The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 360 Sorry for taking up public resources
Liu Hua pointed at the student and asked, "Have you studied the history of semiconductor development? How big were the earliest computers? How big are today's computers? Why did it take generations of effort to design them to get smaller and smaller?"

The students finally realized that the teacher thought their design was too big.

Liu Hua asked, "Why do we design mobile communication terminals when we already have landline and fixed-line telephones? It's for convenience, so that we can make and receive calls anytime, anywhere."

Liu Hua brandished the weapon in his hand: "Excuse me, what's so convenient about this thing? It's too heavy to carry in my pocket, and if I put it in my pants pocket, my pants will droop down. Or do you need a special bag like the old-fashioned mobile phone?"

"Couldn't you design it to be smaller? Just fit it in my pocket, about the size of a wallet, or even two wallets, I could accept that."

The graduate student quickly admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry, teacher, we misunderstood. We'll correct it right away, and we promise to reduce the size within a week."

Liu Hua approached Director Huang: "It's practically a crime to contact some of the best art students and have engineering students design the product's appearance. The thing they designed looks more like a brick than a telephone. Instead of learning the good stuff, they went to a mobile phone university. What's so good about mobile phones anyway?"

"What you can't have is always the best." Director Huang pointed out incisively, "For these kids, a mobile phone is a luxury they can't reach, so naturally they think it's good."

“That won’t do. Our students from Tsinghua University are all social elites after they graduate. How can we treat this kind of garbage as something good?”

"That's a matter for later. I'll contact the art department for you right now."

A week later, the semiconductor major and the art department jointly designed a product about the size of a Samsung Anycall. After being beautified by the art department, it had a touch of Chinese style and came in more than a dozen colors, making people want to buy it.

Next came the experiment, which was handed over to the postal service. They had a lot of people there, so they sent about a hundred people to make calls in various corners of Beijing every day to test call clarity, signal strength, and so on.

More than a month later, there were some minor issues, but after optimization, the product is now quite mature.

"Next, Tsinghua University and the postal department will hold a joint press conference," Liu Hua suggested. "We'll spread the word that we've designed a new generation of mobile communication terminals. The media will give us free publicity, and we can save on marketing costs."

Tsinghua University and the postal service naturally supported the proposal wholeheartedly; if handled well, it would be a great honor for them.

Liu Hua had a detailed discussion with the leaders of the postal department and confirmed a series of issues, including the rates. Although the rates did not meet expectations, the prices had already been reduced dramatically.

At the same time, Liu Hua also introduced the concept of "package deals." When everyone was short of money, package deals were undoubtedly a very good choice. However, later, in order to make more money, package deals were used in various ways and consumers were deceived, which was a wrong turn.

The three parties have now finalized the agreement: Liu Hua will manufacture the batteries, all the chips will be produced by Factory 798, the PHS phone will belong to Tsinghua University's university-enterprise co-creation company, the phone cards will belong to the Ministry of Posts and Telecom, and a series of services will also be provided by the government.

A press conference needs a host, and after careful selection, either Tsinghua University or the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications were dissatisfied.

Finally, Director Huang said, "Why don't we just let Engineer Liu speak? His student hosted the last press conference, and it went quite well. Engineer Liu is both energetic and eloquent, so the effect should be good as well."

Unexpectedly, Liu Hua received recognition from both Tsinghua University and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, and was thus appointed as the host, thus moving from behind the scenes to the forefront.

On the day of the press conference, more than 100 media outlets were present, with only a small number from abroad and the majority from China. Liu Hua was wearing a Hugo Boss suit, his hair was neatly combed, and although he was over forty, he looked no different from someone in his early thirties. If this were forty years from now, he wouldn't be much worse than Lei Jun, and might even be better, because Liu Hua was more handsome than his grand-disciple.

"I apologize for using public resources." Liu Hua started by saying something from forty years in the future: "The reason for holding this press conference today is to report our achievements to everyone and to thank the people of the whole country for trusting Tsinghua University and the postal service. So today we have achieved a little bit of success, and we want to report to the people of the whole country."

Although the audience consisted mostly of reporters, not spectators, everyone still applauded.

Liu Hua picked up a mobile phone. Back then, advertising laws weren't as strict, so Liu Hua could joke around with it as he pleased.

"This thing is called 'Big Brother' now because of Sammo Hung," Liu Hua said with a smile. "It's definitely a luxury item, costing 20,000 to 30,000 yuan each. Add in the fees for registering and everything, and it'll easily cost 40,000 to 50,000 yuan."

Liu Hua examined the mobile phone from all angles, then smiled and asked, "What do you all think of this thing?"

"it is good."

"Of course it's great, it's convenient to make and receive calls anytime when you're out and about."

Liu Hua shook his head in disdain: "I don't see what's so good about it. I think the only use of this thing is that it gives you a sense of security when you're fighting, like you're holding a brick. As for the sound quality, volume, and signal strength when you make a phone call, it's just so-so."

This is just stirring up trouble.

Liu Hua turned around and took out his PHS phone: "This is the achievement I want to report to everyone, our new product, the PHS phone."

So small and cute, and with a color scheme different from black, it instantly captured the hearts of a group of female reporters.

"Professor Liu, is your PHS phone designed based on GSM?"

Liu Hua pointed at the reporter and said, "Oh, there are some knowledgeable reporters who know that the next generation of communication standards in the world is GSM. But unfortunately, our Xiaolingtong is not based on GSM. It's not that we have come up with a new generation of communication standards. Rather, Xiaolingtong is a transitional product that we designed and that is currently the most suitable for our country."

"Taking advantage?"

This word isn't very good; it's comparable to cheating and shirking responsibility. Some patriotic journalists frowned.

"The GSM standard has only just been invented and has not yet been commercialized or promoted, so it is not realistic for us to design a mobile communication terminal based on GSM at the moment."

Liu Hua continued, "Of course, we can also design our own communication standard. It doesn't mean we have to follow GSM, but it would require a lot of manpower, resources, and energy, which we don't have right now."

(End of this chapter)