October 17th, Monday...
Pei Qian was in the company as usual, but no one came to the door.
He ran the webpage casually but took out his cell phone suddenly when he remembered something and checked Ma Yang's Weibo.
Old Ma's Weibo was not updated for the entire weekend!
Pei Qian was a little puzzled. What did this mean? Old Ma forgot about it?
He went out to party during weekends and did not even enter Weibo?
It was impossible. Old Ma might not persevere very long in things, but it was too short this time. Old Ma had no reason to give up so soon, right?
Why did he not post anything new on Weibo over the past two days during the weekend then?
Pei Qian was afraid that something wrong had happened so he quickly called Old Ma.
"Hello? Brother Qian?" Old Ma sounded very crisp, not as if he just woke up.
Pei Qian knew very well that Old Ma was not someone who liked to sleep in. He could also get up successfully for class in the winter mornings.
Old Ma was a hardworking slacker which was why it was suspicious that he did not post a second post on Weibo.
Pei Qian did not beat around the bush with Ma Yang. "How much money have you sent out so far?" He asked him directly.
Ma Yang: "Not a penny."
Pei Qian was stunned. "Why?"
"This is the Dream Fund that I won with hard work. It is the affirmation of my hard work by Brother Qian! I have to see real dreams before sending money. I cannot just spend it without reason!" Ma Yang replied naturally.
Pei Qian could not help but want to laugh.
So that was why!
Ma Yang had been reading comments and forwarding comments after he posted the post on Weibo. He would consider sending money once he saw something more dream-related.
However, his Weibo only had so few fans. Not many people could see it, and people who saw him did not believe it. They thought he was lying. Those who were suspicious did not write their dreams seriously either.
Therefore, none of these messages could get into Old Ma's eyes. He did not give a single penny to these people.
The more he did not give a single cent, the more people felt he was a scammer so they did not leave serious comments for him.
He, therefore, dragged out the entire weekend.
Pei Qian could not help but sigh. As expected of Old Ma! You really had a way!
"Then, why didn't you emphasize for everyone to write something dreamier?" Pei Qian asked with some curiosity.
"No! I'm an official Tengda employee. I cannot lose my standing! Moreover, I'm handing out money. If I were to post another Weibo post to emphasize it, then won't it seem like I'm begging to give them money? Surely not!
"I'll leave it to them. I'll see who the first lucky person is."
Pei Qian silently put his thumbs up and said, "Yes, Ma Yang's giving money away in Weibo, a great hero."
There were many instances where people watched on without doing anything because no one believed in the circumstances as well.
For some reason, that was actually happening.
Of course, Pei Qian was not sure if this was good or bad.
There was no risk for Old Ma to become an internet celebrity, but the money had not been spent yet!
Therefore, Pei Qian did not know whether to support or oppose this behavior.
He decided to let Old Ma decide for himself after some thought!
"Well, you are doing the right thing. Continue persevering in your thoughts!"
Pei Qian checked the time and prepared to go to Otto Technologies after he hung up the phone.
Pei Qian spent a lot of money on Otto Technologies, mainly spent on the newly established imaging and software laboratory of Otto Technologies in the last cycle.
Otto Technologies's research had to be converted into products in this cycle. Otherwise, it would violate system rules.
Pei Qian felt that he still had to take a look to ensure that there would be products that would not make a huge profit, considering how tight this cycle was.
...
Otto Technologies, conference room...
Chang You and the core employees of Otto Technologies had all arrived and started their reports.
"Boss Pei, We have two main tasks until January next year according to your previous work arrangements.
"The first was to update the Otto OS to become more feature-rich. That would include many practical system functions, especially the adjustment of the camera system in the imaging laboratory.
"For the new camera system, we have prepared some optimization algorithms, including beauty effects for users when taking selfies.
"Moreover, we have reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Xunke Technologies to develop our own intelligent voice assistant which could be updated with the new OTTO OS in time!
"You know, currently, only the Pineapple flagship phones are equipped with this feature. It will definitely help enhance our brand value if we can update it into the Otto E1 cell phone first!
"Secondly, we intend to create a smart speaker product for the new intelligent voice assistant. At present, this field is still empty in China. It will definitely be good news if we can seize this opportunity to enrich our product line!"
Pei Qian's mind filled with question marks.
?
Intelligent Voice Assistant?
No, there shouldn't be this item in the developments previously, right?
Moreover, this shouldn't have appeared so early in China, right?
Pineapple's latest flagship mobile phone could use voice assistants because they spent 200 million US dollars to acquire an artificial intelligence company whose main business was in text chat services and then cooperated with the world's largest voice recognition manufacturer to achieve the voice recognition function.
These just happened this year.
Pei Qian originally estimated that it would take at least five years for intelligent voice assistants to appear in China because of the different languages.
However, according to Chang You, this company called Xunke Technologies seemed to have been doing research in this area. There was already a more matured Chinese intelligent voice assistant. It could be used directly after changing it!
Pei Qian suddenly felt a sense of crisis and thought of the special reward for settlement.
Could that be what the system called random technological breakthrough?
Domestic technology advanced five years in this area? Directly in competition with top foreign companies?
Pei Qian suddenly panicked. However, he felt that things weren't that bad after thinking calmly.
These artificially intelligent voice assistants were quite mentally retarded when they were first launched. They were artificial retards instead of intelligence.
They would still need at least three or five years to maturity so there was no need to be too stressed up about it.
Of course, Pei Qian should not let down his guard as well.
It was a new outlet after all. It might be artificially retarded, but it was still very attractive to consumers who had never seen it before. There was no ruling out that they might buy into it crazily.
