personal.

I feel sorry for you, Mr. Whitmarsh.

You cheated yourself.

You'll never create anything of your own.

Well, neither will you.

You seem to have forgotten, we're in the compatible business.

You tried to be good.

We just had to be good enough.

( elevator bell rings )

Gordon: You know, it's funny-- it's funny how much better it tastes when you've paid five bucks for it.

( laughs )

How are we doing?

Fine, I guess.

I stripped out the daughter board and all the extraneous memory.

Where's my operating system?

Wally lent me MS-DOS.

It'll beat the Slingshot on speed and be a hundred bucks cheaper.

You took it out.

Everything that made it unique.

We had a problem. Now we have a product.

You can't let him do this.

Joe.

Tell him.

He's wrong. This is wrong.

It's what's right for the machine.

( gasping )

Oh, my God--

- It's called survival. - Don't speak to me.

It's an existential choice. Sell none of the original

- or a million of these. - And no one will remember a single one.

- It's still our machine. - It's empty.

We need to demo by the end of business or we're dead.

- I need you there. - Bullshit!

Okay, how about... I want you there?

I want you with me.

Then put it back in.

You'll see that whether it's Multiplan or Lotus 1-2-3, the Giant runs all your business software on one compact, compatible package.

What happens when the workday ends?

You pack up your Giant, bring it home,

and in five minutes, fire up "Rocky's Boots" for the kids.

( buzzing )

I keep telling him, "Watch out for that alligator."

( scattered laughter )

Whether it's composing music or cobbling together your family finances, the Giant is there.

It's not just a part of your family, it's a part of your life.

Um, are there any questions?

I heard it asks you stuff, like it learns your name.

Gordon: Where'd you hear that?

It sounds a little "Buck Rogers."

So, it's fast and it runs all the software, but besides portability, I'm not seeing a lot that's special.

Nothing unique.

"Unique." Interesting word choice.

What are you really asking for?

Something special? Give me something warm, something fuzzy?

This is a machine.

It's not your friend, it's your employee.

It works for you.

And the way it should be evaluated is thus--

"How well and how fast does it do the things I ask?"

Answer-- "Instantly." Anything less is a waste of your time.

"What is the margin of error?" Answer-- "Zero."

Anything more and you've failed.

Here's another word, one that's infinitely more important than "unique" will ever be-- "speed."

Let's cut through the bullshit and act like adults.

You want speed,

and this machine is the fastest one you'll find, period.

You wanna play a game with your kid, join him for craft time at preschool.

You want a buddy? Buy a dog.

You want to chase rainbows, tilt the room? Walk outside.

There are a hundred casinos out there

built for delusional people like you

who think their world is gonna change so easily.

You wanna get something done, buy one of these.

So, how did you get everything to fit?

Um, chips on both sides.

Who thought of that?

My wife.

Donna Clark.

( camera shutter clicks )

How'd you fix the heat problem?

We vented the side panels and changed the chip layout.

It got a lot easier after we fired you.

Spectators: Ooh...!

What about IBM? I heard they might be coming out with a portable.

I'm sick of hearing about IBM.

IBM scraps more projects in a day than any of us attempt in a year.

What we did was harder.

We took one idea all the way... and it cost us.

It cost us people.

But the evidence of that cost is here.

It's in the damn metal.

( camera shutter clicks )

( applause )

Joe, why, I gotta tell ya.

Any man who can speed up a machine by that much that fast has got a very bright future in PCs.

Thank you, Dennis.

How does 60,000 units at, say, $900 a pop sound?

It's a start.

Okay... 70,000.

We'll negotiate tomorrow.

( pops )

It's warm. Needs ice.

I'll get it.

( door opens, closes )

( voices speaking softly )

( computer pings, whirrs )

Computer voice: Hello, I'm Macintosh.

( crowd gasping )

You okay, man? What's the matter?

It speaks.

( music playing )