Chapter 164: Functions should be integrated: There are still quite a few requests from everyone.
The newly discovered translator is quite small; it looks a bit like a calculator when you hold it in your hand.
In fact, when Soviet researchers were working on this thing, their earliest inspiration came from Japanese calculators.
That calculator was made by the Japanese in the 1970s. Sharp spent 12 years simplifying the more than 3,000 parts of the calculator into just three: a silicon chip, a solar cell, and an LCD display.
Damn it, another LCD screen.
Well, then Sharp evolved, and by the 1980s, they had successfully compressed the price of solar-powered calculators to $4, undoubtedly monopolizing the market with their price advantage.
When Soviet scientists saw this small and lightweight calculator, they were inspired and thought that the LCD panel could display the translated text, while the actual translation work could be done using silicon wafers.
Wang Xiao was a little stunned.
Wait, no, silicon wafers and chips mean the same thing, right?
I think so.
As is well known, the Soviet Union did not develop transistors; it followed the path of vacuum tubes.
Why does it go against the world's mainstream? It's not because it wants to emphasize that it's different from other fireworks, but rather it's determined by subjective and objective conditions.
Objectively speaking, there is no doubt that after World War II, developed capitalist countries in the West began to impose technological blockades. Unable to obtain advanced semiconductor materials and technologies, the Soviet Union had to find other ways.
Subjectively, it was related to the Soviet Union's approach of prioritizing the development of the military industry.
After testing, the military concluded that vacuum tubes had stronger anti-interference capabilities and would be more stable in the event of war (after World War II, anti-communist sentiment was very strong in the Western world).
Western transistors are mainly geared towards civilian use. Compared to transistors that are more resistant to interference, transistors that are smaller and consume less power are obviously more suitable for entering every household.
The civilian route ensures that companies using this route can obtain a steady stream of orders.
Simply put, the ability to make money creates a positive feedback loop, allowing for repeated investment in research and development, which in turn promotes the continuous development of integrated circuits.
Ivanov rolled his eyes at his partner and said in a hoarse voice, "We Soviet Union also have our own semiconductor industry. The integrated circuits we made in the 1960s were no worse than those of the Americans."
Lyuba glanced at her male boss, recognizing that her client was her female boss, and dutifully explained, "The Moscow government planned to develop the semiconductor industry in Zelenograd, the Soviet Silicon Valley. Well, we've done that too."
This means that the authorities used KGB to steal technology in order to copy other people's chips.
There was also controversy within the Soviet scientific community regarding this matter.
As is well known, the Soviet Union was highly advanced in science and technology, and even in the semiconductor industry, they had a constellation of brilliant minds.
The semiconductor dual heterostructure proposed by Russian scientist Zores Alferov in 1963 is the theoretical basis for semiconductor lasers.
The Osokine integrated circuits that Ivanov mentioned, which were made in the Soviet Union in the 1960s, were no less than world-class.
For Soviet scientists, being instructed by the authorities to copy foreign research findings was undoubtedly a huge humiliation.
Wang Xiao listened with great interest: "Then why didn't you continue? Did the scientists rebel and refuse to cooperate?"
For the first time, Lyuba thought her boss was a bit silly.
Are you kidding me? Everything was for the Soviet Union. Individual will is nothing compared to the great Soviet Union.
"No, we don't have the money," Sergei sighed. "It needs a lot of money, and the country can't allocate any more to it. Yes, it's orders. All the Soviet Union's orders come from the military, and it's not enough to support it."
Wang Xiao then gave them another blow: "I reckon your initial approach of copying was flawed. If you copy, you'll fall behind. You'll always be picking up scraps from other people's heels. Another issue is mass production. You can directly steal the design, but you can't do mass production. They're holding back on technology; they won't export high-precision machines to you, nor will they give you high-purity materials. I also reckon your semiconductor manufacturing processes are unreliable."
Lyuba shook her head with a wry smile: "We finally managed to get Toshiba on board, but before we could even get our hands on the high-precision lathes, Toshiba ran into big trouble and was sanctioned by the United States."
Wang Xiao's gossip spirit was burning brightly: "To be honest, did Japan also want to join forces with the Soviet Union to counter the United States back then?"
Her suspicions were definitely not unfounded.
Although many people describe post-World War II Japan as America's lackey and puppet, the relationship between Japan and the United States is not that simple, or rather, not that pure.
