Thursday, November 03, 2005

盗版还是垄断?

((The following article is a translation of my August 16 post on Piracy and Microsoft, found here. I re-wrote it in Simplified Chinese for more general dispersal. ))

by Tyler Rooker -- re-written in Chinese

在 中关村,“中国硅谷”,Windows XP的盗版到处都有。这是谁都知道的。不管是农村来到电子城门外的流动人口,还是在柜台装机的人,许多人都不花钱用XP。什么原因啊?价格。正版 Windows要两千多元(250美元)。盗版只需要6元。但是,这样的情况到底损害还是支持微软的操作系统的垄断?

“枪打出头鸟”是中 文的一句俗语。对百度,用友,联想等大公司来讲如果它们用盗版,就会引起微软在法院里的“枪”。但是,对微软来讲,枪打那些今天在明天不在的流动人口,这 么做有什么好处呢?没有。这些流动人口只会被政府的工商部门抓了,罚款,然后遣送回家。而这些被罚的款都属于北京市的政府。那么,盗版怎么帮助微软呢?

从 一个观点来看,答案是,只要盗版在中国继续存在,微软就可以维持它在中国的垄断。现在中国没有操作系统。连计划中的系统都没有。为什么?因为一出来,也会 被盗版。盗版削弱微软,但是同时也削弱中国想要开发自己的操作系统的企业家们。如果中国操作系统是200元(25美元)的话,就可以让那些企业家们获得足 够的利润和投资收益。那样一来,为什么金山(中国的微软)不去开发呢?盗版。

在中国,盗版确实把微软的一部分利润窃取掉。但我想强调是,微软也是从盗版行为获得某些好处和利润。如果没有盗版的话,中国的操作系统就会像毛主席所说的“百花齐放,百家争鸣”。最终,那些系统会削弱或结束微软的操作系统的垄断。

下次微软抱怨中国的盗版时,注意他们找什么理由。在中关村4/5的电脑是品牌机,用的都是正版。1/5是DIY装机的,用的是盗版。那么,微软丢失了还是获得了利润呢?

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Wikipedia Zhongguancun Entry Updated

I have added some information to the Wikipedia entry for Zhongguancun. It is currently listed under "Zhong Guan Cun," which makes sense because the characters in the Chinese name are three separate ones (see title of this blog).

The current address is:

Wikipedia Zhongguancun


Check it out.

Also, writing up a general introduction to Zhongguancun has made me recall my interview with Chen Chunxian, the China Academy of Sciences (CAS) member who was the first person to think of a Silicon Valley in China. Chen Chunxian was a plasma physicist at CAS until he quit to start a company. He is known in Zhongguancun as "the first person to eat crab" (第一吃螃蟹的人), meaning that dared to try something that looked horrible on the outside but is great once you try it. He passed away one year ago. I will post a future blog about him and his courageous work to set up a company and transfer scientific results into technology that could be used. He really is some one who should be remembered.