"That is to say, the original development plan did not include an intelligent voice assistant? It is something you decided to add in temporarily due to the technological breakthrough of Xunke Technologies?" Pei Qian tried probing.
"If that is the case, I think it's better to not adopt it so early.
"There are still a lot of other aspects of work, I'm afraid that you wouldn't have enough time or would impede the progress of your other work."
Chang You smiled. "Boss Pei, don't worry, that won't be the case.
"Previously, we planned to make the software and hardware together for a new phone. However, Boss Pei, you said before to only work on the software and to release software only once a year. That was why we cut away the hardware R&D plan for this year.
"So we just happened to have some free time! It is very suitable for us to make this artificial intelligent voice assistant belonging to Otto OS!
"Therefore, Boss Pei, your idea was right. We have to set aside money for R&D; otherwise, we won't be able to seize the opportunity!"
Pei Qian: "..."
That was awkward.
Could it be my fault again?
Pei Qian could not help but wish that he could transmigrate to the previous week to beat himself up every time he met with such a situation.
It seemed like this intelligent voice assistant had to be done then.
To the next topic...
Find a way to prevent this thing from succeeding!
In the current market environment, there were smart homes. For example, Liang Qingfan included the lighting and glass in the Sloth Apartments which could be intelligently adjusted through the LCD panel.
However, these things were actually quite rarely installed at home since they were quite costly and not practical to most people.
Pei Qian would not have thought of installing such things if he did not want to increase the rent of Sloth Apartments.
The same was true for intelligent voice assistants on cell phones. It was not cheap at all. Only the flagship cell phone of Pineapple was equipped with them. It was an investment opportunity.
If they were to come up with another smart speaker, it might really be able to sell for a lot of money!
Pei Qian considered for a while and thought of a countermeasure.
But... where should he start?
From its name!
Pei Qian pondered for a while before asking. "So... does this artificial intelligence speaker have a name?"
Chang You was taken aback. "Oh, not yet. Boss Pei, why not you name it?
"I feel that the names given by Boss Pei spell their essence!"
Pei Qian nodded. "Call it: AEEIS.
"Its English name would be AEEIS."
"AEEIS..." Chang You read it twice. "Is there a deep meaning to it?"
Pei Qian explained: "It is short for 'An Efficient and Effortless Intelligent System', A.E.E.I.S."
Chang You replied with happiness: " 'An efficient and labor-saving intelligent system'? Good name! Very appropriate!
"As an intelligent voice assistant, its role is to help us save time and effort and improve efficiency. This name is really appropriate!"
Pei Qian grinned.
In fact, the deep meaning of this name was the abbreviation of 'An Erudite and Easy-going Intelligent System'.
Everyone knew what it meant to be erudite and easy-going.
Of course, Pei Qian had already figured out what to do with it, giving it this name.
Chapter 686: Super Evolution of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine!
Pei Qian coughed lightly. "So do you have ideas in mind about how to make an intelligent voice assistant?"
Chang You was confused. "Uh... Boss Pei, what do you mean by 'idea'?"
"Pineapple cell phones also have these intelligent voice assistants; Shenhua Corporation and the other companies must also be thinking of developing their own intelligent voice assistants, right?" Pei Qian explained.
"We definitely cannot be very much faster than other domestic companies even if we are a little faster. This is a technology from Xunke Technologies after all. Everyone can use it.
"So how can we ensure that our intelligent voice assistant can stand out from the rest?"
Chang You was stunned. "Uh...
"Boss Pei, I'm afraid that is very hard to achieve in a short time.
"The vast majority of companies should be directly using the ready-made technology of Xunke Technologies. We do not have any accumulation of experience in this aspect. Even if we optimize some details, it is impossible to start with other companies in a short time.
"Moreover, the current voice assistants might be called 'artificial intelligence', but the actualized workflow is 'recognizing voices, judging what it means, and executing operations'—that was... judging the user's intentions through some keywords but could not really understand the meaning of it.
"To make a voice assistant good to use would be physical work to a certain extent rather than technical work.
"Therefore, even if we worked hard on development, it is impossible to open a big gap with other companies practically.
"Or... Boss Pei, do you have a better idea?"
Pei Qian smiled. "If you don't consider the technical aspects, there are many things that could be done to make it unique.
"For example, its character."
Chang You was stunned for a moment. "Character? Boss Pei, as I just said, this voice assistant doesn't really understand the meaning of our words."
Pei Qian nodded. "I know, 'character' is just a type of packaging.
"If I'm not mistaken, the intelligent voice assistant produced by Xunke Technologies should be very sweet and polite and try to imitate a natural human voice?"
Chang You nodded. "Y-Yes. Can it be made into anything else?"
Pei Qian. "Of course."
"Make AEEIS into a purely electronic mechanical sound without any emotion. Moreover, all answers should be extremely concise—no extra words."
Chang You froze for a moment. "But, Boss Pei, that will make our voice assistant look particularly dumb.
"If AEEIS answers the users in a particularly concise way, the user may not be able to react, or he might not have heard it so he would ask it again. It would look very dumb if the same answer was given twice.
"It would seem even more stupid if it was said in a pure mechanical voice.
"The other voice assistants basically applied some ready-made, recorded sentence patterns, so that... on the one hand, it would give users time to respond, and on the other hand, it could appear more natural and intelligent.
"For example, when a user asks 'what's the temperature tomorrow', the existing method is to automatically identify keywords and answer: 'Hello, we have inquired about tomorrow's weather conditions for you, tomorrow will be sunny, XX to XX degrees, wind speed is etc., etc.'
