Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 309 Cell Phone? Internet!

"Human beings have seen the future from fire—the first time was with stone tools, when humans began to use physical tools, and the second time was with silicon wafers, when tools brought about digital innovation."

"This may not be the third time," Jobs in the painting describes in an almost eulogistic tone, "but it is undoubtedly a milestone event in which humanity has once again profoundly realized the potential of silicon."

He seemed to be announcing a new industrial revolution.

However, the reality offstage was completely at odds with the epic feel of the words.

Some audience members exchanged puzzled glances and looked around.

Isn't this just a regular press conference?

The air was filled with the sweet aroma of popcorn, suppressed conversations came from the back row, and even the well-dressed figures in the front row were whispering among themselves.

The atmosphere here is relaxed and casual, completely devoid of the heavy historical weight in the conversation.

If the person who said this wasn't Steve Jobs, the one who popularized personal computers and created the first music player...

Many people would then suspect that they have stumbled into some elaborately disguised pyramid scheme.

"Speaking of which, I must thank you for your guidance." Chen Xuebing smiled and took over the conversation, subtly adding, "We have drawn important inspiration from your wisdom."

He finished speaking in Chinese, and a female voice beside him provided a precise and restrained translation, giving the audience a moment to savor the moment.

"We just happened to catch the same pulse of the future." Jobs' profile was turned towards the camera, his eyes unusually sincere. "It is a kind of magic that two teams thousands of miles apart could cross mountains and seas and coincidentally foresee the future."

“Our thought processes may be different. What were you thinking back then?” Chen Xuebing asked rhetorically.

"Someone suggested putting our iPod into a cell phone," Jobs recalled, his tone carrying a hint of the absurdity of the time.

"At first, I thought it was just wishful thinking. The management team unanimously agreed that the phones at that time were terrible and could never replicate the elegant experience of the iPod. We tried, and the result was... as expected."

"But our designer, Ive, is very clever. He continued to do this quietly, and used a concept I like—moving objects on the screen like moving a piece of paper on a table."

"I believe that touchscreens are the future."

"Later, Bell sent me an email saying that Iver had designed some really cool features for the future iPod, and that we should develop Apple software around him and make our own phone."

At this moment, an email screenshot appeared in the upper right corner of the screen.

“We argued for a long time, and then I said, okay, we really should make a phone.”

The expression on Steve Jobs' face in the painting seems somewhat helpless.

God knows, he insisted on having this screenshot added.

Because the advertisement for Singularity said, "In 2005, an inspiration from the East."

The screenshot of this email is dated November 7, 2004, which is enough to show that Apple had started planning much earlier.

It seems like a story, but it's actually a battle of originators.

Chen Xuebing offered a different explanation.

"I first had this idea when I was a child."

"Back then, I watched one of your science fiction movies, called '2001: A Space Odyssey,' which was made in 1968, a year before the moon landing. It featured the concept of a tablet computer, voice unlocking, video calls, interstellar travel, space stations, and the rebellion of the artificial intelligence HAL9000. That feeling was truly amazing, planting a seed in my young mind. Later, when I learned that many of these things were gradually realized, the shock I felt was beyond words. Just like the ape in the movie who was the first to discover that bones could be used to attack the skulls of other animals, it made me realize that the evolution of species is actually so simple. You just need to gradually realize your imagination. And imagination comes from the geniuses in human history. Those ideas must be what you call the spark."

"My mentor should be Kubrick, the director of this film."

Chen Xuebing recounted his story in detail, while Steve Jobs, behind the curtain, wore a somewhat complicated expression.

Steve Jobs, sitting in the audience, was in the same boat.

This was an unscripted video, filmed just three days prior, with both parties completing the dialogue using only a few key prompts.

When Jobs heard Chen Xuebing's words, he found it hard to believe that a movie could inspire such a powerful opponent. However, he was not impressed and found it difficult to refute. So, after returning to his hotel, he watched the movie again carefully.

Surprisingly, I also gained some inspiration.

For example, tablet computers.

“I also like his movies. I’ve watched his ‘Dr. Strangelove’ many times. His ideas are ahead of their time and outstanding. He’s a genius.”

Three days ago, Jobs said this, and his expression at the time was somewhat perfunctory.

The two tacitly avoided mentioning Arthur C. Clarke, the author of "2001: A Space Odyssey," because director Kubrick was dead, while Clarke was still alive.

It is more appropriate for figures like them to express the greatness of the deceased, rather than to express excessive reverence for the living.

Meanwhile, many audience members below the stage were even more eager to see what was going on.

It's an American blockbuster!
Technology straight out of science fiction movies?
"So in 2005, after I made some money, I couldn't wait to invest in a technology that I was most interested in, and I found a real spark in it."

