Since he took part in the creation of Lenovo in 1985, Ni Guangnan and the 'domestic chip' and the 'domestic operating system' have struggled for 30 years. He is like Sisyphus in Greek mythology, pushing the stone uphill again and again. Disappointed and returned again and again.
This is really a tragic story.
In 1994, Ni Guangnan, who was determined to develop chip technology, and Liu Chuanzhi, who insisted on practical use, broke out. As a result, the "Technology Trade" and "trade and technology" discussions started in China. It is difficult to evaluate whether this debate is there. A true and correct answer, but at the time, Liu’s claims were undoubtedly more relevant to Lenovo’s own interests.
This brutal internal struggle ended with Liu's victory. Ni Guangnan was forced to leave Lenovo, the company named after his invention.
After that, Ni Guangnan also participated in many projects such as domestic chips and domestic office software. However, these projects went without exception. The destiny declared Liu Chuanzhi's correctness in an extremely cruel manner.
In fact, as many of the articles reviewing the development history of the Chinese core point out, the biggest problem with China's core project is the lack of corresponding ecology. With chips there is no corresponding application platform, but with the lack of corresponding computer products Software, hardware, software, and operating systems are all constrained by each other and eventually get out of hand.
What China lacks is not a single chip, software and operating system, but the ability to build a set of general-purpose computing platforms. For general-purpose computing platforms, relying on 'two bullets and one star' type of scientific research and common people’s rising patriotism. The heart is not enough. It requires more third-party developers and an ever-increasing user base to maintain the entire ecological operation. This is extremely difficult, especially when the market has cheaper and more convenient alternatives.
ARM, Intel and Microsoft, Apple, and Google's alliance seem to be an iron curtain, pressing against almost all countries and manufacturers trying to make efforts on the common computing platform.
However, under the Iron Curtain is not an inch of grass. There are still some projects that come out of the shadows, like the 'Raspberry Pi'.
Raspberry Pi: The third best-selling 'universal computer' in the world?
The Raspberry Pi is a card-sized minicomputer that has all the basic functions of a computer. It was developed by the UK's charity organization Raspberry Pi Foundation. Epton from Cambridge is the leader of the Raspberry Pi project. people.
Unlike the 'Chinese core' and the 'Chinese operating system' of 'bitter haters', the Raspberry Pi did not deliberately tell the story of a 'my British core', but 'to promote education in the school's computer science and related disciplines. , Let the computer become interesting 'for the purpose', captured the hearts of many players.
The Raspberry Pi is a great innovation. It successfully found a breakthrough in differentiation, making this card computer one of the best-selling computer products of our time.
In March of last year, the official Raspberry Pi magazine "The MagPi" announced that since the launch of the Raspberry Pi in 2012, the global sales volume of this cheap card computer has exceeded 12.5 million. The sales of the Raspberry Pi have surpassed that of Commodore. 64, Became the third-best-selling 'universal computer' in the world after Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows PC - The MagPi played a cautionary machine. It apparently did not count portable computing devices such as mobile phones and tablets as 'general-purpose computers'. '.
However, this is still a very dazzling number. The huge user population brings a rich software ecosystem to the Raspberry Pi. We can even run Android and Win10 on the Raspberry Pi (IoT version and ported Windows On. ARM, which can run Win32 applications).
The Raspberry Pi is also a masterpiece in the hardware field. In fact, the Raspberry Pi was designed to intuitively display the students' programming results. Therefore, a GPIO interface (General-Purpose Input / Output Ports) is reserved on the circuit board. 'Universal Programmable I/O Port' ) The standardized design allows the Raspberry Pi to have a wealth of modular accessories that allow users to freely expand the functionality of the Raspberry Pi.
Affected by the sales of the raspberry pie, many domestic teams have also developed products similar to the Raspberry Pi, such as Firefly, Banana Pie, etc. In addition to the simple cottage version of the Raspberry Pi, many domestic team products are in the performance and interface. Even stronger than the raspberry pie (of course, the price is higher).