"The assistants would appear smarter with more information.
"To do what Boss Pei—you said, would be to directly answer: XX to XX degrees.
"If the user does not hear clearly, they will ask again, and AEEIS will directly answer XX degrees to XX degrees, which will make people feel very rigid and idiotic."
Pei Qian thought for a while: "Well... this seems to be a problem.
"Well, let's do it this way. If the user asks the same question twice, just answer it in another way.
"For example, if the user asks how the temperature will be tomorrow, the first time they answer is XX to XX degrees, and for the second time, they will answer: 'XX to XX degrees. You just asked this question. Do you want directions to the nearest hospital to check if you have problems that may be affecting your hearing or memory?' "
Chang You was stunned. "Boss-Boss Pei, we cannot insult our users..."
Pei Qian smiled slightly: "How can this be an insult? This is clearly expressing concern for our users.
"AEEIS is an erudite and easy-going intelligent voice assistant. It can't swear. It will only answer users' questions very honestly and will express 'concern' for users from time to time.
"This highlights the character of AEEIS: it is a very smart intelligent voice system because it is too smart so it only answers the questions you ask—very direct and very simple.
"Moreover, it is also because it is so smart... that if you ask it the same question repeatedly, it will think you are stupid and propose 'kindness and care'.
"Wouldn't that make it unique from the other systems?"
Chang You's mouth opened slightly, his expression confused and his body not reacting for some time.
He could feel something not very right—something was very, very wrong!
"Then... Boss Pei, should I use a male voice or a female voice for AEEIS? How about finding a good voice actor to dub it?"
Pei Qian just wanted to say 'a horrible male voice', but after another thought, he felt wrong.
The lesson learned from Game Designer!
At that time, Lu Mingliang dubbed it, but something went wrong. Until now, many players still regard that cheap male voice as a classic.
Then, a female voice?
No, with this kind of erudite and easy-going personality, it may attract countless fans and become a virtual idol debut on the spot.
Pei Qian thought about it for a while. "An electronic voice that is indistinguishable."
There should be no problem with a gender-neutral voice, right?
Chang You was very lost. He quickly noted down everything in his little notebook, but he did not feel it was reliable at all.
However, they should still do it since Boss Pei already said it.
They could still change it if the effect wasn't desirable.
Pei Qian continued, "By the way, you are thinking of making a smart speaker for it?
"In other words, in addition to the OTTO cell phone, is this smart speaker also to be installed on it?"
Chang You nodded. "Yes, Boss Pei.
"As far as I know, there are some other companies that are also doing similar projects.
"There must be a speaker since it is an intelligent voice.
"Since there is a speaker, a Bluetooth speaker will be the most practical. This is a normal business idea."
Pei Qian shook his head. "This idea is too common!
"We make speakers because the others are making them so we can only compare the parameters and appearance of the speakers, which is meaningless."
"I think we should give it a soul and become an art."
Chang You's ears prickled. "Soul? Art? Boss Pei, can you explain more?"
Pei Qian coughed lightly: "Infuse this smart speaker and the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine together to make an AEEIS-artificial-intelligence Fully-Automated Bickering Machine!"
Chang You: "Huh?"
He thought he heard it wrongly.
The Fully-Automated Bickering Machine... wasn't that the art design by Boss Pei previously?
That square black box that would automatically bounce when someone pressed the metal stick?
Infuse the smart speaker with this?
That definitely did not go well together!
Chang You was really shocked this time. This requirement was too crazy even if one regarded the previous requirements as reasonable!
"Boss Pei, please rethink it!" Chang You blurted out.
"I also bought one Fully-Automated Bickering Machine. It is indeed very thought-provoking and has profound philosophical meaning, but the space inside has basically been taken up, right?
"It is impossible to stuff a smart speaker in it!
"If you want to make these two things together, it means that the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine has to be redesigned and reproduced.
"But a lot of the original Fully-Automated Bickering Machine had been sold. All that wanted to buy it would have bought it. The new version would definitely not be easy to sell!
"The fully-automated bickering machine sells for 488 yuan. This smart speaker has to be sold at... at least 300 yuan. That would add up to 800 yuan—which is too expensive.
"Who would be willing to buy the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine again?
"The most important thing is that these two things have nothing to do with each other."
Pei Qian was silent for a while. "There is... a connection.
"The essence of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine is contrarian. However, a contrarian that cannot speak is not complete.
"As the saying goes, the contrarians are not afraid of holding up the world.
"What about the smart speakers? It does not have any personality, characteristics, or artistry to it.
"If it is combined with an art like the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine, then our smart speaker will have its uniqueness and artistic connotations.
"It, therefore, evolved into the AEEIS artificial intelligence lifting machine!
"At that time, AEEIS will talk to them cordially when the users are playing with the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine such as 'humans are always wasting their time on meaningless things'.
"Wouldn't that be a perfect fit?"
"Furthermore, the speaker and stereo must be of high-quality. Those that cost 200 yuan really pull down its quality.
"Most companies should be able to achieve a price of around 200 yuan. The competition would be too fierce. We will still implement the previous principle of displaced competition.
"No one will be able to compete with us if we use prices around 2000 yuan and above.
"Spend money to make it about 2,000 yuan, adding on the cost of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine. Make it to 2588 yuan!
"This product will be one of a kind. There will not be any similar products like ours for a year or two!"
Chang You was dumbfounded.
He blinked, thinking that something was wrong, but he did not know where to refute.
There would be no similar products for a year or two? Boss Pei, you are too conservative. Similar products probably would not appear in my lifetime!
