Chapter 410: For learning and communication only
After finishing his phone call with Lin Shuyi, Lu Yiming immediately went to Mingyuan Technology's technical research and development department and found Fang Yunfeng who was busy.
As soon as they met, Lu Yiming couldn't wait to ask: "How is the development progress of the 128m USB flash drive?"
Fang Yunfeng took out a brand new USB flash drive that was slightly larger than the previous one and handed it to Lu Yiming: "It has been made and is currently being tested for stability. After the test is completed, it can be put into production."
After reading it, Lu Yiming nodded and praised with a smile: "Good, the progress is not slow."
Fang Yunfeng, who usually keeps quiet, was also convinced by Lu Yiming at this time: "With President Lu's foresight and pointing out the research direction, the R&D team did not take any detours, so of course the speed was fast. After all, this thing actually doesn't have much technical content, and it's not difficult to make. The basic technology is ready."
In later generations, there are many brands of USB flash drives. A search on Taobao and JD.com will reveal countless small workshop brands , which shows how low the threshold is to make this thing.
Even the earliest commercial USB flash drive was successfully developed by Deng Guoshun and Cheng Xiaohua in a small workshop with hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding and less than a year.
Now Lu Yiming has directly established an independent laboratory for this purpose, recruited a large number of people to form a research and development team, and even pointed out the correct research and development direction. It would be strange if the speed was not fast.
Lu Yiming laughed out loud and said, "That's all thanks to your R&D team. By the way, how is the R&D progress of the solid-state drive?"
Fang Yunfeng calmly replied: "It will be done soon. Reverse engineering is very easy."
Hard drives are not uncommon. As early as 1956, IBM invented the world's first hard drive.
In 1968, IBM re-proposed the feasibility of Winchester technology, laying the foundation for the development direction of hard disks.
In 1970, StorageTek developed the first solid-state hard drive.
In 1984, Toshiba invented flash memory.
In 1989, the world's first solid-state drive appeared.
The timeline basically stagnated at this point. It was not until 2006 that Samsung released a 32GB solid-state drive laptop computer, truly realizing the commercial use of the original technology.
Flash memory-based solid-state drives are the main category of solid-state drives. Their internal structure is very simple. The main body of the solid-state drive is actually a PCB board, and the most basic accessories on this PCB board are the control chip, cache chip and flash memory chip for storing data - some low-end hard drives don't even have cache chips.
Although hard disks and mobile hard disks are not new technologies, Lu Yiming still required Fang Yunfeng's team to fully understand this technology, and then conduct further development and research on this basis to form products with independent intellectual property rights , which can be installed on Jianlai computers in the future.
Mingyuan Technology's technology research and development department is becoming increasingly large, and Lu Yiming even thinks that it can be considered to be separated and established as a pure scientific research institution, specializing in scientific and technological research, and the research results will be handed over to other companies for production.
For example, the hard disk team currently led by Fang Yunfeng already has a USB product series and is working on a hard disk series, which has great commercial potential in the future.
After giving Fang Yunfeng some advice, Lu Yiming left Mingyuan Technology and took a car to another company he had just founded.
Unlike Mingyuan Technology, which specializes in hardware technology, this new company specializes in software and he has high hopes for it.
At Yixun Technology Company, Lu Yiming caused a sensation as soon as he walked into the main entrance.
"Mr. Lu."
"Boss Lu is here."
"Hello, Mr. Lu."
As the founder of Yixun Technology and the first-generation developer of MM software, Lu Yiming is still very respected by everyone. In addition, he is so young and has achieved such great success, so everyone admires him very much.
Currently, Yixun Technology is led by Zhang Xiaolong, who is responsible for software development. For example, the project currently led by Zhang Xiaolong is the MM instant messaging system, and the operating product is foxmail.
In Lu Yiming's vision, Mingyuan and Yixun, one focusing on hardware and the other on software, together with Jianlai Technology and Lean Casting, have every chance to build an ecosystem that combines hardware and software.
Yixun Technology is currently very small, with only two teams, a MM R&D team and a foxmail operations team, with a total of no more than 20 people.
Seeing that all the employees were looking at him respectfully, Lu Yiming waved his hand and said with a smile, "Everyone, please sit down. Don't be too reserved. Just be casual. By the way, where is Manager Zhang?"
