Windows 7 makes Microsoft's Venus plan reborn

Although this article seems to be the soft text of the same side, but the concept inside can be "reference", the following is the text.

Microsoft released a new generation of operating system Windows7 caused global attention. From the current market feedback, the effect is good, and the evaluation is much higher than when the Vista was launched. However, let me have a more intuitive understanding of Win7, not at the Microsoft conference, but last week at a Windows 7 experience session. At this meeting, Tongfang launched a home PC called PC-Lingyue 2. As the only pre-exposure computer before Win7 officially went public, PC-Lingyue 2 placed too many expectations from Tongfang and Microsoft. Be aware that PC-Lingyue 2 is the first product pre-installed with Win7.

Why does Microsoft give this honor to the same party? What kind of computer is PC-Lingyue 2? What kind of market secrets are hidden behind this?

PC-Lingyue 2 is not so much a computer as it is a "family entertainment center." This small PC is a collection of Blu-ray DVD, HD player, somatosensory game console, family karaoke and more. Obviously, PC-Lingyue 2 positioning is a brand new home digital entertainment product. It coincides with the Venus project, a family digital entertainment program that Microsoft has promoted since 1999. Although this plan unfortunately died later.

Revisit the "Venus Plan" proposed by Microsoft. This is a Windows CE-based information appliance product program developed specifically for the Chinese market. It was officially launched on March 24, 1998 after being approved by Microsoft executives. The goal of the Venus program is to provide powerful computing, entertainment, communications, and information devices that are easy to learn, use, inexpensive, and maintenance-free for non-PC users. It will meet the urgent needs of ordinary Chinese people to use computers and access the Internet, and at the same time be suitable for their economic level and education level.

It must be said that this is a very perfect plan. But in the end, in March 1999, Microsoft spent billions of dollars, pushing the "Venus plan" on a global scale but failed. The reasons for the failure can be summed up in thousands, but the decisive point is that Microsoft's "Venus plan" is ahead. Because the implementation of the Venus Project has a premise: to make full use of China's huge TV resources (320 million units, 1998), so that most of China's less affluent consumers can appreciate the wonderful Internet world. The key point is the "Internet." In 1998, how many people in China knew about the Internet? How many families can afford a computer? Therefore, whether the "Venus Plan" can succeed is not to invest hundreds of millions of dollars, but to develop the speed of China's Internet construction.

Now, 10 years have passed, Microsoft is no longer mentioning the "Venus Plan", but looking at China's Internet development, it is really a feeling of heaven and earth. According to a report released by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), the number of Internet users in China has reached 338 million in the first half of this year, and continues to lead the global Internet. According to the report, as of June 30, 2009, China's Internet users, broadband Internet users, and national top-level domain names (12.9 million) were still ranked first in the world, and Internet penetration rate has steadily increased. Some experts predict that by the end of this year, China's Internet network will exceed 400 million. From the perspective of network infrastructure, China not only has the world's largest fixed-telephone network, the largest mobile phone network, but also our broadband construction is at the forefront of the world. Now several major telecom operators are carrying out "light into copper retreat" Fiber network construction.

Moreover, China's Internet applications are changing with each passing day. The CNNIC report shows that Chinese netizens love to do three things online: entertainment, chatting, and watching news. Among them, the network entertainment applications tend to be stable after high-speed growth, and the usage rate of each sub-application is growing. In the first half of the year, online games added 30 million new users, with a utilization rate of 64.2%, an increase of 1.4 percentage points. The ranking of online music applications remained the first, with users increasing by 16.1% in six months and usage rate increasing by 1.8 percentage points. Online video users increased by 10% within six months.

So, the bottleneck that restricted the implementation of the Venus Project ten years ago: Internet construction is no longer a problem. How to integrate the needs of ordinary Chinese people to use computers for Internet access and entertainment will become a big problem. In recent years, the topic of triple play has not only been a civil discussion, but the government has already incorporated it into the development plan. The integration of the three networks is not only the integration of the physical layer of the network, but also the integration of content. How to integrate the TV content and the Internet content application, and more convenient for ordinary people to apply, will be the topic of concern at all levels.

Microsoft released Win7, not just an operating system upgrade. Many of Win7's new features match current market needs and even future market needs. But from its optimized media playback capabilities, you can feel that Win7's features are more suitable for the needs of the online media era, such as its ability to make computers a media center for portable video playback devices.

As a producer of computer hardware manufacturers, Tongfang is also well aware of the changes in this market. Therefore, with the enthusiasm of Windows 7, PC-Lingyue 2 was launched to create a "home digital product" leader, which will lay a good foundation for future market development. In the face of the arrival of the digital age of the family, Tongfang’s goal is not only to make a good PC for home use.

So, Microsoft has given the first pre-installed Win7 award to Tongfang, which has profound predictive significance: to promote the transformation of PC from desktop products to living room entertainment center, and promote the integration of digital home products as soon as possible. .