However, these products often lack the support of the developer's ecology, so their influence in the field of card computers is limited. But as another branch of card computers, these 'shanzhai factions' still fill some of the individual needs of developers.
In addition, the 'shanzhai faction' also gave domestic chips an opportunity to go to the world. Many 'chaotic factions' use SoCs that are made by domestic chip makers.
Unlike other cottage products, the 'shanzhai faction' does not have any business ethics or intellectual property difficulties. The Raspberry Pi itself is an open source project. The Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton will be from the beginning of the project. 'Fortress power' is considered an important part of the raspberry pie ecology.
Raspberry was given to the 'Chinese core' and 'Chinese operating system' What inspiration?
The Raspberry Pi is an independent general-purpose computing platform that is worth more than a single chip and operating system. The chip can be replaced and the operating system can be adapted. But without the existence of a central project such as the Raspberry Pi, many more Chips and operating systems also lose their meaning.
The Raspberry Pi has created its unique ecology. This process has positive implications for the research and development of Chinese chips and operating systems. The 'Raspberry Pi' may serve as an example of China's development of a universal computing platform.
In my opinion, the key to the success of the Raspberry Pi is the following four points:
First, cheap and practical. At the beginning of the launch of the Raspberry Pi, cheap was one of the most prominent symbols for this card computer. The '$35 card computer' was almost another name for the 'Raspberry pie'. Cheap for the consumer. The early adopters' motive is conducive to promoting the popularization and development of the whole raspberry pie ecology.
In fact, this is also a strong point for Chinese manufacturers. For example, Godson has launched a laptop with a price of 200 yuan. The price of various cottage version of the raspberry pie is also lower than the original version.
Of course, cheap is not enough. Another feature of the Raspberry Pi is practical. The Raspberry Pi has a relatively complete operating system ready at the beginning of the project - Raspbian based on Linux. This system gives Raspberry Pi a A good start will allow consumers to use the Raspberry Pi to use it, or even develop the operating system yourself.
For consumers, a good system is far more practical than an operating system with 'own intellectual property' but no software available.
Second, differentiation. The Raspberry Pi does not exist to challenge the Wintel Alliance. Instead, it opens up a brand new battleground. It is both a full-featured desktop and a compact embedded development board. It can accomplish many things that traditional computers cannot do.
The differences between robots created by netizens using the Raspberry Pi and raspberry pies give the Raspberry Pi a great deal of vitality and avoid direct confrontation with traditional PCs. This should inspire Chinese manufacturers. For a long time, we have Both use Windows or MacOS as the imaginary enemies of home-grown operating systems. This obviously is not reliable. Finding a new battlefield and then realizing subversion may be a better choice.
Third, the ecology. The way the Raspberry Party operates in the developer community is also worth paying attention to. The Raspberry Pi official magazine and the official website have organized the innovations from the developers. This gives the Raspberry Pi a large number of software and hardware solutions. Can be used directly. These programs from the third party greatly expand the use of the Raspberry Pi.
Third-party developers are an important part of a sound ecosystem. How to motivate third-party developers to develop hardware and software facilities for the system is an extremely important issue.
Fourth, it's fun. 'Let the computer be fun' is one of the most important objectives of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. Various game machines developed based on the Raspberry Pi are also the most sought after ideas by raspberry pie enthusiasts. The 'independent chips' and 'autonomous operating systems' tend to place too much emphasis on the needs of the office and ignore the consumer's need for entertainment. This is undoubtedly anti-human.
Handheld game consoles made by netizens using Raspberry Pi Net game console games created by Raspberry Pi may be an important help to help Chinese core and Chinese operating systems open up the market. The success of the “Xiao Ba Wang” series of learning machines has been achieved commercially. Prove this.
For a long time, we may have been too serious about facing the Chinese core and the Chinese operating system. We may even have some bitterness and bitterness. We may wish to ease our mindset, respect the laws of the market and consumer preferences, and develop some images. Raspberry Pi is a 'funny' product. This may cause Chinese computer industry to overtake the curve.
The general-purpose computing platform should be future-oriented. Compared to chasing blindly, we need to explore new possibilities.