"I am here."
Hearing the noise, Zhang Xiaolong came out of the beverage room with a cup of coffee and greeted Lu Yiming: "Mr. Lu, how come you have time to come here today?"
Lu Yiming laughed and scolded: "Everyone else is working, but you, the manager, are drinking coffee. How is the progress of MM's research and development?"
Zhang Xiaolong said: "The first complete version has been packaged and is being prepared for fluency testing."
"Oh? That's pretty fast. Let me see."
Lu Yiming found a computer and opened the MM software.
The current MM is named MM1.0. Both its appearance and functions are basically the same as QQ in the 2000s.
Lu Yiming logged into his MM account and tested various functions. He found that they were all very smooth and usable.
Lu Yiming said approvingly: "The speed is pretty good, it can be launched now. What about the official website? MM, is the official website ready?"
"It's done."
Zhang Xiaolong typed www.mm.com into the browser, and the official website of MM software quickly popped up.
The official website is not complicated, with only one page. When you open the webpage, you will see a rendering of the software. Below the rendering is a download button, and below that is a dynamic display of the real-time number of people online.
The current number of people online worldwide is eighteen, which is exactly the number of employees at Yixun Technology plus Lu Yiming.
Lu Yiming browsed through it and was quite satisfied. He said, "It's OK. We can hold a press conference and launch the MM software. Promote it and let everyone use it. This will be a traffic entrance in the future."
Zhang Xiaolong said with some embarrassment: "I can develop products, but I can't handle promotion."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Just hold the press conference, don't worry about the promotion. We now have a Tongxin Internet cafe chain, first install it on the computers in the Internet cafes. Then it will be installed on the computers when they leave the factory. By the way, who in the company is the most knowledgeable about Windows?"
Zhang Xiaolong blurted out without thinking: "Zuo Chen! He is my junior and a top student at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. He is responsible for MM's adaptation of the Windows working environment in the company."
"Oh? Call him over. I'll give him a mission."
Zhang Xiaolong walked out of his office and called out, "Zuo Chen, come here."
“Oh, here it comes.”
A typical Mediterranean programmer in his thirties came over.
"Mr. Lu, Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Xiaolong said: "Boss Lu wants to give you a new task."
Zuo Chen looked at Lu Yiming excitedly and asked, "Boss Lu, what task are you going to give me? By the way, Boss Lu, do you really know Bill Gates?"
Bill Gates is not only the richest man in the world, but also a programmer. Such a legendary experience is undoubtedly a beacon of life for all those working in the software industry. He is a god in everyone's mind. Lu Yiming knows Bill Gates, who is at least a demigod.
Lu Yiming thought about his history with Bill Gates and said jokingly, "I do know him. I talked to him on the phone a few times, but I guess he doesn't like me very much."
Zuo Chen was so excited that he started to speak incoherently: "You actually know Bill Gates, Mr. Lu, you are really amazing. I dream of meeting Bill Gates and asking him some questions ."
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "There will definitely be a chance. Now I will give you a task. Make a pirated version of Windows 98 software. It must have a fool-proof one-click automatic installation function and an automatic reinstallation function."
All Lu Yiming needs to do is install the computer with one click.
The threshold for reinstalling computer systems today is too high and very unfriendly to novices, which is very detrimental to the popularization of computers.
Zuo Chen was dumbfounded when he heard this. I just said that Gates is my idol, and now you want me to pirate my idol's software?
Are you kidding me?
"No, Mr. Lu, our Yixun Technology is a legitimate company after all. It's not good to use pirated operating software, right?"
In response to this, Lu Yiming was very confident: "I didn't say I was selling it for money, so how can it be called piracy? This is purely for research purposes. Research, do you understand?"
Zuo Chen didn't believe it in his heart, but since Lu Yiming said so, he had no choice but to nod and agree: "These functions are not complicated, they can be done."
Zhang Xiaolong, who was standing aside, was very puzzled: "Boss Lu, what's the point of doing this?"
Lu Yiming explained to him, "I plan to make a packaged system with an automatic installation function, and integrate our MM software into the system. If users use this software, they can reinstall the system with one click, and there is no need to take the computer to a repair shop to be cheated. In this way, can we quickly promote our MM?"
