Actually, I may not necessarily be qualified to talk about this topic right now. But after having some discussion with brother stlily in the thread “Dragon-slaying skills, but where is the dragon?”, I had these thoughts in my heart that I just had to get out, so I wrote them here, hoping everyone can discuss them a bit.
As I said in an earlier post, a forum, or say a grassroots technical group, cannot possibly produce something that surpasses the Windows series. So what is it that we can do?
I think we first need to consider what our most fundamental goal is.
For economic gain? Or for personal technical improvement? Or to make use of this network to build up a事业 that can grow stronger? Or to hold rather lofty ideals and only think about working hard and contributing to improve the computer skills of our people?
In my personal view, no matter which goal it is, perhaps economic return should come first. The reason is obvious to everyone: if an undertaking cannot be sustained over the long term, then it will never produce results. And that economic return, even if it is only a little, can let everyone keep going both spiritually and materially, forever...
One point must be recognized: if you hope to sell a product, then at the very least your product must have value; it must have “use” value. Surprisingly, the level of technical sophistication is not the deciding factor. In fact, the higher the technical level, the only benefit is that it creates a stronger technical barrier for competitors, or in other words, gives fewer chances of being imitated. But if it cannot gain public recognition, it is still meaningless.
If in real life many products can be sold not because of quality, but because of connections, or sometimes because of the seller’s eloquence—often the ones who can talk most extravagantly can fool their way into huge income. But that is traditional commerce.
The nature of the DOS Union determines that it can only take the Internet route. To make products on the Internet requires three things: first, reputation; second, quality; third, convenience. Reputation can attract customers, quality will give us returning customers, and convenience includes two aspects. First, it should be convenient to buy our products, so that as long as someone wants to buy, they can get it immediately. Second, information about our product should be easy and convenient to obtain. If there is any after-sales issue, if there are problems needing solutions, replies should come quickly.
That way, the cake will get bigger very quickly!
So what should be done now? What should be done first?
Personally, I think we should proceed in three stages.
Stage One: continue increasing the Union’s visibility on the Internet, and reorganize the Union’s main direction of attack.
Obviously, among netizens who know us, the DOS Union already has quite high visibility and reputation. But if you casually ask someone who knows computers, I believe names like Huajun and PCHOME are far better known than we are. Why? Because they are doing popularization work. Of course, the pursuit of technology cannot be abandoned, but a very large part of China’s market consists of people who do not know much about computers or are relatively junior computer workers, like me. So we must pay attention to this area and add content to the Union that is more suitable for beginners.
In addition, projects similar to the “China DOS Union Boot Disk Project” should begin to be developed. Perhaps before that, we should first do some market research to see what kinds of things people currently need more, and which ones are things we can actually achieve and develop.
So how should the early stage be carried out?
I think if this also counts as starting a business, then in the initial stage there can be no luck involved at all. Don’t hope for returns all at once. Perhaps what needs to be done is to prepare to invest—invest manpower, material resources, financial resources, and time!
As for who organizes it and who does it, I think the DOS Union can absolutely take the lead. With people like Wengier, playboy2925, lydong, Roy, 如是 and others taking the lead, then post a recruiting thread in the Union: anyone willing to devote time, energy, and funds to this undertaking can join this group. There will definitely be many people willing to join. Split them into different groups, then assign manpower according to the projects. For example, in the early stage, members of a group could each contribute a certain amount per year to cover expenses such as the domain name and web space.
If we can produce an outcome acceptable to the public, then Stage One can be considered a success.
Stage Two: make the cake solid.
After Stage One, we should have considerable visibility on the Internet, and should also have some practical, usable products that we can really show. Then the first approach is to make products similar to shared software and provide them to network admins, technicians, computer companies, and so on. The second approach is to use the materials accumulated in Stage One to cooperate with cities and computer training centers. We provide technical and materials support from beginner to advanced levels, and use manpower (teachers) and reputation to obtain profits. Or establish technical support sites and provide services according to customer needs.
Of course, these are only some ideas right now. Maybe we do not necessarily have to take these few paths. To be honest, as long as it can make a profit, and as long as it does not violate morality or the law, anything is fine!
Stage Three: ..................
If we go through Stages One and Two, and everyone can get along well, maintain a shared viewpoint, walk the same road without internal friction, and if Stage Two really does bring in gold, then do I still need to keep talking nonsense? If we can’t even get through the first two stages, will there even be a third stage?
So I’d better leave everyone some room for imagination!
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
I don’t know what everyone will think after I post this. Maybe I’m just a bit bored, but I hope friends who do not agree with my views won’t scold me or attack me.
Although my technical skills really are rather weak, in fact I have already been doing market planning for quite some time, and the above is also part of my own experience. I wrote it out to discuss with everyone, and hope you can all discuss it together.
The road to Shu is hard, harder than climbing to the blue sky...
