Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 788 Freedom Doesn't Mean Free

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One thing that needs to be pointed out is that at this stage, the application of cellular phone communication systems has blossomed all over the world.

Take the Nordic region where Finland is located. As early as the early 1980s, Sweden and Norway jointly launched Nordic_Mobile_Telephone—the Nordic mobile phone system or NMT; then Denmark, Finland, and Iceland joined in one after another, and the total number of users currently exceeds 10. Ten thousand.

The specifications of the Nordic mobile phone system are all free and open, attracting companies such as Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson to develop and produce hardware for it, and promote product prices to continue to drop.

Initially, the terminal equipment of the Nordic mobile phone system was designed to be installed in the trunk of the car, with the keyboard and display near the driver's seat.

By 1987, Nokia launched a mobile phone that weighed down to 760 grams - Mobira_Cityman_900, priced at 24000 Finnish marks, which is about 4000 in US dollars.

The Mobira_Cityman_900 was used in public by the leader of the Soviet Union Gehrbachev, which made this product famous.

During the visit, Simo Warinato showed Tang Huan such a "brick" stained with celebrity glory,

As a result, the richest man weighed it in his hand. It seemed that it was too heavy and he failed to catch it. It hit the ground with a clang.

Simo Warrinato, the 60-year-old chairman and CEO of Nokia who was considering retiring, quickly bent down and picked it up, ready to exchange for a new one for the richest man Tang to appreciate.

Unexpectedly, the richest man took it directly, pressed the keyboard a few times, and then said with a smile: "The quality is good, and it does not affect normal use."

Simo Wolinato took the words proudly, "Nokia has always attached great importance to product quality."

Tang Huan shook his head, "It's a pity that the technology of the cellular phone communication system has begun to transition to the second generation. This kind of terminal, which is only applicable to the old analog network, will soon withdraw from the mainstream market."

The first-generation cellular phone communication system, which began to emerge in the early 1980s, can be described as a hundred schools of thought contend, and there are many incompatible standards.

In Europe only, in addition to NMT in Northern Europe, there are TACS in the UK, C-450 in West Germany, Radiocom2000 in France, RTMI in Italy and so on.

Under such fragmented and chaotic conditions, Western European countries began to consider formulating a unified next-generation mobile phone standard in order to provide more diverse functions and make it easier for users to roam.

Ever since, Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications—Global System for Mobile Communications, or GSM, has entered the stage of history.

In May 1987, all GSM member countries reached an agreement and determined several of the most important key technologies of GSM.

In 1990, the first version of the GSM standard was finally completed and ready for commercial use.

Corresponding to the official joint launch of GSM in Europe that belongs to Time-Division_Multiplexing - Time Division Multiplexing or TDM, the commercial company in the United States develops a standard based on Code_Division_Multiple_Access - Code Division Multiple Access or CDMA.

For example, Zheru's similar achievement is CDMA Smart, which is adopted by Datang Mobile Communications Company.

This is the general trend. Nokia's Mobira_Cityman_900 is a sunset product no matter how resistant it is to falling.

Seeing that Nokia was hit hard, Simo Warinato bit the bullet and said: "We are already developing the next generation product of Mobira_Cityman_900, which supports GSM Mobira_Cityman_2000."

While talking, someone sent a prototype, which looks significantly smaller than Mobira_Cityman_900.

Seeing that the richest man began to weigh again, Simo Warinato reminded in a panic: "This is a prototype, and it has not been fully completed. That... the weight has been reduced to less than 500 grams compared with the previous generation."

Seeing that the other party was quite nervous, Tang Huan didn't ask for confirmation in person. He just fiddled with it and asked casually, "If I want to buy a batch, when can I ship it?"

Simo Wolinato showed joy on his face, and quickly replied: "It should be fine next year."

Speaking of this, Simo Warrinato couldn't help asking curiously and expectantly: "Is Don planning to provide GSM services in the United States?"

It can't be blamed that the head of Nokia is ignorant. The network it supported before - the Nordic mobile phone system, can't compare to the user scale of Datang Mobile Communications.

"I'm looking for solutions for communication companies in Asia." Speaking of this, Tang Huan added: "However, it is not ruled out that Datang Mobile Communications supports GSM in the United States."

Although Zheru has developed CDMA Smart which is also suitable for the 2G era, Tang Huan, who has a huge industrial structure, will not only bet on CDMA.

Due to the particularity of the communication field, the power at the national level is bound to take action, and controlling it is nothing more than a different form.

This makes whether a real market success can be achieved, not absolutely determined by technical factors.The safest path for enterprises is the concrete implementation under technical standards.

Take CDMASmart as an example, although it has the advantage of a relatively smooth upgrade to the future 3G era, it is undeniable that for the coming 2G era, in terms of complexity and cost, the required price is inevitable. , which is higher than GSM, which is easily supported by many countries.

Especially for the current economic recession that will last at least one year, the most pragmatic principle of doing things is to seize the market first.

The accompanying Finns couldn't help but feel happy when they realized that the rich man's cellular communications industry was walking on two legs and that cooperation naturally expanded into one more field.

"Finland's economy is currently in difficulties, and it is very important to find new development drivers. I think the rising 2G mobile communication era is a good opportunity."

"Nokia's board of directors may still have doubts about this industry, but let's imagine, if users find that the cost of use has dropped significantly compared with the past, what changes will it bring to the market?"