In the 1970s, Japan's economy took off, and its industrial products sold like hotcakes in Europe and America. However, the United States experienced a period of economic stagflation, with a large number of factories closing down and workers losing their jobs.
Back then, it was common for workers to smash Japanese cars in anger on the streets of America.
Given Japan's consistent ambitions, it's unrealistic to expect it to be content to blindly follow the United States when it's already so well-developed.
Relations between countries have always been delicate.
Even when China was under immense pressure from the Soviet Union's military buildup on its borders, it prioritized ideological competition, proactively extending an olive branch to the United States and easing tensions through mediation by Romania and Pakistan.
Why couldn't Japan flirt with the Soviet Union to counter the United States, which was eyeing it covetously?
When this topic came up, Ivanov chuckled: "Nixon has already announced his visit to China, how could the Soviet Union and Japan not react?"
However, at the time, the Japanese government felt betrayed by its American ally, and there were calls within the country to improve relations with China.
The Soviet Union hoped to prevent Nixon from visiting China, or to invite him to visit Moscow first before going to China, but this was refused.
Then the Soviet Union strengthened its ties with India and received signals from Japan that it hoped to improve relations with the Soviet Union, but ultimately the two sides failed to reach an agreement on the Northern Territories issue, so relations could never be further improved.
Well, there's nothing we can do about it.
Not to mention the 1970s and 80s, even now, and even thirty years from now, the Northern Territories remain a taboo subject in Russo-Japanese relations.
Ivanov slapped his thigh, sighing deeply, "Japan just can't see things clearly. If only—"
The words were already on the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed them back.
He swallowed too quickly and bit his tongue, crying out in pain.
Even so, he still failed to take advantage of the situation and received a glare from Wang Xiao.
"Wang—" he pleaded with a fawning smile, "You know, that's not what I meant."
hehe.
You're kidding me.
Wang Xiao rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth, saying, "To be honest, what we hate most is that they take things without caring about them, and they don't even bother to build properly."
Ivanov started touching his nose, his eyes darting around, and muttered, "We're outnumbered."
Wang Xiao slammed his fist on the table, his anger rising uncontrollably: "You have so few people, you don't need such a large place at all. You'll only be able to use it to exile criminals. What are you trying to gain?"
Sergei instinctively defended himself: "The Soviet Union was also built, and many people were relocated there."
Wang Xiao revealed a godlike disdain: "Well, move all the people you consider bad elements over there. Then when the Soviet Union collapses, they all run away, and they think it's a labor camp."
Sergei also wanted to touch his nose.
This is a delicate matter. Back then, many of the constituent republics did indeed conduct internal purges. This work had to be done; otherwise, it would be impossible to maintain stability.
Especially the three Baltic states.
Even now, more than a year after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they are still talking about this issue repeatedly.
"What's the point?" Wang Xiao said, heartbroken. "You didn't even discover oil and natural gas back then. Did you just need a place to exile criminals?"
Ivanov didn't dare utter a sound. Territory was a sensitive issue for the Russians, but it also belonged to the Chinese.
Unfortunately, he wasn't successfully brainwashed by Russian propaganda and knew the true history, so he inevitably felt guilty.
Sergei, having received years of education, was already conditioned to it. He forced himself to try and explain, "Well, actually, it's not really suitable for human habitation; the conditions are too poor, and people can't stay there."
Wang Xiao let out a cold laugh: "Want to give it a try? In our hands, we can make flowers bloom even in the cracks of rocks."
It's just near the Arctic Circle, what's there to be afraid of? In the Arctic, Chinese people can still grow a vegetable garden.
Lyuba couldn't help but ask curiously, "There's no soil! There's no soil in the cracks between the rocks, how are we supposed to plant anything?"
"First, hydroponics can be used. Second, isn't river mud soil? It can definitely be used to grow vegetables. It may not see the sun when it's not in direct sunlight, but during the polar day, the sunlight conditions are excellent, so it's perfectly suitable for growing vegetables."
Ivanov let out a long sigh: "The Chinese are truly amazing; they can make a living under any circumstances."
Wang Xiao said with pride and satisfaction: "Growing vegetables is in our national genes. Even if we go to outer space one day, we will still grow vegetables."
"So you are all over the world." Sergei found it amazing.
When he was on missions abroad, he felt it was easy to spot Chinese people.
Even though their restrictions on leaving the country are very strict, they haven't been fully lifted yet.
But nothing seems to stop them from running around; they seem determined to spread all over the world.