Chen Xuebing continued.

"The Internet has found a brand-new, mobile medium. What kind of energy will it unleash?"

"Is the imaginative boundaries that the internet gives to this new medium limited to browsing web pages, obtaining information, or playing some novel games?"

He posed a series of questions, each one impactful and clear.

"Of course not," Jobs immediately denied, even though the current iPhone only had these features.

Three days ago, he was somewhat relieved. If he hadn't come to China and had gained some time, perhaps the amazing iPhone would have been ridiculed and overshadowed by these words.

"Then what else do you think we can do?" Chen Xuebing asked with a smile.

The words just fell!

The screen suddenly went completely black.

All the lights went out instantly.

The venue fell into a pitch-black silence.

Only in the center of the screen, a line of elegant white text quietly appeared:

"What else do you think we can do?"

The prolonged freeze-frame seemed to give the audience time to reflect.

Whispers spread through the darkness.

No one wants to admit their lack of imagination, but the functions of mobile phones have been almost fully explored by major international companies. The SP SMS era has inspired countless ingenious ideas, and mobile phones can already access massive amounts of information. Even ordinary models can send photos and news via MMS.

The avant-garde young people are already well aware of the limits of various feature phones, and their spirit of exploration is no less than that of Huaqiangbei.

With "phone projection" already out, what else could be groundbreaking?
If we're using "internet access" as a gimmick, that's clearly not the case.

The most practical feature that comes to mind is the video playback function released on Youku. With such a large screen, being able to download several movies to watch on a mobile phone is indeed very cool and eye-catching. However, it's likely that the phone's battery won't last long.

A few seconds later, the subtitles went out, and the riverside scene reappeared.

Steve Jobs elegantly picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and said with a relaxed yet sly expression, "This is your product launch, so of course you should reveal the answer. Otherwise, shouldn't I get a cut of every phone you sell?"

The simultaneous interpreter amplified the banter precisely, eliciting a burst of lighthearted laughter from the audience.

Chen Xuebing in the video also smiled and said, "Okay, let's go to the press conference."

The two stood up and walked side by side into the depths of the camera's view.

The VCR has now come to an end.

The stage lights, like an awakening tide, illuminated layer by layer from afar.

On one side of the stage, a young CEO wearing a microphone appeared with a calm and composed demeanor, a gentle yet firm smile on his face, while the sound of cameras clicking incessantly throughout the venue.

Applause gradually rose, eventually turning into thunder.

Most of the hundreds of audience members in the central area of ​​the auditorium had been drawn by lottery, and many of them were far less aware of the speaker's significance than the reporters and Spreadtrum employees.

And this is exactly what Chen Xuebing needs—he needs to keenly capture the possible responses from the outside world from these most ordinary reactions.

He gestured to the director in the audience, and the screen behind him lit up again, this time with a highly imaginative blue background and five large characters in the center:

A mobile phone is a tool.

The audience in the middle seats began to look confused.

What's going on??

Aren't you going to introduce the phone? "Don't worry, everyone, I have everything you want, but a new phone product isn't anything special."

Just as Chen Xuebing was about to speak, he calmed the crowd down before taking the initiative.

"Over the past few years, mobile phones have been constantly iterated. All the excellent mobile phone products designed by manufacturers are simply integrating better accessories, more software, and incorporating more creative elements to make the product more suitable for the needs and tastes of their target users."

"But when we were making this phone, we kept thinking about an even more important question."

By portraying himself as a manufacturer, Chen Xuebing dismissed the parameter competition that everyone was pursuing as insignificant, which finally piqued the curiosity of the audience. The gradually straightening posture that Chen Xuebing noticed was a signal that they had fallen into his psychological control.

His smile was more confident.

"This question is a classic existential question in philosophy—what is our purpose in making this phone?"

“We may not be a traditional mobile phone company. People may not know that the core idea of ​​our Guan Group is to serve the economy. If we want to make money, we have better channels. Unless, what we want to do is create a tool that can influence the entire economic situation.”

"Since it's a tool, it should return to the essence of service."

"So we quickly defined our position."

"This phone is an evolutionary tool for the next generation!"

The loud voice echoed.

"The core of the internet is still the internet." Chen Xuebing offered this answer that many people couldn't understand, but what he said next gave everyone a fresh perspective:
"What we want to create is a tool that is even closer to the internet than a computer, so its internet experience must be superior to that of a computer!"

"The emergence of this tool is meant to break the industry's tradition of iterating for the sake of iteration and adding various functions for the sake of gimmicks. Future hardware development and software technology should all be developed to better realize the functions of the Internet and software."

