Reborn, back to a small county town to become a wealthy family

Chapter 768 Story Collection

Vic Cohen is a typical older white man.

You can tell a thing or two from the background wall of his office.

A Winchester M12 pump-action shotgun and a Browning Auto-5 semi-automatic shotgun are fixed in an X-shape, with a stag head specimen above them, its huge antlers exuding a unique beauty.

Whiskey or coffee?

"It's up to the host. I can do whatever he wants."

"Let's stick with whiskey, it goes perfectly with a cigar."

Vic Cohen took a bottle of Chivas Regal from the liquor cabinet to serve Luo Yang.

Of course, as a female translator, Sun Wei enjoyed a cup of coffee brought in by her secretary.

"Ever since that madman Steve Jobs invented the Apple smartphone, Wall Street has known that the next industry boom would be mobile internet. But after a year or two of hype, we haven't seen that boom materialize."

While toasting a Davidoff cigar, Vic Cohen casually chatted: "Mr. Luo, you're now the first to create a project with a real-world significance based on mobile internet, so what's your take on this booming industry?"

“Mr. Cohen, bike sharing can hardly be considered the name of the first project.”

Luo Yang smiled and said, "Last year, a fierce battle of a thousand group-buying websites broke out in our country. Among the more famous ones were Meituan, Nuomi, Lashou, and other websites. These websites have received more or less the favor of investment institutions. Many people think that this is a commercial reshuffle in the Internet industry, but I think they are the beginning and attempt of the mobile Internet industry."

"Oh?"

Vic Cohen paused for a moment, then looked up at Luo Yang: "I'd like to hear more details."

"As Mr. Cohen just mentioned, the emergence of the mobile internet industry was based on Apple's development of a new generation of smartphones. It is precisely because of the widespread use of smartphones that many programs that originally ran on PCs have been moved to mobile devices."

Luo Yang explained, "Our Edifier Technology saw this point and combined it with the concept of the sharing economy, which is why we came up with the idea of ​​shared bicycles."

"The sharing economy. I do know a little about that."

Vic Cohen nodded and said, "The sharing economy is actually the collaborative economy, which was proposed in 1978 by Marcos Felson, a sociology professor at the State University of Texas, and Joan Spence, a sociology professor at the University of Illinois."

He paused at this point.

He first handed Luo Yang a roasted Davidoff cigar and a blowtorch, and only continued talking after Luo Yang lit the cigar.

"Mr. Luo just brought up the concept of the sharing economy, and it seems he has a new interpretation of it. I wonder what it is?"

Gee.
He could have stayed in the office; the next part of the PPT was about the concept of the sharing economy. But in a moment of excitement, Vic Cohen invited Luo Yang to his office.

This forced Luo Yang to explain without a script.

Fortunately, he wrote the PPT himself, so he was quite familiar with the concept of the sharing economy.

"The sharing economy is a market-based model supported by modern information technologies such as the internet. Resource providers offer temporarily idle resources (or skills and services) to resource demanders for a fee through technology platforms. Demanders gain the right to use the resources (or enjoy the services), while providers receive corresponding compensation. Through the integration of technology platforms, it achieves the goals of efficient resource allocation, effective urban governance, and more convenient access to urban social services for citizens."

Luo Yang immediately stated: "The sharing economy has five characteristics: First, it is supported by technologies such as the Internet, the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence; second, it has extensive data applications; third, it optimizes the allocation of massive, dispersed, and idle resources through sharing; fourth, it efficiently provides social services through market-oriented means to meet diverse social needs; and finally, it has the characteristics of quasi-public goods."

As Vic Cohen listened to Luo Yang's explanation, his eyes suddenly brightened.

He had already started grilling his cigar, but stopped because of his sudden excitement.

The old man simply put the cigar back in the box.

He looked at Luo Yang with bright eyes and asked excitedly, "The Internet, the Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, the sharing economy—no, I should say your bike-sharing project—does it need to apply so many emerging technologies?"

These five words clearly struck a chord with Vic Cohen.