Speaking of this, Tang Huan made a clear request: "I hope that when customers get Mobira_Cityman_2000, the price cannot be higher than one-third of Mobira_Cityman_900."

Hearing this, Simo Warinato's smile suddenly froze.He hesitated and replied: "I'm afraid this is a bit difficult."

Tang Huan asked playfully: "Then, do you think it will be more difficult if Nokia's communications department cooperates with Zheru, and even sets foot in the CDMA field in addition to GSM?"

"If that's the case, then you must be very sure." Simo Wolinato replied overjoyed.

In the field of mobile communications, Nokia is currently cooperating with Germany's Siemens; if Zheru is added, there is no doubt that the waist will be stronger.

Tang Huan suggested again: "I think that if we jointly establish a company focusing on the field of mobile communications and integrate Zheru's leading technology with Nokia's excellent manufacturing capabilities, it will definitely bring surprises to the market. .”

Simo Warinato was so excited that his voice trembled as he said, "I never expected that I would add such an important strategic legacy during my tenure."

Tang Huan laughed. He did not blindly trust Nokia based on the existing results of the original time and space.

After what he saw and heard in Finland during this period, the richest man has some of the most intuitive experiences of the cultural spirit of this nation - "Sisu".

Due to living in cold regions, Finns have developed a pragmatic working style.For example, in terms of product design, it reflects the emphasis on practicality and durability, and will not "design for design".But this does not mean sticking to the rules—Tang Huan can appreciate the glass products purely for viewing created by Finnish designers with more complicated lines in his residence.

Furthermore, the Finns are very practical and know their place.This can be seen from the maintenance of neutrality in international relations, and the stable foreign trade brought about by it. As for the sudden loss of the chain of the Soviet Union, an important trading partner, it really cannot be blamed on it.

At the same time, the Finn also has the quality of persistence.Such a small country was able to fight the Soviet Union and Germany successively during World War II to maintain its dignity, and finally saved it from suffering the fate of being annexed by the Soviet Union like the three small Baltic countries after the war.

Hearing is believing, seeing is believing - Tang Huan feels that Nokia is very competent as an "OEM" for him.

In addition, in terms of creating a high-tech industrial environment, Finland, like its neighbor Ireland, is very good.

Next, Tang Huan went to Finland's largest and oldest highest institution of higher education.During the visit to the University of Helsinki, which was established in 1640, I observed the excellent quality of local college students at close range.For example, almost everyone here masters multiple foreign languages, and he hardly needs to use Finnish and Swedish translations.

Esko Aho, the Prime Minister of Finland, graduated from the University of Helsinki, and the richest man came to this highest institution accompanied by him.

In the computer system of the University of Helsinki, there are older DEC minicomputers and the latest Fangyuan servers. The facilities are first-class.

After Tang Huan visited, he began to give a speech.

During the interactive session, he smiled and asked a few questions.For example, who has used the Fangyuan computer?Who owns Fangyuan PC?How is the experience?

Mr. Richest Man was very satisfied with the answers he got—almost all the students at the scene had used Fangyuan computers, and there were also some who had their own Fangyuan personal computers.

One of the students described it very specifically - he bought a fourth-generation Fangyuan PC compatible computer with a 32-bit architecture through installment payment a few years ago, and then he increased the performance of this computer by adding memory and boards. Until now, it is not out of date; more importantly, the software resources of Fangyuan Computer Platform are rich and excellent, and their programming, entertainment and other requirements have been perfectly met.

"It can be seen that you are an expert in the computer field." Tang Huan waved the student to sit down, and because the student looked familiar, he casually asked his name.

The man stood up again happily, "My name is Linus_Torvalds——Linus Torvalds. Don, can I ask a question that is not related to the topic of the speech?"

Tang Huan was slightly taken aback, and then smiled meaningfully—it was you, and I don't know if the operating system in the original time and space—Linux, has emerged now.

Linus Torvalds was born in Helsinki, Finland, and has a family background.His father Nils Torvalds is an active radio journalist, his mother Anna Torvalds is also a journalist, and his grandfather Ol Torvalds is a poet and journalist, and his maternal grandfather was one of the first Finnish Professor of Statistics - The Finnish Statistical Society has established an award in his name to be awarded to outstanding graduates of a master's degree in statistics within two years.

Linus Torvalds, who is an active member at the University of Helsinki, wrote some small statistical programs in the BASIC language at the request of his grandfather as early as 11 years old.

Therefore, when Linus Torvalds, a computer expert, suddenly jumped out, the richest man was not too surprised. After all, what was his growth environment?

Tang Huan waved his hand generously, "Just ask, I am willing to satisfy your curiosity."

"Richard_Matthew_Stallman, the famous founder of the free software movement—Richard Matthew Stallman, is giving lectures around the world. Not long ago, he came to the University of Helsinki." Linus Torvalds asked earnestly He said: "Tang, you started from compiling the world's first spreadsheet software, and then you created the world's largest business software company. So, what do you think about Freedom Software?"

Linus Torvalds, an activist, really raised a sensitive question.Even if it is already the Taishan Beidou in the IT industry, the richest man has to treat it with caution.

Tang Huan pondered and said: "First of all, I will clarify my point of view on free software, that is, free software is not equal to free software."

"I noticed that in this rising free software trend, the meaning of 'free_software' easily gives people the impression that 'free' means 'free'."

"I think that the free software movement should first conceptually distinguish 'libre' - free software and 'gratis' - free software; and then discuss how the entire software industry develops."

(End of this chapter)