A silent uproar.

Superior to computers, leading the industry—these statements sound exaggerated.

Only the open-source alliance members sitting on the left side of the audience almost wanted to stand up and applaud.

Yeah!
That was so well said!!

What's the point of taking over those hardware items? Take over us! Take over us!

"Everyone thinks he's exaggerating, right?" Chen Xuebing smiled, turned around, and looked at the screen.

"Fortunately, we've already created a prototype, and it's going quite well."

The scene began to change, revealing the front of a mobile phone screen. The 4.2-inch screen expanded several times over the screen, fully displaying the buttons and bezels.

That's how the front layout of the phone came about.

It has only one round button, and its simplicity is puzzling.

Despite it being a significant moment in his public appearance, Chen Xuebing's voice became less inflammatory and more serious and calm.

"First, we need to develop a system specifically for mobile phones, just like a computer. It needs to be able to install software and display the complete interface of the software in its original form, without creating a stripped-down version. Therefore, the screen must be large."

"Secondly, there's operability. Together with Apple, we chose the capacitive screen, which provides the best user experience, and completely gives the control to the fingers. I must admit that our experience in this technology is still very weak, not as good as Apple's. Here, I would like to thank Apple again for licensing our technology."

Chen Xuebing nodded to Steve Jobs, who was in the center of the audience.

Jobs smiled with satisfaction.

This was originally a technological highlight, but it was also the core content of Apple's launch event. The price of the collaboration was to downplay some of the core technologies and leave them to Apple to discuss.

Chen Xuebing doesn't want to compete with Apple on technology or specifications at this stage.

This is a losing proposition.

"Let me show you."

He simply pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, and the striking metal back cover made many people stand up to look at it.

Isn't this what you're supposed to see at a press conference?

I know nothing about mobile phones, how can I demonstrate?
But as Chen Xuebing lightly tapped his finger on his palm, a real-time unlocking animation appeared on the screen, and then he swiped his finger across the unlock area—

"clatter."

That's the sound effect.

The sound effect when unlocking an Apple device.

Now that both parties have cross-licensed these patents, Chen Xuebing naturally added this pleasant sound effect to the Kirin phone immediately.

The original water sound effects are also retained in the phone settings and can be changed.

The audience erupted in cheers.

Everyone saw the interface on the screen, and even more so, the stylish unlocking action.

How can it be so smooth?!
Why are there so many icons on that interface? It looks exactly like a computer screen!
"Let's start by showing you some things that will interest you."

After speaking, Chen Xuebing started playing on his phone on the stage, seemingly oblivious to everyone else.

The music player opens and plays Jay Chou's new song "The Seventh Chapter of the Night." The interface features an album art background, and the gold microphone in the center rotates when you swipe your finger.

The video player was playing "2001: A Space Odyssey," and the clarity of the picture instantly excited countless netizens who had come to meet him in person after reminiscing about that Youku technical video.

"Fuck!"

"It's true! It's true!"

They started shouting.

Chen Xuebing laughed without turning his head: "Don't rush to 'wow,' this screen is very expensive. The screen integration cost over a thousand, so it's only right that it's clear. Now, let me demonstrate how to use the screen."

He held up one finger and shook it: "Everyone, look carefully, it's completely finger-operated, there's no stylus."

After saying that, he returned to the interface and the Fruit Ninja game opened.

He turned slightly to the side during this presentation.

The phone screen was indeed playing smoothly, but what was being shown on the screen wasn't real.

It's a video recording.

Several kinds of fruit rolled into the air at the same time, and he slid his finger across the screen based on the movements he had practiced countless times.

With a swish, he sliced ​​an apple.

With a swish, another apple was sliced.

brush.
brush.
Jobs' expression changed slightly.

The audience in the center of the stage all stood up and cheered thunderously!
Is it made in China?

Is this really made in China?

Upon hearing the excited voice, Chen Xuebing smiled slightly and exited the interface.

It was another unforgettable experience.

Many people were already thinking of sneaking away. They heard that the experience hall next door opened when the audience entered, and they all wanted to be among the first to rush over and grab a seat.

But then the phone on the screen opened another app, its icon showing a few stars dotting the night.

A chat interface opens, and clicking on the chat box instantly brings up a 9-key keyboard.

"Da da da da."

Chen Xuebing clicked quickly, typing with incredible fluency, and a line of text appeared rapidly on the screen.

"I want to pick a viewer to interact with me using a Kirin phone."

"Me!" Those who reacted quickly had already raised their hands.

"Me me me!!"

"I want to interact!!"

Emotions gradually boiled over.

(End of this chapter)