Combine the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine with the smart speaker as one and become an artificial intelligence fully-automated bickering machine?
How did he even think of it?!
Chang You wanted to say something, but he swallowed everything, silently thinking of Boss Pei's previous strategies and clever calculations.
He wrote down everything Boss Pei said in his little notebook.
"Alright, Boss Pei, we'll do according to what you said.
"The AEEIS artificial intelligence bickering machine is our first attempt into the field of artificial intelligence home furnishing."
Pei Qian nodded with a smile. "Yes, I believe it will be a great start!"
Chapter 687: Useful App
October 18th, Tuesday...
Qiao Liang dragged his luggage and returned to Jingzhou once again.
"Jingzhou! I, Teacher Qiao, am back!
"Eh, why the word 'again'?"
For some reason, Qiao Liang had an inexplicable affection for Jingzhou.
He sold everything in the original apartment that could be sold after returning to Beijing. He returned the rented apartment; sent his computer, precious figurine collection, and other treasures to Jingzhou; and then dragged a suitcase with his clothes.
For some reason, Qiao Liang felt relaxed.
Say goodbye to the messy rented apartment and return to the clean and tidy Sloth Apartments to start a new life!
In July this year, the high-speed railway station in Jingzhou was officially opened, making the journey from Beijing to Jingzhou more convenient.
It was the first time Qiao Liang came to the high-speed rail station in Jingzhou. He followed the signs inside the station to the waiting area for a taxi.
Many people were waiting in line for taxis. Qiao Liang dragged his suitcase to the end of the line when he suddenly saw a huge billboard next to him.
'New business card of Jingzhou city!'
This seemed to be a series of billboards. The billboard nearest to Qiao Liang was a famous local scenic spot in Jingzhou, and there was a line of fine art introduction under the billboard.
'Historic city, ancient rhyme in Jingzhou'.
Looking ahead was another billboard with a famous local scenic spot in Jingzhou, with blue sky and white clouds, green mountains and azure water. There was also a line of fine art introduction below.
'Poetry, painting and landscape, beautiful Jingzhou.'
As the queue continued to advance, Qiao Liang also looked forward towards the rows of billboards.
The billboard at the back also had the night view of the high-tech zone. The slogan was 'Industry Upgrade, Innovation in Jingzhou'; the aerial view of Handong University, the slogan is 'Use what you have learned, teach in Jingzhou', etc.
Going forward and after crossing these billboards, Qiao Liang's eyes suddenly lit up.
The slogan of the billboard in front was 'Healthy Life, Livable Jingzhou', and the content on the billboard turned out to be the content of Tengda Life App!
The central part of the billboard was a mobile phone screen with Tengda Life App on the screen. The labels expanded from this app are various industries related to Tengda Life, including Sloth Apartments, Deposit Fitness, Fish-Catching Take-Out, etc.
Qiao Liang was stunned for a moment and hurriedly took out his mobile phone to take pictures.
"Awesome!"
Such city-level propaganda was certainly not something Tengda could achieve by itself.
Obviously, the healthy life concept advocated by Tengda and these very advanced physical industries had become the new business card of Jingzhou and a part of the urban culture!
The concept of the business card was actually the appearance of the city as a whole, seeking more opportunities to showcase itself. It was not a traditional packaging. To be more precise, it was a comprehensive, three-dimensional, and specific comprehensive publicity branding.
In this concept, 'lifestyle' was a vital factor. It was the carrier of the city's own characteristics and values. People living in the city could use the carrier of 'lifestyle' to complete the psychological identification of the city.
The industries related to Tengda Life obviously had a profound impact on the lifestyles of Jingzhou people, and it was reasonable to become a business card.
Being able to become the city's business card of Jingzhou was more than just a promotion on a billboard.
That also meant that Tengda Corporation had been recognized by the city of Jingzhou. It would be a benchmark enterprise in all aspects and receive various preferential treatments and supports. It could better base itself on Jingzhou and radiate its influence throughout the province and even the whole country.
"It seems that Boss Pei's strategy of 'based in Jingzhou and diversified development' has worked!
"Is this a strategic vision?"
Qiao Liang could not help but sigh.
If Boss Pei tried his best to expand Fish-Catching Internet Cafe across the country after his success at the beginning of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe instead of getting involved in other industries, then there would be no more 'Tengda Life'. Moreover, it is very likely that he would not get recognized as the face of the business card of the city.
Qiao Liang got into a taxi and went towards Sloth Apartments.
His new life was about to start in Jingzhou!
...
At the same time, Pei Qian was rubbing his temples in his office, feeling his headache.
This time, it was not just for the Jingzhou business card.
Tengda Life App became a hit during the last cycle, including Fish-Catching Take-Out, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Sloth Apartments, Deposit Fitness, GOG International invitational tournament, Thriller Hostel, etc.—all of which gained high popularity.
This series of measures had also made the city of Jingzhou gain a high reputation across the country. Therefore, Jingzhou not only made Tengda the face of the business card but also awarded Tengda the title of 'Excellent Enterprise of Jingzhou" and had reduced a batch of taxes from the huge taxpayer that was Tengda!
If Pei Qian heard this news during the last cycle, he might have fainted on the spot.
Luckily, this cycle had just started so Pei Qian reacted quickly after adjusting himself.
It was still alright!
There was still a rather long time until settlement so there was not a big problem.
However, that caused some changes to the original spending plan.
What was more, he needed to do something about the Tengda Life App now.
Yu Pingan gave Pei Qian a lot of trouble in the last cycle. 'Top Student, Come Quick'—which had already failed—was integrated with Tengda's physical industry, changed its name, and regained a new life.