"Going a step further, since we can install MM, can we also install Foxmail? Or other software we develop later?"
“Ah, this…”
Zhang Xiaolong was shocked and frightened by Lu Yiming's idea.
Since it is a fool-proof one-click operation, in addition to operating the software itself, it is also easy to install a few more small software.
But then Zhang Xiaolong became a little worried: "I'm afraid Microsoft will sue us and accuse us of copyright infringement."
Lu Yiming smiled indifferently: "I didn't say I was going to sell this thing for money. As long as I put it online and spread it around, people will naturally take the bait."
Lu Yiming naturally would not do such a thing as selling pirated CDs, and there was no need for him to do so. There would be plenty of people willing to earn this hard-earned money.
In this way, promoting MM is effortless for him without spending a penny, and there are countless "coolies" selling pirated CDs to help him.
Zhang Xiaolong and Zuo Chen were speechless after learning about Lu Yiming's plan, and gave him a thumbs up with a helpless look.
"Boss Lu, your idea is absolutely amazing!"
At this time, Lu Yiming's cell phone rang. Lu Yiming picked up the phone and saw that there was nothing displayed on the small screen. Although he was confused, Lu Yiming still answered the phone.
"hello."
Lu Yiming immediately recognized that it was Bill Gates' voice.
Nowadays, mobile phones can make long distance calls. However, Guangdong Telecom discontinued the long distance service of mobile phones in 2001.
"I wondered who it was, it turned out to be Mr. Bill Gates."
Zuo Chen and Zhang Xiaolong looked at each other.
Bill Gates took the initiative to call Lu Yiming?
Is the relationship so good?
On the other end of the phone, Bill Gates said directly: "I would like to invite you to come to the United States to participate in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Competition. Because of you, I am now very interested in the young people in Xia Country. I have also sent invitation letters to many universities in Xia Country with outstanding software technology capabilities."
Originally, Lu Yiming had no interest, mainly because he was too lazy to run so far.
But after hearing what happened next, he changed his mind.
"Okay, Mr. Bill Gates, I will definitely attend on time."
Bill Gates laughed, not hiding his admiration and optimism for Lu Yiming: "Then see you then. I'm looking forward to my first meeting with you."
"Me too."
After the call, Zuo Chen said enviously, "I didn't expect Mr. Lu to have such a good personal relationship with Mr. Bill Gates."
Lu Yiming laughed and scolded, "What a hammer, at most it can be said that there is no acquaintance without fighting. Don't be fooled by the kind face of this old Angsa, he is actually full of evil intentions."
Zhang Xiaolong was curious: "Why does Bill Gates want to see you?"
Lu Yiming did not hide it: "He invited me to participate in the ACM International College Programming Competition."
Zhang Xiaolong and Zuo Chen were immediately surprised when they heard this.
"Bill Gates personally invited you to participate?"
ACM-ICPC is sponsored by ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, an organization with a long history and great authority in the international computer community. It is recognized as the world's largest and highest-level international collegiate programming competition. Its purpose is to enable college students to use computers to fully demonstrate their ability to analyze and solve problems.
The ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest has been held since 1970. It is known as the Computer Olympiad for college students and has always been valued by internationally renowned universities and has received high attention from famous computer companies around the world. In the past decade, world-renowned information companies such as APPLE, AT&T, MICROSOFT and IBM have served as sponsors of the competition.
Then, Zhang Xiaolong asked in confusion: "No, this isn't a college student competition ? I remember you still have one semester before the college entrance exam?"
Lu Yiming smiled and said, "Maybe because they think I'm so awesome, they made an exception and let me participate?"
Later, Lu Yiming said, "I didn't want to go at first, but I agreed after thinking about it. This time, participating in the competition is secondary. The main purpose is to see if there are any talents that can be recruited. Yixun Technology only has a few people now, and it is really short of people."
There is nothing we can do about it. After all, the domestic software industry is a new thing and there are so few talented people that we don’t even know where to find them.
The domestic teams that are able to accept the invitation to participate in the competition in the United States must be strong. Lu Yiming is obviously eyeing these top software talents in Xia Country.