Wang Xiao laughed so hard he practically squawked like a goose: "Yeah, Chinese people are just global street hustlers, their main goal is to wander all over the world."
Before she transmigrated into the book, there was a meme online: no matter where you are in the world, if you turn around, you'll find yourself surrounded by fellow countrymen.
Based on her own experience, she does find it quite easy to run into fellow countrymen when she travels abroad.
Once, in a rather remote town, she and her friends enjoyed authentic hometown cuisine. Can you believe it? The owner braised pig's trotters, which locals don't eat, and they ate them with great relish.
As they ate, they shook their heads and sighed, lamenting that the locals were wasting food and didn't know how to appreciate it.
Wang Xiao's cheerful reaction brought a sigh of relief to the Russians present.
Unless something serious happens, nobody wants to make each other unhappy.
What they didn't say was that it was precisely because of the Chinese people's strong survival ability that Russia became increasingly vigilant, fearing that they would turn the Far East back into Chinese territory.
No matter what, they will survive; once they come, they won't leave.
Ivanov quickly steered the conversation back on track: "Look at this, this should be considered a relatively mature product, I think it's ready for production."
But when it comes to making money, Wang Xiao is quite picky.
She held the sample in her hand and examined it repeatedly, then made a new request: "The computer function and the calculator function cannot be lost."
Lyuba, still bewildered, asked curiously, "Why do you need a calculator?"
The translator has achieved a pretty good level of sophistication; it can even receive human speech, analyze and translate it itself, and then output the result in electronic voice.
To be honest, having come from KGB and seen a lot, she thought it was a great product.
The more features a product has, the higher its cost, and the less competitive it becomes in terms of pricing.
This is very dangerous.
They were just discussing how Japanese products have been able to sweep across Europe and America.
Besides the fact that their products have an exquisite and beautiful appearance, the most important thing is that they are very good at controlling prices, giving them a strong competitive advantage.
"Because this product has a rather unique positioning."
Wang Xiao only said this one sentence before Ivanov came to his senses: "That's right, that's right, we definitely need a calculator."
This translator was specifically made for middlemen and speculators.
Every business needs a calculator.
Even in current informal trade, calculators are used as translators.
The two sides couldn't communicate in any language, so negotiating prices involved pressing down your ideal price on a calculator, and then the other party pressing down another price.
After three to five rounds of back-and-forth negotiations, either a deal is struck or the talks fall apart; a business can be concluded without a single word being spoken.
That's why, while traders may not necessarily think they need translators, calculators are an essential part of their daily lives.
It would be even better if this calculator had a translation function.
For business people, the fewer pieces of equipment they need, the more convenient it is.
After all, they are constantly on the move, and any additional possessions they have would be a heavy burden.
Translation machines and calculators should indeed be integrated.
Wang Xiao held the sample in his hand and said a few words to it.
Although it recognizes a limited number of words, it still seems quite clear.
It's amazing how powerful speech recognition technology has become in this era.
It's really hard to imagine.
She had a brilliant idea: "We could develop it in the direction of voice recognition. For example, in the future, we can just say what we want, and it will automatically convert it into text. This could save writers, editors, and all writers from typing."
Before she transmigrated into the book, she was too lazy to type when chatting with people, and relied directly on voice-to-text.
Ivanov's eyes lit up. Hehe, the more features they add, the more consumer groups they can tap into, and the more money they can make.
But Lyuba poured cold water on their hopes: "I don't think that can be achieved right now."
Why?
Because current translators can only recognize a limited number of words.
The reason why the female boss of Huaxia felt that it captured words very clearly was because most of what she said involved price figures.
(This is also the weather for merchants.)
However, this translator only has a thousand words. It might be enough for doing business, but what if a writer repeatedly uses a thousand words in their writing?
So, even elementary school students would probably dislike him (or her).
Wang Xiao was quite disappointed, but unwilling to give up, and began to emphasize again: "Intelligence, it should develop in the direction of intelligence, and it will definitely have a great future."
Xiao Gao was a little confused. Why?
He really didn't see anything remarkable about speech recognition.
The reason for using this machine translation is that foreign languages are indeed difficult to learn, and people have an unavoidable need for it.
But speech-to-text conversion? That's so troublesome. After that, you have to check if it was recognized correctly. It's better to just type it out yourself from the beginning.
It's true, with training, typing fast can simultaneously record human speech.
"Laziness!" Wang Xiao said decisively. "Laziness drives human technological development and social progress. All troublesome things promote the emergence of specific tools, thereby enabling humans to live more efficiently."