Now, Tengda Life APP has gained such a high degree of attention, and the future development prospects were bright. If one left it alone, who knew what could come out of it in the future?!
So Pei Qian felt that something must be done.
In line with the principle of 'whoever makes the money should spend it', it was necessary to find some new task for Tengda Life App, so that they will not continue to kill the project.
Pei Qian called Yu Pingan to his office.
...
Yu Pingan arrived an hour later.
"Boss Pei!"
Yu Pingan had a huge smile on his face. Who would not feel proud of becoming the face of Jingzhou's business card?
From 'Top Student, Come Quick' App to Tengda Life App, this team has undergone several transformations and succeeded every time.
In Yu Pingan's view, this kind of success was not based on luck... but on the foresight of Boss Pei and the hard work of all employees!
Pei Qian motioned to Yu Pingan to sit down and asked, "How's your work recently?"
Yu Pingan hurriedly replied: "Boss Pei, everything is going well! The number of active users of Tengda Life App is steadily increasing, especially in Jingzhou, where the influence of our app is getting greater!
"Of course, our team will not take it lightly, let alone become arrogant and complacent.
"I have developed a very complete update plan!
"At present, there are still many problems with the Tengda Life App. We have two main goals next. The first is to simplify the complexity and optimize the interface layout so that our users can use it more conveniently; the second is to further improve and have the in-depth cooperation of various industries introduce more practical functions..."
The more Pei Qian listened, the more endangered he felt.
The software of Tengda Life App did not make a lot of money at present, but its problem was that it would make the physical industry make a lot of money!
Therefore, he had to give this team something else to do.
Pei Qian coughed slightly: "Well, your plan is pretty good, but I have a new project to hand over to you."
Yu Pingan was stunned for a moment: "Boss Pei, please let me know."
He was a little confused.
It stood to reason that it was the time to increase manpower and capital investment for Tengda Life App being so successful, wouldn't it?
Why do you want a new project again?
Was it related to the Tengda Life App?
Yu Pingan listened seriously without asking.
Pei Qian paused and said, "I am going to do a new project, including a web terminal and a mobile app. The name is...'Useful'."
Yu Pingan: "Useful App? Then... what's the specific use?"
Pei Qian explained: "This idea is actually derived from some unpleasant experiences when I used Qiandu to search for information.
"Now, the Internet is full of all kinds of rubbish. The same article, but dozens of websites repeatedly reprinted and washed the manuscript... so that when you search for keywords, you can't find what you want.
"So, I think someone has to stand up and change this situation!"
Yu Pingan was stunned for a moment: "Then... Boss Pei, do you want to make a product similar to a search engine?"
Pei Qian shook his head: "Although the current search engine itself has many problems, even if we build a conscientious search engine, this problem cannot be solved.
"If 99% of the things on the Internet are worthless spam and we are going to be a search engine, how good the algorithms must be used to find out that 1% of the things? This is unrealistic.
"So we are not going into search engines but content production."
It stood to reason that there was a high probability of losing money on search engines.
Qiandu might have many problems, but it was very powerful in terms of technology accumulation in search engines. Many large companies have tried making search engines, but they have not been able to shake Qiandu's position without exception.
However, Pei Qian felt that one could never be too careful.
Tengda now has an excellent reputation, and considering the TPDb website and other factors, many people may use the search engine if it was created.
Moreover, the search engine was a window; what if there was a linkage with the existing industries? This risk was too great.
Yu Pingan thought for a while: "Then... or can we build a Q&A platform? Although there are two products—Qiandu Wiki and Qiandu Q&A, we can continue to do it."
Pei Qian said: "We are going to make a combination of 'wiki' and 'Q&A' models, with three requirements.
"First of all, we need to create a closed environment and divide our users into two parts: one is creators, and the other is readers. All must be authenticated by real names, and if you want to be a creator, you must prove your professional abilities to the reviewers. You can only answer questions in your own major and edit entries in your own major.
"Secondly, we must do our best to protect intellectual property rights. Do not allow copying and pasting... and prevent reprinting and theft. If someone really wants to steal it by retyping, we must pursue responsibility and demand compensation at all costs.
"Finally, we have to charge all users. If you don't pay, you can't read. These membership fees are given back to the creators."
Chapter 688: Workload in the Level of Yu Gong Moving Away Two High Mountains
Pei Qian smiled slightly seeing Yu Pingan's extremely lost expression.
Feeling lost? You're on the right track!
If you are lost, it would mean my chances of losing money would be very big!
Pei Qian had carefully considered this question. The current models with a relatively high probability of success were wikis and Q&A; both of which had been done by Qiandu search engine.
They could not be considered successful; neither could they be counted as failures.
This world did not have Bihu for the time being, but Pei Qian could roughly base it on Bihu's model to come out with a less successful model.
In Pei Qian's memory, the Bihu mode was very successful, and its goal is to create a 'high-quality social Q&A website'.
There were two keywords here—'high quality' and 'social'; both of which were indispensable.
In the beginning, it was based on the invitation system, and registration was opened after two years. In less than a year, the registered users climbed from 400,000 to 4 million, and a year later, it received 20 million US dollars in Series B financing.
Many people thought that open registration would make the atmosphere of the entire community worse. This was an objective fact, but it was also a trade-off that this business model has to make.
The invitation system and strict restrictions on the number of registered members could indeed guarantee the high quality of the entire website, but then again, any website would need a lot of traffic and users to develop.
The invitation system and strict restrictions on the number of registered members would indeed make the atmosphere of the website better, but to obtain financing, visibility, revenue, and the website traffic must be high.
