[speaker001:] [Music] Hello.
[speaker002:] Hello.
[speaker001:] Hey, how you doing?
[speaker002:] Not bad, not bad. What's your name?
[speaker001:] Fernando.
[speaker002:] Fernando. My name is Nick.
[speaker001:] Wait. Let me turn off my stereo here [music].
[speaker002:] Sure [cough].
[speaker001:] Because I've been, like, waiting, like, for about ten minutes to get connected to somebody.
[speaker002:] Really?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Phew [almost like a whistling sound]. Man, I'm,
[speaker001:] Yeah. What time is it over th-, are you, are you in Dallas?
[speaker002:] No, no. I'm in Detroit. Or not Detroit. I'm in, uh, California.
[speaker001:] Are you?
[speaker002:] Yeah. I.
[speaker001:] Because every time I got through, I went to Dallas, Texas.
[speaker002:] Really?
[speaker001:] Yeah. I'm in North Carolina.
[speaker002:] Oh. Well, you're on the, uh, let's see,
[speaker001:] On the other coast [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah, twenty-one [sounds like he is talking to someone other than speaker]. Yeah. Shoot man, it's, what, midnight almost?
[speaker001:] What? Yeah, yeah. It's, uh, I'm watching SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE here.
[speaker002:] Yeah, [LAUGHTER] okay. All right. Well I guess we're supposed to talk, what about credit card?
[speaker001:] W-, wait. Wh-, what did, how, how did you get to know about the T I thing?
[speaker002:] Oh, one of my instructors, uh, said that they were doing something like this and.
[speaker001:] Wha-, what are you working on [breathing]?
[speaker002:] A, a Masters in, uh, information systems.
[speaker001:] Really. I'm doing my Masters in, in computer science and computer engineering.
[speaker002:] Yeah? Where at?
[speaker001:] At North Carolina State University.
[speaker002:] Hey. How do you like it out there [clicking]?
[speaker001:] Uh, I don't. Because, uh, I come from a lot, a bigger city than this one and
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I, I'm in Raleigh and,
[speaker002:] Oh. Raleigh Durham. Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah. That area. And it's really small. All, all you have is like towns built around universities.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Like Chapel Hill?
[speaker002:] Yeah. So it, it's basically a bunch of small towns anyway. Kind of quaint little towns but they
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] don't have a whole lot there.
[speaker001:] Where you at?
[speaker002:] Uh, well, I'm in Monterey, California right now [barking]. Yeah.
[speaker001:] Oh, okay. So, so I mean, it's like this, this town probably has like two hundred and fifty thousand people and that's about it.
[speaker002:] Two hundred fifty?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Okay. It, it's, it's a lot bigger than Monterey is. But we're just, uh, just south of, uh, San Jose and San Francisco.
[speaker001:] Oh, okay.
[speaker002:] And it's only a couple of hours away or a hour away to a, you know, to a large city.
[speaker001:] So, so where do you go? Do you go to Berkeley?
[speaker002:] No, no. I go to the, it's the naval postgraduate school out here.
[speaker001:] Oh, okay. Because, uh, I was looking at, at the,
[speaker002:] [Cough].
[speaker001:] doctorate degree in computer science center at Berkeley [sigh].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And they're asking like for a, uh, G P A of like three point seven or something
[speaker002:] [Thumping] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] like that. And like they're looking like for, uh, G R E like ninety-nine percentile and this and that.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And it's like,
[speaker002:] Well, that's what they look for. Whether or not they get it is hard to say [NOISE] [sounds like a chair is drug across the floor]. * spelling: "dragged", not "drug" in this case
[speaker001:] [Swallowing] Yeah, I know. That's why, that's why I didn't apply. I mean, it was like
[speaker002:] Yeah [talking].
[speaker001:] for me, it was like practically impossible to get between like ninety and,
[speaker002:] [Talking].
[speaker001:] ninety-nine percentile on the, on the verbal part.
[speaker002:] Yeah. It's pretty tough. It's pretty tough [talking]. I, uh, let's face it, you know. And, you know, I, you know, did the, you know, as far as, I found it a lot of times with, regards to education, you know, the school only takes you so far, you know. It's what you do.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] You know. So, uh, I don't lose any sleep, sleep over stuff like that.
[speaker001:] So, are, are you going to go for your Doctorate?
[speaker002:] Probably not. See I'm in the Navy.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And, uh, you know, most of the Navy funds that I probably won't do it until I, if I do do it, it will be after I get out of the Navy.
[speaker001:] When do you get out?
[speaker002:] Oh, probably be another twelve years.