She emphasized, "My dear friends, please believe me, this will definitely be the mainstream of society in the future."
Sergei nodded in agreement, still considering the issue from a military perspective.
“Speech recognition is indeed very important. In the 1970s, IBM developed the ‘Shoebox’ speech recognition system, which could recognize 1,000 words. Americans still felt it was not enough, so in the 1980s, the Department of Defense funded the ‘Dragon’ research program to develop a speech recognition system.”
It was precisely because of the discovery of the Americans' movements that Soviet research institutions received a new mission from their superiors to restart their previously interrupted research on speech recognition, and progress was rapid.
real.
If the Soviet Union had not collapsed, Sergei was confident that the Soviet Union would have quickly surpassed the United States in this research and development.
The past cannot be retrieved; focus only on the present.
Having the opportunity to continue the research can be seen as a way of making up for the regret.
Ivanov made the decision: "OK, this is acceptable, continue investing funds."
Anyway, the research institution is in Russia, and the investment is in rubles.
Besides, if you don't invest your rubles, what else can you do? Just hold onto them and wait for them to depreciate?
He now feels that leaving Moscow was the best decision he ever made.
After all, if he continues to stay, not only will his personal safety be jeopardized, but his physical and mental health will also suffer a major blow.
Now he can avoid seeing it and stay out of it. As long as he doesn't ask, he won't know that the ruble is falling terribly every day, and at least he can find some peace of mind for the time being.
For example, right now, when he thinks about the ruble falling, he only feels a sharp pain in his chest, like being pinched by ants, rather than his vision going black and him fainting on the spot.
Wang Xiao smiled and said ambitiously, "When the results come out, it will shock the world and change the lifestyle of people all over the world."
but--
They can't wait for the research results now; instead, they need to integrate existing functions as soon as possible and launch the product quickly.
The research institute in Moscow acted very quickly, probably because the prospect of a million-dollar prize was so enticing, and everyone was extremely enthusiastic.
They didn't even spend a week; in just three days, they produced a prototype of the new calculator with both calculation and translation functions that the client had requested.
Wang Xiao gave it a try and felt it was alright.
She then took the calculator and went to the commercial city to ask the traders for their opinions.
Most people expressed interest.
The trade city does indeed provide translation services, even to your door.
However, as the saying goes, comparing prices from three different vendors is the best way to avoid being taken advantage of.
These days, even the elderly middlemen and women who are used to reselling goods still source them from small commodity markets in Jinning and Xiaozhou, as well as from various shopping malls and even directly from manufacturers.
At that time, they could no longer rely on the trade city and had to find translators themselves.
Translation is done by people, and without the constraints of organizational discipline, the reliability of humans can never match that of machines.
Who knows if they were being double-crossed by the translators?
Now that we have translation machines, that's fantastic! We don't have to worry about being fooled anymore.
However, probably because foreign traders are generally highly educated, with the worst being high school graduates, their requirements are more detailed.
For example, could this translator first display the language they speak as text, allowing them to check and correct it before translating it into Chinese?
This can greatly reduce the probability of unnecessary misunderstandings between the two parties.
Wang Xiao immediately nodded and smiled: "OK, we will give feedback to the scientists and improve the product's functions."
This is indeed very necessary, since the voice recognition function of machines is relatively weak at present, and manual adjustments are still necessary.
The woman who offered the feedback was overjoyed and repeatedly assured me, "As long as it's made, I will definitely buy it. I will also recommend it to all my friends."
Unlike their foreign counterparts, Chinese traders demand more dialect functionality.
The dialects in the South are so diverse that two adjacent villages can speak two different dialects.
Many of them can understand Mandarin, but cannot speak a single word of it.
Let them chatter away into the machine; the translator won't even know whether it should define it as an Earth language.
As for directly inputting text—
Sigh, who are you trying to bully? There are plenty of kids who didn't even finish elementary school, and there are even quite a few illiterate people who can only write their own names.
They have difficulty even writing, how can you expect them to learn to type? That's asking the impossible.
Faced with such high demands, Wang Xiao could only blink.
this--
Aren't you making things too difficult for the machine?
It's still a baby, just starting out. It's weak, pitiful, and helpless. It needs human understanding and protection.
The sound of geese honking came from nearby, but it wasn't from the geese raised by the villagers in the surrounding villages; it was from someone laughing so hard they sounded like geese.
