Cloud computing is such a broad concept that no one can define it in a few short sentences, which is why, after the idea was first floated, it was dismissed by many as mere hype for a long time.
By the time Simon was reborn, however, cloud computing had already sunk deep into people's consciousness and become ubiquitous.
To ordinary users years later, online drives, cloud documents, mini-programs, and streaming media are all concrete applications of cloud computing.
For enterprises, cloud computing is the use of large-scale distributed parallel computing to squeeze the greatest possible efficiency from hardware and software resources.
Most people equate cloud computing with website hosting or server leasing, yet those are only the most basic services it offers, and even these differ sharply from traditional hosting.
Under the old model, a customer books a specific block of server space, and those machines are reserved exclusively for that customer; even if traffic drops to zero, the servers must stay powered, wasting vast amounts of resource.
Cloud computing provides highly elastic virtual server space. No particular machine is assigned; the system allocates capacity automatically and bills by the second. One physical server can now serve many customers simultaneously, eliminating idle time.
A company may normally need only 10 GB of space; during traffic spikes it suddenly requires 100 GB. Traditional hosting turns this into a nightmare. To avert disaster the firm must rent the full 100 GB up front, inflating costs and wasting capacity. With the cloud it can scale online in minutes, pay only for the surge, and drop back to 10 GB when traffic subsides.
Because resources are utilized far more efficiently, the same hardware footprint can deliver ten times, or more, the storage and computing power of conventional servers, translating into huge cost advantages.
San Francisco, Palo Alto.
Arriving on 17 September to mediate the dispute between Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz, Simon spent the following days holed up with three Ygritte executives, refining the one-stop web-solution plan Carol had drafted around the cloud-computing concept.
The internet has outgrown its infancy, but the sapling is still frail.
Thanks to the practical power of http and html, the expansion of the world wide web these past few months has outpaced Simon's expectations, yet many features remain under development.
Simon has never lost sight of that fact, which is why he has avoided aggressive promotion.
He even holds a draft of Senator Al Gore's "information superhighway" initiative; with his clout he could easily drum up support, but to give Ygritte time to build its technical foundation he has held back.
At present, limited computing and storage capacity is a major brake on the industry. Early adoption of cloud computing can largely remove that bottleneck.
Ygritte's West-Coast data centre occupies a building next to its Palo Alto headquarters.
It is Friday, 21 September, 1990.
Simon has visited several times recently; after days of discussion he again leads Tim Berners-Lee, Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz through the facility. Gazing at racks of minicomputers costing tens of thousands each, the group can't hide their disdain.
Yet this solemn array of boxes is the era's standard data-centre model.
Compared with the giant, bare-hardware clusters Simon remembers, built beside cold rivers, these rooms are costly, inefficient, and fragile.
Every minicomputer is a standalone unit; a single failure risks disrupting Ygritte's online services, so maintenance swallows budgets.
Step one of Ygritte's cloud plan is to virtualize the existing centre. That cannot be done overnight: about a year will be spent writing bespoke cloud-control software.
A hardware division will be formed to source chips, boards and storage directly, then, together with the software team, build integrated, rack-scale clusters.
One data centre will behave as a single machine; once linked, the entire Ygritte network will become one vast, ultra-powerful computer.
In the ultimate vision Simon recalls, the world ends up with only one, or a handful, of 'computers'.
Today, server leasing targets established companies, stifling growth because smaller players can't afford hardware or upkeep. Simon is weighing cheap or even free hosting for developers to accelerate the spread of the web.
Once Ygritte's cloud platform is ready, spare capacity can be used to offer precisely that.
After listening to engineers, debating retrofit plans and locking down cloud details, the afternoon slips away.
They leave at dusk.
Dismissing the rest of the entourage, Simon heads to a nearby restaurant with the three Ygritte executives.
Once seated and orders taken, Simon tells Bezos and Bartz, "Tim signed a share-transfer agreement this morning; I now own 100 % of Ygritte".
Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz glance instinctively at Tim Berners-Lee.
Tim merely smiles and nods.
They turn back to Simon, waiting.
Simon's earlier capital injections had always safeguarded Tim Berners-Lee's stake, so every dollar had to be tracked. The clash between Bezos and Bartz over the allocation of the last 50 million convinced Simon he had to settle Tim's holdings so he could move capital freely.
At lunch yesterday Simon invited Tim Berners-Lee alone and offered to buy his 2.5 % stake.
Simon candidly explained his intentions and offered a steep price of five million dollars, roughly double the valuation of Lee's stake at the time of Simon's recent investment. Tim Berners-Lee also understood that Ygritte Company would need continuous infusions of capital to grow quickly, so he agreed without much hesitation.