The creators would also need a lot of traffic to gain exposure and turn this exposure into popularity and tangible benefits.
The successful model of a similar platform should be a perfect balance between the user growth rate and the quality of the question and answer, and neither of which was dispensable.
Therefore, Pei Qian's approach was about not seeking any balance, not having any heat and traffic, and dissuading users as much as possible!
First of all, all users of useful apps must pay before they could browse the contents.
This would directly dissuade more than 90% of users.
Moreover, determining the profit model also played a role in fooling the system.
Pei Qian knew that, even after ten years, the payment rate of similar Q&A platforms was extremely low because most people were unwilling to pay for knowledge. This was a matter of perception.
Without users and traffic, Useful App would not become popular.
Secondly, cracking down on the behavior of reprinting, stealing, copying, and pasting... on the one hand, Pei Qian hated such behavior; on the other hand, it was also to further reduce its popularity.
There might be a strong sense of copyright in this world, and piracy in movies, games, and novels has been extremely rare. However, there was still no way to completely prohibit such things as manuscript washing.
After all, the cost of law enforcement for it would be too high. Even most people would not have found out even if their manuscripts were pirated.
What if high-quality content on the Useful app was reposted in various ways and attracted users?
Pei Qian felt that he should simply prepare a team of lawyers for the Useful App team and stare at whether there is anyone on the Internet pirating the content in the Useful App.
On the one hand, it would prevent the secondary spread of the contents on Useful App and its popularity. On the other hand, it would also crack down on the pirates who steal things and work as porters on the Internet—sweet revenge!
When Pei Qian thought of the large number of repetitive web pages he found when he used Qiandu to check the information, he wanted to personally hold a knife to the throat of these plagiarizers and discuss life.
Finally, all real-name authentications and strictly restrict users in all directions...
Ordinary users—that was the readers—might have paid membership fees but could only read; they could not express their opinions or even leave a message for discussion.
As for those creators, they could only answer the content of their professional field, and once they found that the text was wrong or the answer was wrong, they would be deleted.
Of course, the hard-written answers would be sent to the original author through private messages, but they could not be displayed on the Useful App.
On the surface, writing the answer here could result in income, and the monthly membership fee would be distributed to the creator as a reward.
However, the point was that few people would actually be paid under this model so the creators won't get much money.
As a result, they would be caught in a vicious circle of 'no traffic-no money-no creators'.
Wouldn't it be easy to succeed at making losses?
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more he felt that this model was really perfect.
Absolutely possible to make a loss!
Yu Pingan was clearly aware of this.
He was originally specialized in educational projects, and he also had a deep understanding of similar wiki and Q&A products. How could he not see the fatal flaw in Boss Pei's model?
Yu Pingan suppressed the doubts in his heart after thinking about the series of successful operations by Boss Pei.
He considered for a moment and asked, "Then... Boss Pei, can you talk about the specific approach?"
Pei Qian nodded. "Of course!
"The Useful App is a synthesis of wiki and question-and-answer mode. We will also create many entries based on keywords. The entries include two sections of 'core content' and 'derivative content'.
"Our creators are divided into three star categories, and there are corresponding problem areas.
"If you want to become a creator, you must provide certification information to our reviewers to prove your professionalism in the field.
"One-star creators can only edit and interact in the 'derivative content'—that is, they can only answer questions in their own field of expertise or comment on other answers."
"Two-star creators can edit the 'core content'. The 'core content' is equivalent to the essence of the whole concept and the index part. At the same time, they have authority. If they think that there is a factual error in the content of a one-star creator, they can report the content.
"Three-star creators, in addition to the editing rights for all content, can also view the historical version of each entry and view the additions and deletions of content by various creators. At the same time, they can handle the reported content.
"Our staff will have the highest authority. If the three-star creators violated the rules, they will be dealt with after a discussion with our staff.
"All one-, two-, and three-star creators would be invited by our staff in the initial phase. The vetting can be initiated and decide whether something could be upgraded based on their output or not.
"If a certain creator violates our creative regulations—such as incorrect text, incorrect facts, maliciously inducing answers, etc.; they must be deleted.
"Our app is called 'Useful', which means that all the information above must be guaranteed to be useful.
"We may not have an entry for everything, but we must ensure the correctness of all our entries.
"For some highly controversial and inconclusive issues, we must indicate that the issue is controversial and write down the opinions of both parties in the dispute; if it is too controversial, we simply don't include it.
"For example, we will not deal with emotional problems with high traffic, trembling and spiritual problems, and warfare problems.
"Real-name system, membership system fees...
"Our real-name authentication system must be as strict as the payment software. Each account must be bound to an ID card and face recognition, and we only have one charging model: membership, delayed charging.
"Every month, we will charge based on the usage time and page views of the member in the previous month.
"There would be no charge if it was not used at all.
"If it was used, the minimum charge is one yuan and the maximum charge is 15 yuan.
"At the same time, we must do a good job of anti-theft and anti-crawl functions. For online manuscripts, we prepare a team of lawyers to go to court at any time, and all the compensations recovered will be returned to the creators!
"At the same time, creators can get incentives, and the value of incentives mainly depends on three aspects: the star of the creator, the number of edits and answers of the creator, and whether there is any violation or none.
"We will spend 90% of all monthly membership fees as incentives for creators. The remaining 10% will be used for daily maintenance and development of the website. If the maintenance and development costs are not enough, I will make up for them.
"That's about it. Is there any question?"
Pei Qian said all his ideas in one breath and took a sip of tea in silence.