As I said in an earlier post, a forum, or say a grassroots technical group, cannot possibly produce something that surpasses the Windows series. So what is it that we can do?
I think we first need to consider what our most fundamental goal is.
For economic gain? Or for personal technical improvement? Or to make use of this network to build up a事业 that can grow stronger? Or to hold rather lofty ideals and only think about working hard and contributing to improve the computer skills of our people?
In my personal view, no matter which goal it is, perhaps economic return should come first. The reason is obvious to everyone: if an undertaking cannot be sustained over the long term, then it will never produce results. And that economic return, even if it is only a little, can let everyone keep going both spiritually and materially, forever...
One point must be recognized: if you hope to sell a product, then at the very least your product must have value; it must have “use” value. Surprisingly, the level of technical sophistication is not the deciding factor. In fact, the higher the technical level, the only benefit is that it creates a stronger technical barrier for competitors, or in other words, gives fewer chances of being imitated. But if it cannot gain public recognition, it is still meaningless.
If in real life many products can be sold not because of quality, but because of connections, or sometimes because of the seller’s eloquence—often the ones who can talk most extravagantly can fool their way into huge income. But that is traditional commerce.
The nature of the DOS Union determines that it can only take the Internet route. To make products on the Internet requires three things: first, reputation; second, quality; third, convenience. Reputation can attract customers, quality will give us returning customers, and convenience includes two aspects. First, it should be convenient to buy our products, so that as long as someone wants to buy, they can get it immediately. Second, information about our product should be easy and convenient to obtain. If there is any after-sales issue, if there are problems needing solutions, replies should come quickly.
That way, the cake will get bigger very quickly!
So what should be done now? What should be done first?
Personally, I think we should proceed in three stages.
Stage One: continue increasing the Union’s visibility on the Internet, and reorganize the Union’s main direction of attack.
Obviously, among netizens who know us, the DOS Union already has quite high visibility and reputation. But if you casually ask someone who knows computers, I believe names like Huajun and PCHOME are far better known than we are. Why? Because they are doing popularization work. Of course, the pursuit of technology cannot be abandoned, but a very large part of China’s market consists of people who do not know much about computers or are relatively junior computer workers, like me. So we must pay attention to this area and add content to the Union that is more suitable for beginners.
In addition, projects similar to the “China DOS Union Boot Disk Project” should begin to be developed. Perhaps before that, we should first do some market research to see what kinds of things people currently need more, and which ones are things we can actually achieve and develop.
So how should the early stage be carried out?
I think if this also counts as starting a business, then in the initial stage there can be no luck involved at all. Don’t hope for returns all at once. Perhaps what needs to be done is to prepare to invest—invest manpower, material resources, financial resources, and time!
As for who organizes it and who does it, I think the DOS Union can absolutely take the lead. With people like Wengier, playboy2925, lydong, Roy, 如是 and others taking the lead, then post a recruiting thread in the Union: anyone willing to devote time, energy, and funds to this undertaking can join this group. There will definitely be many people willing to join. Split them into different groups, then assign manpower according to the projects. For example, in the early stage, members of a group could each contribute a certain amount per year to cover expenses such as the domain name and web space.
If we can produce an outcome acceptable to the public, then Stage One can be considered a success.
Stage Two: make the cake solid.
After Stage One, we should have considerable visibility on the Internet, and should also have some practical, usable products that we can really show. Then the first approach is to make products similar to shared software and provide them to network admins, technicians, computer companies, and so on. The second approach is to use the materials accumulated in Stage One to cooperate with cities and computer training centers. We provide technical and materials support from beginner to advanced levels, and use manpower (teachers) and reputation to obtain profits. Or establish technical support sites and provide services according to customer needs.
Of course, these are only some ideas right now. Maybe we do not necessarily have to take these few paths. To be honest, as long as it can make a profit, and as long as it does not violate morality or the law, anything is fine!
Stage Three: ..................
If we go through Stages One and Two, and everyone can get along well, maintain a shared viewpoint, walk the same road without internal friction, and if Stage Two really does bring in gold, then do I still need to keep talking nonsense? If we can’t even get through the first two stages, will there even be a third stage?
So I’d better leave everyone some room for imagination!
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
I don’t know what everyone will think after I post this. Maybe I’m just a bit bored, but I hope friends who do not agree with my views won’t scold me or attack me.
Although my technical skills really are rather weak, in fact I have already been doing market planning for quite some time, and the above is also part of my own experience. I wrote it out to discuss with everyone, and hope you can all discuss it together.
The road to Shu is hard, harder than climbing to the blue sky...
艰难奋长戟，万古用一夫
中国DOS联盟 http://www.cn-dos.net 欢迎大家来共同学习
我的MSN&E-Mail cn_archer@hotmail.com QQ 56049418
中国DOS联盟 http://www.cn-dos.net 欢迎大家来共同学习
我的MSN&E-Mail cn_archer@hotmail.com QQ 56049418
