Chapter 627 Venus Project

After Fan Wubing separated from Ye Jiarong and the others, he did not leave. Instead, he went to a small-scale symposium organized by Boss Zhu. There were some recent development issues that required everyone to sit together and talk about them.

There were not many people attending the forum. In addition to a few economists who relied on Zhong as think tanks, there were also Boss Zhu and leaders of several ministries and commissions under the State Council, plus more than a dozen leaders in the domestic home appliance industry, a total of two people. Looks like thirty people.

The topic of discussion, in addition to the direction and development trends of the domestic home appliance industry in recent years, is the impact of the rising information industry on the national economy, especially the home appliance industry.

Director Li from BdL Home Appliance Group Company was also present. In this industry, their company is very large, so they are naturally indispensable for this kind of home appliance industry summit.

As for Fan Wubing, as long as it is a summit hosted by Boss Zhu, if he can be found, he will naturally not be able to miss it.

At the meeting, everyone was talking about information appliances and the Venus Project that Microsoft is brewing.

The so-called information appliances are a concept that was only proposed recently. It is a home appliance product that is low in price, easy to operate, highly practical and has major functions.

Innovative products that combine computer, telecommunications and electronic technology with traditional home appliances including white home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, etc. and black home appliances such as televisions, video recorders, audio, d, dvd, etc., are innovative products that provide more opportunities for digitalization and network technology. New household appliances designed to be widely used in family life.

Information appliances include set-top boxes, DVDs, DVDs, wireless data communication equipment, video game equipment, eBTV, InTeRne phones, etc. All household appliances that can interact with information through network systems can be called information appliances.

Director Li of BdL Home Appliances Group Company is obviously very interested in this information appliance and has made a lot of efforts. Therefore, when talking about this issue, he said excitedly, "At present, audio , video and communication equipment are the main components of information appliances. On the other hand, based on the current traditional home appliances, information technology is integrated into traditional home appliances to make them more powerful and simpler and more convenient to use. and practical, creating a higher-quality living environment for family life. For example, analog TV will become digital TV, d will become dVd, and refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, etc. will also become digital, networked, and intelligent information appliances. "

Everyone nodded in agreement, but some experts pointed out that from a broad classification point of view, information appliances actually include network appliances, but if defined from a narrow definition, information appliances refer more to embedded devices. A small household information device with a processor. Its basic characteristic is that it is connected to the Internet and has some specific functions. It can be a complete set of products or an auxiliary accessory. Network appliances refer to a device with network operation functions. of home appliances,

This kind of home appliance can be understood as an upgrade of our original ordinary home appliances.

Director Li of BdL Home Appliances Group got excited and told everyone, "Although Microsoft's Venus Project has not yet seen the official content released, from what we have learned from all aspects, we can already confirm that Microsoft is To promote set-top box technology globally and then enter the Internet TV industry, this is also our opportunity. Microsoft plans to purchase 10% of the shares of the cable TV giant Netbsp; for a price of one billion US dollars, officially investing a huge amount of money in the cable TV industry. In the past two years, the cable TV industry has been greatly shaken up, and the industry stock index has soared by more than 20%. But for the cable TV industry, what Microsoft brought was not a blessing, but a wake-up call. Gates suddenly launched a complete system, the server side. Use ce on the set-top box side, and also want to share user subscription fees. In other words, Microsoft will not only charge technology licensing fees, but all fees related to set-top boxes. If we all follow him and let him succeed. We are all fools."

The CEO of another domestic home appliance giant also said, "The technology of set-top boxes is not very advanced. We have suffered enough from others setting standards and then following them, so now we can also develop our own set-top box standards and develop relevant standards in the country." Products, don’t let Microsoft make all the money.”

Everyone had different opinions here, but Fan Wubing sat aside in silence. He did not have much interest in this industry, so he followed the principle of listening more, talking less, and not discussing, and did not express his opinions in a high-profile manner.

However, there are others who are unwilling to let him idle. After all, Fan Investment Group is the largest cross-industry group company in the country. No one will ignore Fan Wubing's existence, and it is impossible for him to just stay here and watch the fun, so One boss suggested, "Why doesn't Mr. Fan give us any advice? We all hope you can give us some advice."

Everyone then remembered that there was also the great god Fan Wubing present, so they all invited Fan Wubing to speak. Several economists also welcomed this very much, because Fan Wubing could always come up with some encouraging ideas. Deaf suggestions, and pointed out the major problems here.

