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Of the movements of Swiftvox and the others, Prism knew nothing at all. Their roots in the translation-machine field were still too shallow to catch any intelligence worth having.
But Ryan's father could guess. Those companies were certainly conferring over countermeasures already.
From here on, it would simply come down to whose methods proved the cleverer.
The assorted permits for selling the translation machine had been in motion for a long while, and the machine's own product certification, once physical units existed, was pushed through at the fastest possible speed.
Whenever Prism needed procedures handled domestically, it was always special cases specially handled. The word smooth hardly covered it.
Even state enterprises got snagged on paperwork now and again. Prism alone never did. So long as a thing was legal, it got processed fast.
Once the permits came down, all the production capacity readied earlier was thrown into manufacturing.
By his father's plan, the translation machine and the simultaneous interpretation earbuds together would run to only three hundred thousand units in total: a mere one hundred thousand machines, and two hundred thousand pairs of earbuds.
As for pricing, the translation machine tracked the market's first-tier products: 3,299 per unit, 2,999 after discount.
The interpretation earbuds came far cheaper, at only 799, and the earbuds doubled as perfectly ordinary wireless earbuds besides, with sound quality at a first-rate level among their kind.
"For these two products, I've never planned on them earning us much of anything. As long as they don't lose money, that's enough."
When he and Ryan talked over the product strategy, his father put it to him exactly that way.
"What Prism owns that's worth the most: first, this brand. Second, this technology. As long as those two things aren't lost, then whatever product we make, people will buy in, and the ones buying in won't be few."
"So in my thinking, we're going to use these two products to feed our brand's image. Next, I'll fight to push them into every major international forum in the world, and use that to shape our brand's high-end image another step further."
Ryan nodded along with his father's thinking. This was also the old road Swiftvox itself had walked.
If Prism could take the simultaneous interpretation business of a few key international conferences, it would vault upward at a stroke, into the world's first rank.
In AI translation, genuinely demonstrating how strong, how formidable your technology really is, is no easy matter.
The industry as a rule boasts of translation accuracy in the ninety-percents, or of passing advanced English certification levels, and beyond that can produce no standard better suited to reaching the general public.
When such claims first appeared they were fresh enough. But with everyone boasting in the same breath, the public was soon sick to death of hearing it.
Everyone in AI translation talked that way. The homogenization was simply too severe.
If, at a moment like this, one could take the simultaneous interpretation business of a few international governmental or academic forums, and collect a few championships from the international AI-translation competitions besides, Prism's technical superiority would stand out at once.
A technology used in settings as exacting as governmental and academic forums, could that be lumped in with the rest of the gaudy cheap goods?
That way, not only would the reputation of Prism's AI translation rise; even the Prism AI standing behind it could, as a matter of course, put on a world-class halo.
And with that halo in place, a great deal of trouble in publicity could simply be skipped.
And so, with the machines still being stocked, Prism had already opened its publicity offensive, releasing the product's promotional film along the way.
The translation machine and the interpretation earbuds both carried the model name Hermes, the two distinguished by product type.
Announced alongside it was the presale date.
January 11th, twelve noon. Ten days before New Year's Eve.
Once the news went out, neither the industry peers nor the capital markets showed much surprise.
That Prism meant to march into translation machines had long been an open secret, plain to every last person.
It was the Swiftvox Group's market value that fell on the news. In under a single day, the share price dropped in answer, like floodwater through an opened gate, plunging eight percent and very nearly striking the exchange's daily floor.
This was because Swiftvox's strategy in recent years had been dual-wheel drive, business and consumer both: enterprise-grade services and products aimed at companies of every kind, alongside consumer-grade products aimed at individuals.
And the translation machine was Swiftvox's key position in the consumer market, and the best-developed of them.
And now, wonderful. A fierce tiger had shoved its way in, one wheel of the carriage looked ready to fail, and the share price naturally had to fall.
Even the company's market value, formerly north of eighty billion, went down in a great sprawl alongside the shares, leaving Swiftvox's CEO Brian White nursing a splitting head, and the intent to join hands with his industry peers against Prism growing stronger by the day...
As for the ordinary onlooking public, Prism setting out to build translation machines counted as a middling piece of fresh news.
In this day and age, more and more people traveled abroad, and the translation apps on phones could not fully cover daily needs.
And abroad, one sometimes ran into places with no network at all, which was why plenty of people bought translation machines capable of offline work.
These people watched the machine's promotional film, and grew excited at everything it described.
In the film, Prism painted a world where every language flowed into every other.
People would carry the machine when they traveled. One light press, and every language became intelligible, easy conversation with anyone at all.
Ordering at a restaurant, one needed only to photograph the menu with the machine, and the delicious dishes on it would be rendered accurately into your own language, and the AI could even take the dish names and search the web on its own for their exact ingredients and preparation.
And attending international conferences or lectures, people would wear the interpretation earbuds, and the different languages of the room would turn into stream upon stream of information, flowing out of microphones and mouths, poured into the earbuds of everyone present.
There were business meetings besides, everyone with interpretation earbuds at their ears, the barriers of language and time crossed over, real-time conversation with almost no delay at all...
"If it's genuinely that capable, then I'd say it's worth a try."
"I've wanted to try a Prism product for ages. Sadly the prosthetics are no use to me, and Argus Image hasn't started charging yet, so this machine and these earbuds I truly do have to try!"
"For me, 2,999 is honestly just too expensive. Better to buy something practical from another brand."
"Agreed. 2,999 for a machine I'd barely use is hard to part with. For that money I could buy half a year of Argus Image. Wouldn't I rather have the AI paint me meme art?"
"Commenter above. A word, if you'll lend me a unit."
"I'll watch how the earbuds' word of mouth shapes up. If it's good, I might pick up a pair. As for the machine, I'll just see whether anyone's renting them out, and give it a try then."
Swiftvox and the other industry peers, reading these comments, all let out one long-held breath.
Judging by the public's commentary, both products were plainly being praised, not purchased.
A three-thousand translation machine clearly still sat beyond what a good many citizens could bear. Only the interpretation earbuds' sales might fare a little better.
But that did not mean they were about to lower their guard...
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Translator's note: there is no chapter 194 due to an earlier numbering error. The story continues in chapter 195 with nothing missing.
EXTRA CHAPTER FOR EVERY 500 POWERSTONES.