Yu Pingan was at a loss. He was silent for a long time before asking: "Then, Boss Pei where will the first batch of content on the app come from? We need to cooperate with Qiandu wiki or some other similar websites to use their content?"
Many websites that made wikis got their contents directly from the Internet. This phenomenon was very common.
Pei Qian shook his head immediately: "Of course not!
"What we have to do is to have absolutely original content and should, of course, be started by ourselves! We do not let others copy us, and we naturally cannot copy others.
"All entries will be made from scratch and must be clearly different from Qiandu wiki."
Yu Pingan was stunned: "Boss Pei... the workload would be of a similar level with Yu Gong moving away two high mountains!
"I am afraid that this app will not be profitable in the next 10 years according to this approach...
"Don't even talk about profitability—even traffic may be difficult to get..."
Pei Qian could not help but be delighted.
Really? You think so too?
Great!
You are more optimistic than me, thinking there would be no profit in the next 10 years!
Pei Qian felt that he would have to thank God if this thing could guarantee that it would not be profitable for the next five years.
There were at least a dozen cycles in five years, enough to lose money!
He could not even begin to phantom something as good as not being profitable for 10 years.
Pei Qian smiled slightly: "Yes, this is indeed a job with a huge workload.
"However, it is also very meaningful. We have to create a pure land without rubbish for the Internet which is already full of it.
"There is a saying that the best time to plant a tree was ten years ago, the next best time is now.
"We have to start quickly since the workload is so heavy, right?"
Chapter 689: Boss Ma Started Giving Money
October 19, Wednesday, noon...
Qiao Liang put down the controller, paused the game on the big TV, and went to the door to pick up the takeaway.
Qiao Liang had officially settled down after moving to Jingzhou yesterday. He planned to find his friends in Jingzhou to gather on the weekend since it was a working day today. Boss Pei and the rest should be very busy.
He read the information from his fan group on his cell phone while he ate his Fish-Catching Take-Out.
"Old Qiao, it seems that someone is scamming with Tengda's name; do you want to ask the insiders what is going on?"
"Yes, isn't it corrupting Tengda's reputation?"
"The most outrageous thing is that this person even passed the authentication of Weibo, too deceptive!"
Qiao Liang was stunned.
Someone was using Tengda's name for a scam? That person had also passed the Weibo verification?
So arrogant?
Qiao Liang immediately clicked on the link posted by the fan in the group which jumped to the Weibo page.
"Tengda Ma Yang?
"The verification is... an employee of Tengda Corporation?
"Well... it seems like there is such a person.
"Where did I hear of this person?"
Qiao Liang felt that Ma Yang's name was familiar, but he couldn't remember it for a while.
That was because the department Old Ma was in charge of was not in close contact with the other departments of Tengda. Many people-in-charge of the other departments only knew Ma Yang by name and had never met him in person, let alone Qiao Liang.
"I remember now!
"Wasn't he the one who invested in IOI and profited 500 million yuan for Tengda?
"Is someone acting as an impostor? That's not right; the verification of Weibo shouldn't be wrong, right.
"Then, what is he doing?"
Qiao Liang felt a little confused. If it was Ma Yang, he should be a prominent figure, the right-hand man of Boss Pei and a proper high-level executive of Tengda Corporation.
How could he open a Weibo account with so few fans with such a realistic fake account?
He clicked on Ma Yang's Weibo again and found that there was only one Weibo post from last Saturday, which said that he was randomly helping people fulfill their dreams, but no other posts since.
Four days have passed, and many people have reposted and commented on this Weibo. Moreover, some had even left a QR code for payment, but there seemed to be no follow-up.
That was why they felt that Ma Yang was trying to scam people with Tengda Corporation's name. Many people commented below that he was a liar.
Qiao Liang is a little confused; that shouldn't be the case?
Why would Boss Ma not keep his word?
The person who made 500 million yuan in profits for Boss Pei would not deceive others for tens of thousands of yuan, right?
Qiao Liang carefully looked at these forwarding and comments and found that the content was very simple—nothing more than comments such as 'choose me, choose me' or 'lower the winning rate'.
"Could it be that these people wrote something too simple?"
Qiao Liang suddenly became interested. He reposted this content and wrote his dream in detail.
"Hello Ma, I am a new UP Master who is doing something I love without looking forward to gaining from it, but my fans always say that my microphone is too rubbish. To give my fans a better video viewing experience and to better explain Tengda's games, can you please realize my dream and help reimburse a professional microphone for me? Thank you very much!"
He pasted a QR code for payment as a by-the-way kind of motion.
Qiao Liang didn't care too much after reposting Weibo and continued to eat while drinking.
However, he suddenly realized that Boss Ma replied after he was done with his food!
Amongst a load of 'Aren't you embarrassed to call yourself a new UP Master? Don't you have any shame?' comments, Boss Ma's comment was outstanding like a firefly in the dark.
"Your dream is very good! Unfortunately, I can only help people with less than 1,000 fans complete their dreams! I am very sorry!"
Qiao Liang was stunned, only helping the people with less than 1,000 fans to fulfill their dreams?
What sort of weird rule was that?
It stands to reason that giving to people with more fans, the more heat it would generate, right?
You would seem more like a scammer this way!
Sure enough, many of Teacher Qiao's longtime fans had already started exploding comments following Ma Yang's reply.
"The liar even dared to show up!"
"What strange rule? Discrimination? Can people not have dreams if they have more fans?"
"I fulfill the conditions; why are you ignoring me?"
However, it is clear that some people were inspired by Qiao Liang's Weibo and began to write their dreams seriously.