The old man in the jacket chuckled, "Oh dear, learn it yourself, learn Mandarin."
The middleman who was giving Wang Xiao advice rolled his eyes and said, "I don't think you're doing very well either."
How can you be so shameless? The pot calling the kettle black.
Wang Xiao suppressed a laugh: "Okay, okay, I'll try my best. I'll ask the scientists if it's possible."
From a theoretical point of view, there is no problem.
Locals feel that their own dialects vary greatly.
However, to outsiders, the dialects of a region are actually quite similar.
What impressed her most was that her friends from Nanjing and Yangzhou, whom she knew before she transmigrated into the book, both of them swore that their dialects were very different.
However, the other friends all agreed that it didn't sound any different.
Most importantly, although China has a vast territory and a large population, its dialect system is incredibly diverse.
But only a few regions actually travel all over the world to do business.
The dialects of these regions are compiled and treated as new languages. Machines are then used to recognize them, first translating them into Mandarin, and then into foreign languages.
It's a bit troublesome, but it's not entirely impossible.
When doing business, you naturally have to provide excellent service.
After greeting the middleman, she cheerfully asked the old man, "Oh, Uncle Cao, you're back? Did you come back before the New Year?"
Before the Lunar New Year, Uncle Cao, who had once rented a shop and opened a factory in Moscow, making a thriving business in bedding, went to Africa with African students to explore new frontiers.
Now that they're back, I don't know if they've returned defeated or triumphant.
Uncle Cao chuckled, "Happy New Year, Mr. Wang. I just got back, with some foreign university students."
Wang Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "You've been spending the whole year in Africa? Wow, you're really energetic!"
Uncle Cao waved his hand dismissively: "Oh dear, when you're busy, who has time to think about the New Year?"
Wang Xiao turned her head and saw Chen Yu raise her eyebrows slightly at her.
Both of them chuckled inwardly, thinking, "Come on, you're just afraid of your two families fighting. Both wives are probably asking you to go back to your own place for the New Year."
However, business people are too lazy to judge each other's morality; they only talk about business: "How's business over there?"
"Easy to do!"
When the conversation turned to serious matters, Uncle Cao's face lit up with excitement. "My goodness, there really is nothing there."
Having nothing means you can do anything.
When he arrived in Africa, the first thing he did was sell the slippers he was carrying.
Hearing this, Wang Xiao was incredibly curious: "How did you manage to sell the slippers? If they used to go barefoot, how could they possibly accept wearing shoes?"
Uncle Cao's goose honked even louder: "Cooperation, I've cooperated with their shamanistic ritual."
The development of the African continent is extremely uneven, and the hometown he returned to with the international students was shockingly backward.
Ordinary locals couldn't afford to see a doctor or get medicine when they were sick. They either had to wait to die or hire a shaman to perform a ritual. There wasn't even a barefoot doctor.
If shamanic rituals could cure illnesses, then hospitals would be unnecessary.
The child had cut his foot and developed a high fever. The shaman danced around him for a long time, but couldn't cure the child.
Uncle Cao couldn't bear to see it and took pity on the child, giving him an aspirin to bring the fever down.
After taking antibiotics, the child miraculously recovered.
As a result, the wizard who had just taken over the mantle from his ancestors and had only been in office for a short time, whether out of guilt or something else, actually made up a lie, saying that Uncle Cao was the messenger sent by the gods to help the child.
Good heavens! In an instant, Uncle Cao was surrounded by the locals.
But Uncle Cao didn't carry much medicine with him, so how could he withstand so many people?
In a moment of desperation, he had a sudden inspiration and pointed to the slippers, saying that this was the protection that God had given them.
As long as you wear slippers, you don't have to worry about hurting your feet.
Wang Xiao listened with great interest: "Since it's a gift from God, how did you receive the money? You didn't just give it away for nothing, did you?"
Uncle Cao stared wide-eyed as if he'd heard the biggest joke in the world: "Of course we need money! It's a gift from God, shouldn't we offer it to God?"
Haha, a pie falling from the sky can only be more expensive.
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Comrades, please take care of yourselves! Several of my colleagues have already strained their voices, and some even have fevers. I'm shivering. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2024-02-29 07:05:58 and 2024-03-01 07:30:20!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Little Fish by the Sea (25 bottles); Kidney Bean, Affirmation, and Clmichaelia (10 bottles each); Fish (3 bottles); and Happiness Forever and Little Cutie Who Wants to Grow Tall (1 bottle each).
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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