Or rather, these five words struck a nerve with capital!

"Yes, the bike-sharing project requires so much technology."

Luo Yang knew what Wall Street investment institutions needed, so he shamelessly added fuel to the fire, saying, "I don't need to explain the Internet much; it's the foundation. Mobile Internet itself is a branch derived from the Internet."

The internet boom has been going on for several years now. Not to mention someone like Vic Cohen, even an ordinary college student can explain the concept of the internet to some extent.

"The Internet of Things (IoT) is about connecting objects in the real world to the Internet, so that things and people can communicate with each other easily."

Luo Yang explained each of the five terms one by one: "The main body of the Internet of Things (IoT) is the 'thing' (various daily necessities and production goods), the Internet refers to an IT technology, and the IoT relies on the Internet."

"Shared bikes are physical objects, smartphone apps are mobile internet, and combining the two is the Internet of Things?"

After listening to Luo Yang's second explanation, Vic Cohen's eyes shone even brighter: "Mr. Luo, this is the most fitting explanation of the combination of project and concept that I have heard in recent years. You are truly remarkable."

That's a bit of an exaggeration. He's the president of IDG, after all.

After hearing the translation from Sun Wei, Luo Yang felt that this girl was definitely up to no good.

But since they are the "big spenders," we still need to show the proper attitude, no matter what.

"Actually, if you look through the academic reports of various universities in the United States, you can find the roots of these concepts."

Luo Yang humbly stated, "When it comes to innovative thinking, we must look to Ivy League universities, Silicon Valley, and Wall Street."

He was also harboring a wicked intention, and only said the first half of the sentence.

In reality, the entire text should be written with the United States responsible for innovative thinking and proposing concepts, and China responsible for making them concrete and bringing them into reality.

Vic Cohen had no idea that Luo Yang harbored such thoughts. After hearing these words, he immediately burst into laughter.

“Yes, Mr. Luo, our United States is a great nation of innovation!” Old Cohen raised his whiskey to Luo Yang, then took a big gulp, thoroughly enjoying it.

Luo Yang also took a big gulp, feeling equally delighted.

Both of them gained something.

"Big data refers to data that is limited by its volume, speed, and variety. Its most prominent characteristics are its massive volume, high speed, and diverse types. First, massive volume means that the amount of data is beyond human imagination, requiring specific tools and methods for storage, management, and processing. Second, high speed means that the data is generated and processed very quickly, requiring uninterrupted computing power and processing speed. Finally, diverse types refer to the diversity of data sources and data types, requiring comprehensive analysis and use across multiple fields."

Having explained the concept, let's apply it to the project.

“Mr. Cohen, we all know that population activity in a city can be considered, to some extent, a diffuse, disorderly, and unpredictable behavior.”

Luo Yang gave an example: "Applied to the shared bicycle project, it means that we don't know the number, time, or frequency of bicycles used in a certain area of ​​the city at a certain time. However, over a longer period, this is a fuzzy statistical data point. By collecting enough sample data through big data, we can know which areas of the city have a higher frequency of bicycle use and which areas are bicycle collection terminals. Combined with big data analysis, we can effectively deploy bicycles in the right areas and in the right number, and promptly collect the scattered bicycles and relocate them back to the places where they are needed. These are the applications of big data in the shared bicycle project."

"Mr. Luo, your theory is absolutely brilliant!"

Vic Cohen put down his cigar again and applauded Luo Yang's argument.

"Your company has already reached this stage in big data applications?"

"Yes, Mr. Cohen."

While smoking a cigar, Luo Yang replied with a smile, "Our company has already reached a cooperation agreement with Tsinghua University to conduct joint research and development specifically on big data applications."

That's completely untrue.

Edifier Technology's current big data model is licensed from Toutiao.

But this boast isn't a big problem; we can make it up when we get back.

It's simply a matter of discussing with Zhang Yiming's side about investing some money in their joint R&D project with Tsinghua University, taking a 10% to 15% stake, which would be considered participation in the joint R&D.