"Hello, Boss Ma, I am a social animal. I have always wanted to resign, but I can't muster the courage because of economic pressure. I don't want money. I just hope that you can help me refer me to work in Tengda. Thank you very much! Of course, if this is not possible, you can send me some money."
There were also similar replies.
Many of Qiao Liang's fans poured in after he reposted Ma Yang's Weibo. Most people didn't believe it but were still watching; some people still tried their luck.
Unexpectedly, after a few minutes, Ma Yang reposted the comment of the 'social animal' before.
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"I cannot refer you! To join Tengda, you must pass a unified examination which is the company's regulations! But I can sponsor you some money to prepare for exams and purchase materials to review. I have already sent 10,000 yuan. I wish you success!"
The user replied to the Weibo post in no time.
"It's actually real! Thank you, Boss Ma! I'll quit right now to prepare for the exam for Tengda!"
There was also a screenshot of the receipt of the payment below. Of course, some key information was concealed with a mosaic.
Below this Weibo immediately attracted a large number of onlookers.
"What the f*ck? He really sent money?"
"He didn't send money before because my dream was not written in detail?"
"Are you sure? Is it a carefully choreographed scheme?"
"Daddy! Help to realize my dream, too!"
Those who had been chasing and cursing under Ma Yang's Weibo changed their tone in an instant.
While there were still many people who were still skeptical, more people were starting to write serious messages below!
Soon, new content began to appear on Ma Yang's Weibo.
"No matter how hard it is, I can't let my child suffer. It is a good dream to let the child drink assured milk every morning! I have already sent five thousand yuan. Let me know if you need more!"
"Want a Fully-Automated Bickering Machine? That means you are very artistic. I've sent you 500 yuan; go place an order!"
"If you want to work well, you must first have a good body? I have already sent 20,000 yuan; go to a regular hospital for a comprehensive physical examination and buy some nutritional supplements! Also, remind everyone to pay attention to good health!"
The Weibo posts soon received enthusiastic responses from netizens.
"Really received it! Thank you, Boss Ma. I blamed you for the wrong thing, I apologize!"
"Boss Ma, you are really my great benefactor, thank you!"
"Daddy! I have a dream, too. Please help me realize it!"
Qiao Liang was a bit dumbfounded; these netizens really had no morals.
They were just scolding him a second earlier, but their attitude took a 180-degree turn with the money.
However, after careful observation, Qiao Liang found some unusual places.
"The way Mr. Ma pays is a bit unique."
In fact, it was commonplace to engage in lottery draws on Weibo, and some directly made money from it. However, the number was relatively small.
In Qiao Liang's view, everyone played it this way on Weibo for the sake of popularity.
The best way to spend money for popularity was to hold a lucky draw: it spreads quickly, has a high degree of attention, and the whole attention cycle is very long.
Immediately giving money was obviously a lot worse than the attention of the lottery. After all, the lottery has hundreds of entries and would be paid to one person at a time. Moreover, the lottery could last for a month. Giving money would be over immediately, and it will not continue to create heat.
Even if someone used money to buy popularity, most people would choose to give it to celebrities with many fans because it would generate the most heat!
Boss Ma was the exact opposite.
He was not buying any fans. He cherished his words on Weibo, not even defending himself when so many posts were calling him a liar on Weibo. He had been waiting for so many days before he finally made his first payment.
Moreover, Boss Ma seemed to have his own set of standards when selecting people.
No money would be given as long as the number of fans exceeded 1,000. He only gave money to invisible individuals.
He would not give money to those whose messages were too short or empty. Boss Ma was indifferent to even the netizens who called him Daddy unscrupulously, giving money only to those who have good reasons and sincere feelings.
Moreover, it could not be for the same reason, copycats were not accepted.
Moreover, Boss Ma would not reply a single word more no matter how grateful the party who received the money was. It was as though they met, he helped them, and then he forgot about it.
Qiao Liang saw a lot of people who bought popularity on Weibo.
However, people like Boss Ma who spent money without being interested in heat were really rare!
Qiao Liang monitored for a few hours and estimated that the session today had ended when Boss Ma no longer retweeted.
Before the end of the day, Boss Ma finally posted on Weibo: "Today, I helped many friends realize their dreams. I am very happy! I will continue to help my friends realize their dreams in the next few days. Please pay more attention. In addition, from tomorrow I will live-stream my GOG play. I welcome everyone to follow it!"
After sending hundreds of thousands of yuan, his fans had skyrocketed from the original triple digits to tens of thousands in one day.
A lot of people came here for free lunch; they only reposted and commented on his Weibo without following him.
Boss Ma didn't seem to care about this, he didn't ask everyone to pay attention, and he didn't put any restrictions on the people who commented. He just sent money when he saw a satisfactory reply.
As a result, his fans only increased by tens of thousands, after spending hundreds of thousands of yuan. It did not seem to have a very good spread effect; in fact, it was bleeding out in losses.
Qiao Liang couldn't help but wonder that Boss Ma did not seem to understand marketing?
The money spent this way was too inefficient!
The point was that there is no way to distinguish whether these people really needed money or made up stories. Among the hundreds of thousands that have been sent out, some people really need money, but there were certainly people who made up stories to deceive him.
Obviously, he didn't get the essence of Boss Pei's marketing spirit.
However, Qiao Liang changed his mind. Boss Ma was an investment wizard after all; Boss Pei might have given him some advice too so perhaps there were some deeper considerations?
Were there any special considerations for live-streaming GOG tomorrow?
He was actually quite excited about that.
Qiao Liang himself was not eligible to participate because he had too many fans, but he still followed Boss Ma and prepared to continue to pay attention to the development of the situation.