Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“What is the reason behind Google’s ban?” Chen Jin asked.
Were reasons actually required to suppress Xing Hai Technologies? The act of imperialism does not require explanations, but they would still have to find a legitimate excuse.
“Google said that we stole their tech. Unless we stop thieving, make compensation, and return the tech, only then would it be possible for both parties to maintain cooperative measures,” Liang Ying explained.
Upon hearing this, everyone was initially stunned, and they soon all burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha.”
“Stealing their tech. They really do take blaming to a whole new level.”
“High schoolers copying the work of elementary schoolers? Hilarious!”
“They want us to return their tech? Are they living in a dream?”
“May I ask whether they still have their brains?”
Chen Jin shook his head out of speechlessness. He thought that the treacherous tricks those big and bulky foreigners opted to play were absolutely vulgar compared to the wisdom of the predecessors of the Z country.
He looked at the man sitting on the second seat on his left. “Ma Xiaobing, is your project team finished yet with the Star Cloud OS? It’s been more than six months since August last year. You already have a working mobile operating system now, am I right?”
Ma Xiaobing, who was in charge of the Star Cloud OS 1.0, nodded his head and said, “We finished it last month, Mr. Chen, but we’ve been conducting tests continuously and repairing some minor bugs. It’s basically usable now—we’re just making sure that bugs won’t surface that affect the user experience.”
This was the difficulty in developing an operating system. It was not all that tricky to make, but it had to be safe, reliable, and able to withstand the test of time. Only after thousands of minor and major bug fixes would an operating system be acknowledged and accepted by consumers.
Besides, they would also have to ensure favorable compatibility of the system with various kinds of applications. The smoothness of the system could not underperform.
Xing Hai Technologies’ project team consisted of more than 500 people working on the Star Cloud operating system” who had forged for six months on Star Cloud OS 1.0. After Work Assistant was made available to them, the project’s progress became several times faster. The quality of the code was improved exponentially, and inherent bugs were definitely fewer than without it. Users would encounter few problems with regular usage, but to attain absolute safely and reliability, the system would still have to be tested for another 6 to 12 months.
The problem was that Xing Hai Technologies had now been smothered by Google. If they wanted to avoid a lawsuit, their only alternative was to launch the Star Cloud OS 1.0 right away and use it in the Little Star learning machine.
Actually, Chen Jin had a better idea, and that was to bring Star Cloud OS 1.0 to the Base of Operations and let Alice help him optimize it and eliminate all existing bugs! After some thought, though, he nixed the idea. Every single line of code in this operating system had been written by the programmers of Xing Hai Technologies. This project had trained a bunch of talent! If he were to let Alice optimize the system, the benefits of having this talent at the company would be severely compromised!
Moreover, the Star Cloud operating system would eventually launch versions 2.0, 3.0, and n in the future. These iterations would allow the talent to grow and mature. Excessive intervention would not be favorable for this growth. Some things needed to be done by one’s own hands—only then could they be deemed as self-created.
Chen Jin gave many solutions at one go.
“Ma Xiaobing, we should launch Star Cloud OS 1.0 now and break free from Google’s restraints immediately! We need to stabilize the anxiety of the parents.
“Tests can be conducted simultaneously with the users. We can encourage users to participate in improvements, provide suggestions, and tell us the problems they discover. This will hasten our efforts in discovering and fixing bugs.
“Besides, we have a bunch of elites in our company’s newly established X team. I’ll get them involved in test operations of the Star Cloud operating system to further speed up perfecting the system!”
Ma Xiaobing nodded his head continuously. He excitedly said, “Mr. Chen, your ideas are marvelous! Breaking free from Google’s impediments is our utmost priority!”
“Besides, in most scenarios, our Star Cloud OS is completely operational. There’s only a miniscule chance of a bug appearing!
“The architecture of the Star Cloud system is advanced, and the code base is more standardized. Many unnecessary and redundant modules have been cut off, so the operation of our Star Cloud system is eminently smooth, 45% smoother than Android 11.0! This could significantly augment customer experience, and this is in fact our greatest advantage.”
Chen Jin was surprised. “Really, 45% smoother?” He added immediately, “Then why are we hesitating? Quickly release Star Cloud OS 1.0. Users desperately need it!”
“Hahahaha!” The executive members cracked up.
…
On the 20th at 8:00 p.m., in response to Google barring them from using the Android system, Xing Hai Technologies held a spontaneous press conference. Before the eyes of unknown thousands of audiences and hundreds of news reporters, Xing Hai Technologies announced Star Cloud OS 1.0 and introduced the various characteristics of the system.