Boss Zhu also said, "Wu Shi, please tell me. Don't sit and eat all the time. I can pack it up for you later!"

Fan Wubing was eating a piece of sponge cake. He almost choked when he heard this. He drank two mouthfuls of water before finishing it. He smiled bitterly and said, "Since we are cross-industry, my point of view is not so accurate. It's better not to say it." , so as not to mislead others.”

"Let's talk about it." Boss Zhu expressed his position.

Fan Wubing couldn't shirk it, so he thought about it and said, "Speaking of it, the technology of Project Venus is not advanced. The planned product is similar to ebTV, but it is not as good as ebTV, and the technical content is even worse. It is not even a real product." In the sense of a set-top box. Because it does not use cable TV lines, it still relies on dial-up Internet access. Secondly, the resolution of 350 lines of traditional TV cannot display ordinary web pages well. Therefore, in a sense, Project Venus. It is probably an underestimation of the intelligence of the people in the country.”

After hearing Fan Wubing's words, everyone became interested. After hearing Fan Wubing's words, it was obvious that they were no longer concerned with how to react to Microsoft's latest plan, but rather looked down on it at all.

Fan Wubing went on to say, "Obviously, there is still a gap in developing core technologies such as CPUs in China. But the technology is in the hands of others, but the head is on your own shoulders. In the fully competitive IT industry, the most scarce thing is not technology, but technology. Market. We should introduce technology, but the key is to introduce competitive technology! The highest level of market competition is to use other people's technology to develop the industry and use other people's technology to check other people's technology. This is the real reality of the domestic IT industry! When there are two or three competing products, the market is alive and the monopoly is dead. Especially in the nascent stage of the market, introducing two or three similar technologies at the same time can achieve the effect of making a huge difference. Microsoft's market value has reached 400 billion US dollars, and our domestic market value has reached 400 billion US dollars. The total market value of the top ten companies in the home appliance industry probably doesn't exceed 10 billion US dollars, right? It's not even a quarter of Gates' personal wealth. In front of Microsoft, our domestic home appliance companies are like great white sharks. There is a small fish in front of you, so to deal with this strategy, checks and balances are the best choice.”

"Then how to check and balance?" someone asked. Although everyone knew that Fan Wubing was telling the truth, they didn't believe that he had any better way to solve the matter.

Fan Wubing immediately said, "SA is also developing the operating system erTV, and General Instrument has also begun negotiations with Microsoft and NY at the same time. NY is preparing to build a basic network architecture involving cable TV, TV broadcasting, satellite transmission, the Internet, DVD and other home appliances. In fact, it doesn’t matter which operating system and CPU you use. They are just a component in the box, and the most important thing is to make it work!”

The real value of a set-top box is service. In foreign countries, set-top boxes are usually provided directly by service providers, namely cable TV companies. But this time in the Venus Project, Microsoft only brought in home appliance manufacturers. What does the absence of a service provider mean?

This means that Microsoft has other plans for services. If Microsoft controls hardware and software, once the domestic information service industry is opened up, the entire set-top box service market will be in Microsoft's hands. Because many service contents can be solidified in the hardware, Microsoft's intervention will be effortless.

The oppressive existence of the domestic hardware and software industry is an established fact and cannot be improved in the short term. The budding service industry is the greatest hope for China's IT industry in the future. If this new position is lost early, the future of China's IT industry will be unimaginable.

In a few years, if the domestic set-top box market truly reaches a certain scale. Microsoft can give away the set-top box for free like a browser and make money from the service. At that point, all set-top boxes will become a Trojan horse for Microsoft's entry. This is exactly the wishful thinking behind Microsoft's failure in the United States. At that time, all domestic equipment manufacturers will gain nothing and become paving stones.

Fan Wubing finally said, "If anyone regards Microsoft as just a software company, then he is a fool. If anyone underestimates Microsoft's ambition and wisdom, he will suffer the consequences. Therefore, if you blindly follow the sedan chair or follow blindly, It is likely to cause dangers that even I can’t imagine, and even put shackles on the entire industry! Fundamentally speaking, I am completely opposed to the set-top box project. It is a project with no future!”

No one expected that Fan Wubing would be so unfavorable about the set-top box project and even said he was opposed to it.