[speaker001:] Oh, okay [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Oh, you know I like what I'm doing right now.
[speaker001:] But, uh, but what if they pay for it?
[speaker002:] Excuse me?
[speaker001:] [Swallowing] What if they pay for?
[speaker002:] If they pay for a P H D?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Nah, they won't pay for it. They've, I think they have maybe two people a year go get, get their P H D.
[speaker001:] Because I know, I know a couple of people here that work for, uh, [inhaling] the Army. Uh,
[speaker002:] Yeah. They civilians or, uh, military?
[speaker001:] I think, I think they're military. But, {E I
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [popping].
[speaker001:] mean, } the guy is still in.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And, uh, h-, uh, he works over in Maryland [swallowing].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [talking].
[speaker001:] And so he's doing his Masters here. They gave him like a scholarship like for a year.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And he's doing it in like, in a year and a summer.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And so he's getting that and, uh
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] they said like they got a lot of benefits and that. That's why you want to join.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But, uh, this guy, I mean you can earn a lot more money so you say, I go why you still there if you can earn a lot more money, once you've get your, your, your Masters.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] They go, well they got a lot of benefits that would go with it so.
[speaker002:] Well, a lot of times it's, you know, a lot of times it's not the money [barking] that keeps pe-, that keeps people in.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] They, they like what they're doing. They, you know, they feel good about what they're doing. That type of thing. It's more [popping],
[speaker001:] But I mean, I mean, you, the, once you get your Masters, you can be earning between, anywhere between like thirty-seven, forty-five thousand a year.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [barking].
[speaker001:] And
[speaker002:] Oh, easily, I'm sure.
[speaker001:] and that's not what they're paying.
[speaker002:] No. Well, it depends on what rank you are, of course [barking].
[speaker001:] Yeah. Yeah, I know [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] I mean, like I say, if you're, if you're, you know, if you're at an upper level in the rank category, you know, you're probably pulling down close to seventy grand a year.
[speaker001:] Yeah. But that's, uh,
[speaker002:] Yeah. Those are few and far between though.
[speaker001:] Yeah. It's like,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] it's like, uh, in I B M. In I B M, you can get certain points
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, uh, everyone's a manager. But nobody can get one more point to become, you know, like whatever you need to earn so much money.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Since I imagine it's fairly competitive.
[speaker001:] Yeah. It's like, no I, I mean, I B M is like, there's a joke about I B M which says, you know, it's like, uh, all, all the major companies get into a, a boating race, right?
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And so, I B M says well we have, we have to have a team, right.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [NOISE].
[speaker001:] And then they come in last and they have this whole team, you know, analyze why they came in last right. Because the person asked for it.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Saying, he goes, uh, the problem was that there were five people saying row, row, row and one person rowing, right.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] So he goes, have you come up with a -lution, uh, have you come up with a solution? They go, yeah, change the rower [LAUGHTER]. You know, it's like everyone's a,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] manager but, you know, it's like
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] only use like one person does the work so.
[speaker002:] Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.
[speaker001:] Yeah. So.
[speaker002:] Yeah. I don't know, that can be, that, that can really slow you down.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Well, that's the way it works. I mean, that's, that's why they're having problems. I mean, everyone's a manager and,
[speaker002:] I didn't realize that.
[speaker001:] Yeah. I mean, it's like, it's like the people that actually do the work there
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] are, uh, very few. And then the other people just plan it, you know. It's like, it's like have you, have
[speaker002:] push paper around.
[speaker001:] have you ever seen the commercial like for Federal Express where the, with, uh, the think tank?
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] You know, like all these people are just standing, sitting around, just going, you know, like what shall we do? Has anybody thought of anything?
[speaker002:] [Cough].
[speaker001:] No. And then this guy from Federal, Federal Express comes along. They go what's that? This track which it's going around the world and they can tell you where your package is anywhere, any time.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And so it's like the same thing with I B M. You know, so they have this think tank. And they got to come up with ideas. But, see, uh, the, the thing is, that I B M is so stabilized that everybody will buy their stuff.
[speaker002:] [Popping] Yeah. Oh, yeah. They've got a, they've got basically a, uh, you know, a lock on a lot of the market.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And a lot of times you figure, you know, with the support that they provide, you know, people generally go with that because they figure that the, you know, you probably won't get fired for getting I B M material. Whereas if you try something different, they'll
[speaker001:] And it fails and you're dead.
[speaker002:] they'll say yeah, why didn't you buy, why didn't you try something more mainline.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Well I B M doesn't fire anybody. Because
[speaker002:] [Throat clearing] No.
[speaker001:] uh, what they do is they, they put you in a different job.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Which y-, you actually are like sitting around not doing anything. So you quit.
