Countercurrent 1982

Chapter 1031 Product appearance design
Duan Yun didn't know anything about the quality evaluation of recorders in SZ City. He had already started to organize technicians to devote themselves to the research and development of the Walkman in the past few days.

Now the sales of colorful tape recorders are booming, and the number of members of Tianyin Electronics Manufacturers Association is also increasing. There are already exclusive dealer members in 17 provinces, and more people have submitted applications for membership one after another.

Duan Yun and his wife now have a clear division of labor. Cheng Qingyan is mainly responsible for the company's operations and the organization of the chamber of commerce, while Duan Yun is mainly responsible for product development and various public relations entertainment.

After getting Duan Yun's Walkman design sketch, Zhao Xuewu organized a meeting with the technical staff of the entire R&D center that night, during which they discussed the feasibility of developing Walkman products.

At present, this kind of Walkman made in China is still a very big challenge. Even if the functions are simplified, only the retractable function is retained, and there is no integrated circuit on the circuit board, there are still many technical bottlenecks that need to be solved.

With the current technical capabilities of the factory, it is not difficult to make a sample according to Duan Yun's drawings, but how to design a durable product and realize mass production is a very big challenge.

"Manager Duan, this is the sample Xpress that our factory just produced."

As soon as Duan Yun came to the research institute that morning, Zhao Xuewu took him to the office, and then took out a sample from the drawer and handed it to him.

This Walkman sample looks a little rough, because the mold has not been finalized yet, so the shell is made of aluminum alloy, which is simply processed by CNC machine tools, which is very labor-intensive and rough in appearance without careful polishing. There are still some glitches, but at least it has been made according to Duan Yun's drawings.

"Have you tested it?" Duan Yun asked.

"Currently our factory is still unable to produce this kind of miniature motors for Walkmans, so the tape recorder motors we used this time were removed from imported Walkmans. In addition, the plug-in machines in the factory have been running at full capacity and cannot be stopped midway. , so we soldered the circuit board by hand." Zhao Xuewu paused, and then said: "The movement and magnetic head are also made of colorful tape recorder parts, and some modifications have been made. Completely self-produced, but also requires a lot of equipment and special raw materials..."

"Thank you." Duan Yun nodded, picked up the Walkman and started watching.

"You can listen to it." Zhao Xuewu took out another tape at this time and handed it to Duan Yun.

After Duan Yun took the tape, he opened the tape compartment and put it in gently.

After pressing the start button, the tape inside slowly rotated, and a soft music sounded.

Holding the Walkman in his hand, Duan Yun could clearly feel the rustling sound of mechanical transmission coming from inside, which made his brows wrinkle suddenly.

Obviously, this Walkman does not have a noise reduction function at present, and the sound quality of the music released is not very good. It is similar to the cheap domestic Walkman I used in my previous life, so it can only be said to make do with it.

In fact, it has been broken by the strength of the current electronics factory, and it is quite remarkable to be able to make such a sample Walkman, but in Duan Yun's view, this prototype is far from meeting his requirements.

"Have you made the earphone yet?" Duan Yun asked Zhao Xuewu after a while.

"The earphones haven't been made yet, but we have imitated the Japanese Walkman and made a jack, which can be compatible with the Japanese Walkman's earphones, but from a technical point of view, there should be no problem, but the quality may not reach the level of others... " Zhao Xuewu said after a moment of pondering.

"Although earphones are an accessory, we must also pay attention to them. We can learn from similar foreign products and try to design them as beautiful and light as possible, because our consumers this time are mainly aimed at young people who pay more attention to fashion and experience. "Duan Yun said seriously.

Generally speaking, headphones are not a necessary accessory for a Walkman, but for Duan Yun, this is also a very important thing.

As for the reason, it is also very simple. With headphones, you can avoid disturbing others when using the Walkman, which is especially practical in places such as school dormitories and libraries.

And wearing earphones will look very fashionable. For those consumers who like to show off, earphones can also be used as a decoration, giving people a trendy feeling. This is a subtle psychology of consumers, so Duan The cloud must also be taken seriously.

The domestic earphones these days are relatively stupid, basically all of them are earphones, without the commonly used wireless sports earphones at the rear. Due to technical reasons, most of them are relatively cumbersome, and they are worn on the head in summer. It's a bit hot, and Duan Yun intends to develop a relatively small and beautiful earphone, which can also add points to his Walkman products.

"Okay, I'll arrange someone to design the earphones later." Zhao Xuewu nodded in response.

"Design is not your forte. As for product appearance design, I plan to hire some specialized designers to set up a product appearance design team and enter our product design and R&D center." Duan Yun thought for a while and said.

"You don't need to find a special team to design the appearance of the product?" Zhao Xuewu obviously couldn't understand Duan Yun's approach.

In Zhao Xuewu's view, the performance and quality of the product are always the first. As for the appearance, it doesn't matter much. It only needs to maintain the design of some similar products on the market.

"Master Zhao, there is one thing you may not understand. The reason why many of our domestic products did not pay attention to appearance design before was mainly because our country was dominated by a planned economy. Including the products from the Soviet Union, they also give people a feeling of being stupid..." Duan Yun smiled slightly, and continued: "But our Tianyin Electronics Factory is a private enterprise, and we must consider all aspects of consumer needs. Just look at why Japanese electrical products are sold all over the world. In addition to good quality and advanced technology, their products are also very beautiful and fashionable in appearance, which is very pleasing to consumers, especially young consumers, so they can be sold all over the world. , I admit that you are an expert in technical matters, but in terms of product management and sales, your thinking is outdated..."

"That makes sense." Zhao Xuewu nodded when he heard the words, and then asked: "The manager, who do you plan to hire to design the appearance of the product?"

"There are many recent graduates of art colleges in Guangzhou. People who are engaged in art must have better aesthetic ability than ordinary people. I will post job advertisements later. For those who apply, I will first test their design ability. direct high-paying employment." Duan Yun said.

(End of this chapter)