Ma Xiaobing began. “Our Star Cloud system might still be at version 1.0, but its operating performance is 45% higher than that of Android 11.0. Allow me to demonstrate…” he exclaimed, while quickly thumbing through the interface. “You can see with your own eyes that the Star Cloud system is obviously a lot smoother.”
“Parents, do not worry. The Star Cloud system will be embedded in the Little Star learning machine soon. Google’s obstruction will not affect us at all.
“In addition, we will be opening the patent licensing of the Star Cloud system, and we welcome all local companies to apply to use the Star Cloud system. We will also be providing dev tools. Thus, we welcome all programmers to develop applications based on Star Cloud OS 1.0.
“And finally, we must emphasize that the Android system will soon be charging you, whereas Star Cloud’s authorization and development tools will be free—forever! As the Star Cloud system matures, we will release its source code. We welcome all local companies to customize their development efforts on this basis!”
Boom!
After this conference, the netizens of the Z country cracked collectively on the internet.
“Dafuq? That’s a quick counterattack!”
“From banning Xing Hai Technologies until getting slapped in the face, Google had fun for not more than three seconds.”
“Support the Star Cloud system! Support Xing Hai Technologies!”
“It is time to bench Android. Since its birth until now, the Android system has been full of bloated code and underwhelming performance, and now they’re going to charge a fee for this rubbish. Local companies should quickly join the Star Cloud squad. Not only that, but the Star Cloud system is handy, it’s free, and it’s open-source software!”
“I’m a programmer. I intend to investigate the Star Cloud system.”
“Where are all the local mobile manufacturers at? Get rid of your Androids, and use the local-made Star Cloud OS 1.0!”
…
At Google headquarters in the M nation, two of Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Sandal Pichai, and some other personnel were sitting in a conference room with exasperated looks on their faces.
“Mr. Page, Mr. Brin, Xing Hai Technologies announced their own mobile operating system. We…” CEO Sandal said with restrain.
“Scrap the plans of imposing a fee. Let Android continue to be free and open source. Suppress that Star Cloud OS immediately!” said Larry Page gnashing his teeth as his face turned red.
“No no!”
The other founder, Sergey Brin, shook his head and said, “Improving the profitability of Google is our promise to our shareholders. Fees for Android are a must! The pricing, however, could be tuned down. For patent fees for mobile phones, shave it from the original 20 dollars to 10 dollars. It should be halved for other devices as well.”
“Reducing fees by half?” Larry Page shook his head. “Even if we pare it down by half, there will still be companies that will be attempting to use the Star Cloud system. This is a major threat to us!”
“We will shut out any companies that dare to use the Star Cloud system!” said Sergey Brin with a murderous look.
Larry Page nodded. Android had been on the market for more than 10 years. Courtesy of it being free and open source, even the Fruit company’s IOS had been pushed back one step after another. Android had established such an enormous ecosystem of its own applications. No company could afford to break away from this ecosystem!
Rather than plunging into greater difficulties, those companies could only grind their teeth and bear with Google mustering some fees from them.
…
At 10 o’clock that night, Chen Jin called Brother Lei and introduced him to the power of Star Cloud OS 1.0. He advised him that Da Mi should opt for the Star Cloud system for their mobile phones.
With locally made hardware paired with a locally made operating system, Da Mi mobile phones would be 100% locally manufactured from the inside out. This would attract a large number of buyers.
This time however, Brother Lei abruptly declined him. “This won’t do, Brother Chen. Your company’s Star Cloud system is indeed good, but does it have millions of applications? Can you play Mobile Farmers and PUBG on phones with the Star Cloud system? Can you use WeChat and QQ? Are Alipay and Taobao available?”
“It won’t be feasible without a complete ecosystem of apps. Although most people know that Android isn’t that great and are opposed to Google imposing fees, you can’t simply overthrow something bred in the bone. Forsaking Android would be like throwing someone into the desert and immediately plunging him into the plight of thirst without water. Throwing one into an ecosystem without software is not survivable no matter how good the operating system is.”
Brother Lei shook his head. He thought that Chen Jin’s idea was completely unrealistic.
“Is that so?” Chen Jin said lightly, “A couple million applications isn’t that much either. Why would you assume that the Star Cloud OS won’t be unable to establish its own complete ecosystem of apps?”
And then he had a bold and wild thought.