Phi-Fic Chapter 14: Making empty promises to Brother Mo
Chapter 14: Making empty promises to Brother Mo
With the house in hand, a cheerful Ling Yun hummed a tune as he returned to his dormitory. Seeing Ling Yun so happy today, Zhao Weiguo said, "Brother Donkey, did you find some money today?"
Ling Yun smiled and said, "I'm even happier than if I found money."
Ling Yun turned to Li Mo and asked, "Brother Mo, what are you busy with?"
Li Mo was hunched over, his head almost buried behind the somewhat bulky CRT monitor, his fingers flying across a keyboard, lines of green code scrolling across the screen.
Beside him was an old keyboard that had been disassembled into pieces and was covered in oil. Several keycaps had been removed, revealing the gray-white mechanical switches underneath. Next to it were a multimeter, a soldering iron, and a small pile of electronic components.
"Brother Mo, are you struggling with the keyboard again?" Ling Yun pulled over a creaking wooden chair and sat down next to Li Mo.
Li Mo didn't even look up, only humming in greeting, his gaze remaining focused on the screen and the wreckage beneath his hands. He picked up the soldering iron and carefully touched a solder point on the keyboard motherboard, his brow furrowed.
Ling Yun didn't mind and watched him operate the system. He knew Li Mo's personality; when he was immersed in his own technical world, everything outside was a distraction. He waited a while until Li Mo completed a stage of debugging and relaxed a little before speaking again.
"What's wrong? This keyboard is malfunctioning again?" Ling Yun pointed to the pile of parts.
Li Mo then looked up, his tone carrying a hint of indignation and helplessness typical of a technician: "The rubber dome is worn out, it feels sticky, and the response is sluggish. These cheap keyboards all have this problem."
He picked up a small, bowl-shaped rubber component he'd taken from a keyboard, his tone full of disdain. "And then there are these thin-film circuits—short lifespan, prone to moisture, and utterly devoid of any tactile feedback."
Ling Yun nodded; he understood perfectly. In 96, personal computers were becoming more common, but the peripherals, especially keyboards and mice, were still largely in a very rudimentary stage. The mainstream keyboards were the membrane keyboards Li Mo had mentioned, or even older mechanical keyboards, which were stiff, noisy, and had questionable lifespans. As for mice, many were still mechanical ball mice, which had low precision, were prone to getting dirty, and frequently lag.
"Yeah," Ling Yun echoed, deeply agreeing, picking up a keycap that Li Mo had removed. "Look at the keyboards on the market now. They're either stuck or have double-clicking issues, and the feel is like hitting a wooden board. The mice are the same; drawing a straight line looks like an electrocardiogram. And yet, they're not cheap. The slightly better ones are all foreign brands, and they're ridiculously expensive."
Li Mo seemed to have found a kindred spirit and became a little more talkative: "Yeah. There are good ones too, like those mechanical keyboards from Cherry in Germany, which use their own MX switches. The feel, lifespan, and responsiveness are incomparable to these other things." A hint of longing appeared in his eyes, but then dimmed again. "They're just too expensive, and the patent barriers are too high. They simply can't be manufactured domestically."
"Cherry...MX switches..." Ling Yun repeated these words, his eyes slowly brightening. He knew he had found the key!
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice as if sharing a shocking secret: "Brother Mo, what do you think would happen if we could make... no, make a mechanical keyboard that's better, cheaper, and has a better feel than Cherry MX switches?"
Li Mo turned his head sharply and looked at Ling Yun as if he were a madman: "Do it yourself? Break Cherry's patent monopoly? Ling Yun, do you know how difficult that is? Materials, structure, molds, bypassing patents... it's simply impossible!" He shook his head repeatedly, thinking that Ling Yun must have gone crazy from staying up all night watching stocks.
"Impossible?" Ling Yun laughed, a smile brimming with a confidence Li Mo had never seen before. "Brother Mo, remember when we first entered university? Did we think we could own our own 486 computer? Now? Technology is evolving, and barriers are meant to be broken down!"
He began his "pie-in-the-sky" offensive, his tone full of inflammatory rhetoric:
"Think about it, the crappy peripherals we use now are an insult to technology! And we, who study computer science and are supposed to change the world in the future, can't even make the most basic tools for interacting with us properly. Is that acceptable?"
He picked up the worn-out keyboard: "Why can't we start a company and specialize in this? Let's start by researching the most basic mechanical switches! Cherry's MX switches have a classic cross-shaped stem structure. Can't we design a smoother, more responsive switch structure? We can't even follow the same path as them."
Li Mo opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but Ling Yun didn't give him a chance at all, speaking even faster and with an even more ardent gaze:
"The keyboard is just the first step! There's also the mouse! Ball mice are too outdated; I've heard they're already researching optical mice overseas! Why can't we follow suit? We need to research more precise optical sensors and design more ergonomic grips! What we need to do isn't just copy, it's surpass!"
"Imagine it, Brother Mo!" Ling Yun's voice carried a hypnotic magic, "In the future, all computers in the country will use high-quality keyboards and mice designed and manufactured by ourselves! We'll never have to put up with these junk peripherals again, and we'll never have to spend exorbitant prices on foreign brands again!"
"We've named it... 'Spark Peripherals'! A single spark can start a prairie fire! We want to use our technology and products to ignite the prairie fire of domestically produced peripherals!"
Ling Yun stared intently into Li Mo's eyes, offering the ultimate temptation, the most tempting "pie in the sky":
"By then, we won't just be making money! We'll be the pride of Chinese products! We'll be a national enterprise that breaks the foreign technological monopoly! You, Li Mo, will be our Chief Technology Officer, one of the creators of 'Spark'! Your name will be written in the history of the development of domestic peripherals! This is ten thousand times more meaningful than any secure job you could get!"
"The pride of Chinese products...breaking the monopoly..." Li Mo murmured these words repeatedly, his breathing becoming heavy involuntarily. As a tech geek, how could he not have a deep desire to change the world with technology and prove himself? At this moment, Ling Yun's words were like a key, suddenly unlocking the door to his heart, a door filled with passion and dreams.
Looking at the unwavering determination and fervor in Ling Yun's eyes, at the pile of keyboard parts on the table that represented his worries and interests, and then at the thought that he might be involved in creating a high-end peripheral brand belonging to the Chinese people... an unprecedented surge of passion rushed to his head!
To hell with job assignments after graduation! To hell with stable jobs!
This is the path a technologist should take!
Li Mo suddenly stood up, grabbed Ling Yun's hand, his fingers trembling slightly with excitement. His usually taciturn face was flushed red, and his eyes behind his glasses shone with a light like an electrical circuit being switched on.
"Fine! Lingyun, I'm in this with you!" His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a resolute determination. "I'll be the Chief Technology Officer! Cherry's MX switch patent, right? I'll figure it out eventually, and then... bypass it! I'll make our own 'Spark Switch'!"
Looking at Li Mo, who seemed to have been ignited in an instant, Ling Yun revealed a satisfied smile.
"Alright!" Ling Yun squeezed Li Mo's hand back firmly. "Brother Mo, welcome aboard! Our journey is to the stars and the sea... uh, let's start by figuring out this broken keyboard!"