Unaware of what was happening, Vic Cohen nodded in satisfaction after hearing Luo Yang's reply.

The drinking and smoking continued, and so did the boasting.

"Cloud computing is an internet-based computing method that provides data and computing resources to users through network connections."

Luo Yang sat relaxed on the leather sofa, explaining unhurriedly, "Cloud computing can provide various services, such as storage, computing, databases, and applications. It's a new computing model that uses distributed computing principles, storing computing resources and data in the cloud, which users can access and use via the internet. The advantages of cloud computing lie in its efficiency, flexibility, scalability, and reliability, providing users with more efficient and stable services."

After Sun Wei translated a long passage, he paused for a moment.

"Mr. Cohen, in fact, several of our domestic internet giants have built their own cloud computing centers."

Luo Yang then named two internationally renowned companies: "Alibaba Cloud from Alibaba Group and Tencent Cloud from Tencent Group were launched in 2009. Our Edifier Technology Company is currently using Alibaba Cloud's services."

Sure enough, when he mentioned Alibaba Group and Tencent Group, Vic Cohen nodded.

He clearly knew about these two internet giants.

"Alibaba Group is currently seeking a listing on the New York Stock Exchange."

Vic Cohen added casually, "The prospects are very good, and many institutions are optimistic about it. I heard that once this company goes public, its market value could exceed 2000 billion US dollars, which is remarkable."

Even the president of IDG must respect the power of money.

A newly listed company with a market value of 2000 billion US dollars is a considerable size even in the United States.

It's worth noting that back in May of this year, Facebook, the star of the US tech IPO, went public on Nasdaq, and its market capitalization on the first day of trading was only 104 billion US dollars. In contrast, Alibaba's actual market capitalization exceeded 230 billion US dollars on the day it went public on the New York Stock Exchange, more than double that of Facebook.

Therefore, it's not hard to understand what Vic Cohen just said.

Finally, there's the concept of artificial intelligence.

"Mr. Cohen, to be honest, although artificial intelligence is included in the concept of the sharing economy, it is still too advanced for the current shared bicycle project."

There are limits to boasting.

Now, not only in China, but even in the United States, there has been no breakthrough in the research and development of artificial intelligence technology.

If Luo Yang were to boast to Vic Cohen right now and force artificial intelligence onto the bike-sharing project, it would have the opposite effect.

"Many of our labs in the United States have mentioned the concept of artificial intelligence, but with the current technology, it seems difficult to make any real progress."

As the president of IDG, Vic Cohen has a wide range of knowledge and can speak to some extent about artificial intelligence. Moreover, because the United States is at the forefront of technology, he knows far more about many aspects than Luo Yang.

"As we all know, technological breakthroughs in artificial intelligence rely on a lot of computing power. You have to understand that computing power is the computing ability required to support the operation of artificial intelligence algorithms, including data processing, model training and inference. Without a lot of computing power, everything is just empty talk."

Although Luo Yang was unaware of cutting-edge research directions and the progress of artificial intelligence research in the United States, he could still talk big.

"Besides computing power, there's also algorithm and model optimization. Advances in artificial intelligence require the continuous development of algorithms such as deep learning and reinforcement learning, enabling AI systems to perform exceptionally well in handling complex tasks. Secondly, there's data processing capability. With the continuous development of big data technology, the amount of data that AI systems can process has increased dramatically, making AI systems more accurate in identifying patterns and predicting trends."

Luo Yang had a rare moment of showing off in front of Vic Cohen.

"AI technology will demonstrate significant application results in fields such as healthcare, finance, and transportation in the future. In the next few years, the optimization of software and hardware will become crucial, including developing more efficient code and optimizing the utilization of existing computing resources."

At this point, Luo Yang suddenly had a thought.

He then changed the subject, tentatively saying, "The hardware aspect relies on breakthroughs in chip technology, and in this area, we still need to look to the latest technology from the United States."

Luo Yang wanted to know what the most advanced chips in the United States had reached in nanometers!

(End of this chapter)