Simon believed both Bezos and Bartz were sharp enough to see his purpose, so he skipped the pleasantries and continued, "From now on, as far as funding goes, I can guarantee you this: burn through whatever you can, and I'll give you more, but only if you deliver results that satisfy me".
Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz nodded together, then instinctively glanced at Tim Berners-Lee.
Noticing their looks, Simon said, "Tim will remain CEO of Ygritte. That won't change, because neither of you is ready to run this company yet".
Carol Bartz couldn't help saying, "But, Simon, I think the company needs a clear leader".
"True, Tim will buffer the two of you", Simon replied with a smile, pointing to himself. "As for leadership, I'll take personal charge".
Still unwilling to concede, Carol said, "That works only if you're here in San Francisco all the time. You might not show up for a month. I believe I should run the company, with Tim on R&D and Jeff focused on his web division".
Simon shook his head again. "Carol, understand this: the web division and the software division are absolutely equal inside Ygritte. Frankly, my expectations for the web side are even higher. The two must advance side by side. Without the web division, without enough content on the world wide web, no one will care about underlying web technologies, and browsers or any software we build won't sell".
Carol Bartz insisted, "Web technology already has broad prospects on existing corporate LAN data platforms, and the customer base is sizable. We could focus on that segment first".
Giving up reasoning with her, Simon turned serious. "Carly, the direction of Ygritte has been thoroughly discussed. Your next task is to build a solid software-sales network. Tim handles R&D, Jeff runs the web division. The three of you must coordinate, because every part of Ygritte complements the others. I'll solve your funding squabbles this once; from now on you'll run the company my way, or find another job. Got it?".
Sensing Simon's unyielding tone, Carol glanced at the others, paused, and finally nodded. "All right, Simon".
Simon looked toward Jeff Bezos.
Jeff Bezos nodded as well. "No problem from me".
"Then let's talk compensation", Simon said, his tone easing. "You've probably seen the Forbes piece on the Westeros System's hundred million dollar executive club; it was widely covered".
All three nodded slightly.
"I won't repeat that I'm not stingy", Simon went on. "'All three of you joined Ygritte in haste, so the salary terms aren't perfect. Lately I've had James draft a new five-year contract. Hit the performance targets and you'll receive a deferred equity grant, vesting only after five years. Leave early or get fired and the shares are repurchased at the contract price. Roughly, each of you will hold about five percent of Ygritte over those five years".
He paused. "As for the value of those shares; Daenerys went from shell to ten billion in four years, Cersei Capital earned more than ten billion in two, and Europe's Melisandre tripled Gucci's worth in a year. Ygritte is the fourth woman under Westeros Company, and I believe she'll match the first three. Whether we reach one, ten, or a hundred billion depends largely on you".
After sorting things at Ygritte, Simon flew back to Los Angeles after dinner.
If Jeff Bezos and Carol Bartz still couldn't get along, Simon would waste no time showing them the door; he wouldn't let personnel spats derail his internet-industry blueprint.
Sophia Fessey had called a few days earlier: the British group Allied Lyons, owner of France's Château Latour, planned to sell the estate.
Simon figured owning a national-treasure winery beat any artwork, and Janette had long wanted a top château; lacking a target, she'd settled for a small vineyard in Tasmania, as a toy.
Four of France's five first-growths are basically not for sale, so the moment Allied Lyons decided to part with Latour, Janette flew to Europe on Wednesday.
Although both his current planned acquisitions would cost a fortune, Simon had no intention of scrimping. He lacked Warren Buffett's habit of calculating how a saved hundred million might multiply; living well in the present mattered most.
At the villa west of Point Dume,
Simon got home after nine p.m.
Allowing for the time difference, it was five a.m. in London, so he skipped the call.
After a shower he sat in a small seaside sitting room next to the living room, leafing through overnight documents from Daenerys Entertainment. The curtains were open; beyond the french windows lay the deep night, and he savoured the solitary quiet.
The papers covered the Venice Film Festival in Italy, which had closed the day before.
Daenerys Entertainment had two titles in the main competition: Robert Altman's 'Short Cuts' and Jane Campion's 'An Angel At My Table'.
At yesterday's closing ceremony, 'Short Cuts' not only won the Golden Lion, the festival's top honour, but also picked up three other awards. Presumably for balance, 'An Angel At My Table' also media-praised, left empty-handed.
Still, it was a happy occasion; the company would throw a celebration party tomorrow at Daenerys Studios.
Besides those two films, Martin Scorsese's 'Goodfellas' had also competed and took the Best Director prize.
At the back of the folder Simon found a clipping praising 'Goodfellas' leading lady, Rene Russo.
He merely smiled and set the clipping aside.
Some women, after all, are only passing through.