Cheng Ran told Li Mingshi about the concept and advantages of instant messaging software, saying that it would be similar to the online paging station of telecommunications. In the future, everyone would be able to use the software to communicate with each other. When personal computers become popular, Moore's Law in the IT industry will inevitably make personal portable computers the mainstream. At that time, you can use smart phones and instant messaging software to communicate with anyone you want to communicate with at any time and any place, send files, pictures, music, and even video chat. You can also broadcast live so that others can see your eyes.
When all new technologies first come into being, they are no different from magic in terms of the development of the world.
It is conceivable that in this period of 1998, computers still had bulky cases and large monitors. Mechanical hard drives took dozens of seconds to boot up and enter the indos window screen saver. Dial-up Internet access required entering the account and password and waiting for the "beep beep" connection before it could be connected. Charges were based on byte traffic. What Cheng Ran showed in front of Li Mingshi was nothing short of a rhapsody like a science fiction film.
Li Mingshi is not ignorant either. As a geek who is exposed to technology, he is also knowledgeable in this regard. He said that instant messaging software is now available, called ICQ, which means "I'm looking for you". It was a toy developed by the Israeli trio Weisger, Vadi and Goldfinger when they were bored young people. It is now widely popular in the United States. America Online (AOL) spent 280 million to acquire ICQ this year. In May this year, its users exceeded 100 million. Sun Guangzhen in the United States introduced it to him. In fact, they are now using it as a way to communicate with their American colleagues.
Cheng Ran nodded and said that this was the thing. Cheng Ran took out two installation software CDs from the drawer. There were two software programs on the cover that had been circled and marked with a pen. He said that these were the software of this type that were inspired and developed in China. One was called PICQ and the other was called OMMO. One was from Guangzhou and the other from a Taiwan company. Both were inspired by ICQ and he had installed and used them.
Cheng Ran explained to Li Mingshi the advantages and disadvantages of the two products currently on the market from a series of aspects such as human-computer interaction, usage logic, and interface aesthetics, as well as the areas that were not taken into account and the inevitable failure after they collided with his own software.
Cheng Ran told him that simple and easy to use is the most basic logic. There is no need to come up with any surprising solutions in this regard. The word "simple" can create the Matthew effect of Get IM, which will lead to more and more people using the software and becoming more and more dependent on it. Eventually, quantitative changes will lead to qualitative changes, forming a huge social network that connects all of China.
Cheng Ran said a lot that day. He said the software should be called CQ. Q is the Q in ICQ, and C is the abbreviation of his surname. He was just too lazy to come up with a name, so he just used something available. The reason why he didn't use a more obvious name like CICQ was that ICQ had been acquired by AOL this year. AOL, a big company, had expanded in the US market and must have greater ambitions. China's Internet is on the rise, and they will definitely come in to participate. If their name is used, when domestic software users grow to a certain scale in the future, they will definitely face lawsuits from the other party. It is better to avoid it from the beginning.
Cheng Ran also said that the software was set to look like a penguin, and he wanted to restore as much of the content as possible as described in the project outline.
Cheng Ran also talked a lot with Li Mingshi until one or two in the morning. Finally, Cheng Ran said that there was no need to rush, he could go back first and think about and analyze the contents of the project outline thoroughly. You can't eat fat in one bite. Li Mingshi will be a trader in the future, and he needs him to form his own ideas based on what he said today.
A window to a grand blueprint slowly opened before Li Mingshi's eyes.
Li Mingshi was very excited, simply shocked by the future outlined by Cheng Ran. This confidence came from the fact that he had seen with his own eyes that Cheng Ran had brought real results along the way.
Without saying too much, the veterans who have grown up with Cheng Feiyang and have given advice to Fu Long will find out a fact if they think about it carefully: it seems that all the ideas that Fu Long has for expanding at every turning point all come from Cheng Ran.
Secondly, this year's disaster prevention and loss reduction system, although the Yangtze River has flood disasters almost every year, once the system is developed, it will be a century flood, just like tailor-made. So Li Mingshi no longer doubted Cheng Ran at this time, and even the blueprint mentioned by Cheng Ran was something he had imagined before, and they almost coincided, and Cheng Ran's description was obviously more vivid, specific and detailed, which opened his eyes.
When Xu Lan was about to make supper for the two of them, Li Mingshi was startled to realize that it was already late at night. He quickly got up and said goodbye to Cheng Ran. Cheng Ran told him not to rush. Xu Lan cooked some scallion and spicy noodles for them, and they ate with relish.
Li Mingshi thanked him in the end, wiped his mouth, put down the bowl, and then left contentedly. Before leaving, he held the project proposal as if it were a treasure, and said to Cheng Ran before leaving, "What happened to you today? What stimulated you to be so motivated... Tell Brother Li, Brother Li can not only listen to your ideas and feelings, but also help you with strategies on chasing girls. I was famous for my love letters among the graduate students of my class. I don't know how many girls read my letters day and night, and some of them became my sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law because of them. Later, they looked at me with such resentment... Tell me, were you dumped or did you want to dump someone else? If it's the latter, then I can't help you. If it's the former, Brother Li promises to write a few heartbreaking articles for you, making the other party regret it..."
At the other end of the kitchen, Xu Lan slammed the kitchen knife into the chopping board.
Li Mingshi fled with his shoes tucked in his arms.
A moment after Li Mingshi closed the door and left, Xu Lan packed up and came out of the kitchen. She never asked why Cheng Ran said he would stay overnight in the mountains, but ended up coming back home in the afternoon. She hesitated to speak, and finally said, "Go to bed early. Don't sleep until eleven or twelve the next day. I haven't seen you get up to run recently. What's wrong? Are you slacking off? If you have panda eyes tomorrow, your dad will definitely scold you again!"
“Okay, okay…” Cheng Ran was afraid of his mother’s nagging, so he grinned helplessly and ran to get hot water to wash up.
After Cheng Ran finished washing up and returned to his room, Xu Lan supervised him to turn off the light before returning to the bedroom.
Cheng Feiyang didn't sleep.
Xu Lan asked, "Jiang girl, you must be the daughter of Li City, right..."
Cheng Feiyang nodded.
Xu Lan turned off the lights, got into bed, hugged her husband and leaned on his shoulder. Both of them couldn't sleep for a long time.
Finally, in the darkness, Xu Lan said quietly, "It's us... who are not capable enough."