Zhou Hongyi: free and micro-innovation to narrow the digital divide

"Most of the computers donated by the urban people to the rural areas have become 'poisonous nests' and turned into ornaments!" Zhou Hongyi, the chief executive of Qihoo 360, said sadly to me in a private exchange. Zhou Hongyi thinks computers previously donated to backward areas generally do not install anti-virus software, because most anti-virus software is required for payment, and those who are lagging behind do not have the resources to invest in a hard-boiled object. "This is actually the real reason for the formation of the digital divide," said Lao Zhou without hesitation.

"Digital Divide" is a commonplace topic. Recently, the issue of broadband in China (124 times for South Korea) was again discussed online. Many netizens clamored that China should also follow the example of Finland in terms of broadband Access "into the constitution, universal access to the Internet for free access to all kinds of rich information, in order to eliminate the digital divide.

This idea sounds like "passionate", but the desire is always a wish, China is not Finland, we have to face the reality. Did not India also offer "a $ 35 tablet" before? For a time also caused heated talk, but then calculate the cost, huge investment at the same time without any commercial companies and organizations willing to bear such costs, the result is a daydream.

The author believes that both Finland's "Broadband Legislation" and India's "35-dollar computer" are all based on the hardware level to eliminate the "digital divide" as the goal of the creative concept, the ultimate goal is to popularize the modern Of course, it is worth encouraging that technology should solve basic education and the gap between the rich and the poor. However, it is often easy to overlook one issue. The digital divide does not exist only at the hardware level. The digital divide at the software level is the core. Hardware can have many channels for public welfare to be solved, and the commercialization of software companies and the difficulty of software operations are aggravating the formation of the gap.

For example, children in mountainous areas have been donated by outsiders, but unprotected computers are invaded by malicious software after being connected to the Internet. Problems such as falsifying the home page, endlessly playing advertisements, stealing QQ passwords, etc. To anti-virus bar to pay, even if the purchase of the software it, the operation is extremely complex, these barriers to use invisible to allow these junior users to use the computer at arm's length, a direct result of the digital divide intensified.

In some ways, Chinese enterprises like some "imaginary people, spend shelf", like "spend a small amount of money to show their faces," regardless of the pros and cons of donated computer performance, which pre-installed software is not useful, but also often mixed With a lot of advertising, this is full of stinky so-called "public welfare" without considering the user's actual use needs. The reason here of course is also related to the business environment on the Internet in China.

In the current Internet environment in China, for the benefit of a large number of black industrial chains, Trojan horses stealing user information and maliciously manipulating web pages pop up a large number of advertisements. These semi-underground organizations control to some extent the users of primary computers Machines, and of course the users in this section also include novice users who have just acquired the hardware longing for rich information on the Internet.

I do not have to advocate how great the 360, the facts before us, and now the vast majority of Internet users are using free anti-virus software on the computer, which is enough, personally think this is essentially no difference between Finland and the free broadband are The real "service for the people" and "free service for the people".

Of course, installing anti-virus software is just the beginning. No Trojans can only make your computer "workable," and if the internet software on your machine is not as easy to use, the digital divide is still not filled.

Zhou Hongyi put forward a concept of "mini-innovation" in the meantime and I quite agree because I think this innovation is more practical for narrowing the "digital divide" than the slogan of "10-dollar computer" More valuable.

There are 400 million Internet users in China. Although these Internet users are all using the same Internet, their use of the Internet is vastly different. This is not just a question of whether high-end users are different from low-end users. On the contrary, this is more Exposed to the Internet is not enough on the application of "fool" problem, that is, application or Internet software developers are not user-centric issues.

Most users for an Internet product evaluation, often is easy to use or not easy to use, cool or unhappy, so Zhou Hongyi advocated everything from the user needs, with "minimal innovation" thought to a little bit of perfect products, each one Minor advances make it easier for users to reach their goals, which naturally narrows the "gulf" in consumer use of the Internet.

In view of this, the hardware, software and ease of operation are all equally important for closing the digital divide, as problems on either side result in zero. In the face of bottlenecks in hardware development, software-level improvements have contributed even more to narrowing the digital divide. The value of "micro-innovation" is also greater. And those Internet-oriented applications for the public if we can narrow the gap between the heart, the real thing to do is to get rid of those who own the body of copper stench, so that the Internet should be based on a clear and cool presentation in front of the user, the real Everyone can not spend any money, and simple and convenient to share information in this era of progress.