[speaker002:] Uh.
[speaker001:] I mean that's their policy. They never fire anybody unless you're caught doing something illegally.
[speaker002:] Illegal or something like that, yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah, like if you're stealing something or doing anything like that [swallowing].
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] But they won't let you off. What they'll do is like [sigh] suppose, you know, like you're a manager. So they'll put
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] you into keeping up the paper, you know. It's like how much paper is going in? And then you
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] say that's not my job, so you quit.
[speaker002:] So, in other words, that's the way they force
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] people out [cough]. That's why they can say, you know, there's no layoff
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] policy. But it does-, they don't really say that, you know, you're, you're always going to have great career
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] conditions. He-, hey, that's kind of sad.
[speaker001:] No, but I mean, it's like, it's like they, they have just like different policy. I don't know. My dad works for them but it's like I B M like never in their commercials, they never put down any other company, you know. It's like
[speaker002:] No.
[speaker001:] they won't say,
[speaker002:] Well, they're the standard right now. Or as far as that goes, you know, people think of computers, they think of I B M a lot of times. And the main,
[speaker001:] Yeah. Because see what happens is they have a good backup policy.
[speaker002:] [Cough].
[speaker001:] And anybody can fix it.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And so that's what you're going to go for.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Well, you know, that's, that's a, that's a big thing.
[speaker001:] And, and, you know, it's like, for example, like Leading Edge. Have you ever heard of Leading Edge?
[speaker002:] Yeah. They are out of Korea right.
[speaker001:] What?
[speaker002:] Leading Edge. Don't they pro-,
[speaker001:] They, they made like, uh, small personal computers.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Small P C -s. they're out of Korea right?
[speaker001:] I don't know. I don't know. But what they do is, what they did, I don't know, is buy all the parts that I B M would throw away.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And build an I B M P C with all the parts that I B M would throw away.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] [Cough].
[speaker001:] for example, you test a chip. It can't last seven years but it can last five. I B M says let's throw it away. Leading Edge will say we'll buy it from you.
[speaker002:] Okay.
[speaker001:] And so that's, I mean, they're still around I think.
[speaker002:] Yeah. I've seen, well I've seen them around anyway. You know.
[speaker001:] [Clicking] [swallowing] So, that's what they do. They buy all, all the things that I B M throws away and they, and that's why they're so compatible.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Because I mean and by the time you have computer for five years, you're going to throw it away anyway. You know.
[speaker002:] Most people do. Or they have to anyway.
[speaker001:] Well, I mean, there's like, well in a way you realize, I mean, one t-, one of my teachers got this computer which, you know, it's like, uh, voice, uh, synthesizing stuff.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And he got that. He said, you know, it's like, uh, [swallowing] I was testing it * LISTEN to this sequence that begins here and ends with A.215 utt 11. I can't tell how much Speaker A is quoting, and how much he'she is directly addressing Speaker B. and it was wonderful. And then when you tried to erase and correct, you know, all the errors in your voice, it takes up all your memory.
[speaker002:] Wow.
[speaker001:] And I want more, you know. And it's like Jesus Christ, you know, it's like why do you want more. Because it's like one second of recording. I mean you put into Wave
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and you want to correct the errors into Wave, it takes so much, I mean, it's like, of course it does. I mean, by the times it transforms into Wave by mark off model and you put it in there, and you want to correct those. And then, you know, you're trying to make the, the Wave smooth so you can approximately, of course it's going to take a lot. Imagine, imagine
[speaker002:] It's amazing. Yeah.
[speaker001:] what it is for us to make mark off models, you know. It's like, [LAUGHTER] Jesus Christ.
[speaker002:] Well, when you get, you know, when you get right down to it, the, uh, the more they can do for you, the more, uh, like I say, the more, the more memory they're going to require.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah. Both, both in terms in Ram as well as, uh, you know, standard
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] memory or disk mem-, disk base, so.
[speaker001:] Well, like they say, like nobody can get enough, you know. It's like once you have something, and it's like
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah. You find out more,
[speaker001:] I was watching this program on T V yesterday. In nineteen seventy-six
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] NASA came up with Three D graphics. Right.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And they were showing this like Three D g-, Three D graphics view of like,
[speaker002:] Like the deal?
[speaker001:] What? No, no, no.
[speaker002:] Like a hologram?
[speaker001:] This is like, this is like
[speaker002:] With just graphics on, on a,
[speaker001:] video game stuff. Okay?
[speaker002:] Okay [cough].
[speaker001:] But the only thing was, that it was just lines, okay. Like if you [breathing],