Rebirth of the Wild Age

On December 1, 2004, the revision of Sohu Broadband was completed, and users can upload videos on their own. Sina also followed closely and launched Sina Broadband, but there is no user upload function for the time being.

Why Sohu Broadband and Sina Broadband instead of Sohu Video and Sina Video?

Broadband means broadband in Wanwan, but when it comes to the mainland, the real meaning of broadband is "broadband Internet video." Sohu named its video site "Sohu Broadband", which is equivalent to telling netizens that my video plays very smoothly. After all, "broadband" is synonymous with speed at this time.

The first "broadband" website in China was not Sohu or Sina, but one of the top ten portals.

It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Telecom. It has been a video website for more than a year, and there is no free content, all of which require users to pay for on-demand. In an era when pirated video resources are flying all over the sky, this model seems to have no market, but people have paid close to 5 million video-on-demand videos-although not making much money, they do not lose much money.

The general manager of Tencent's public relations at this time will be poached next year and will serve as the marketing director, responsible for brand planning and market operations, and later promoted to vice president. I don’t know if he regrets the job change this time. Anyway, there has been no news about this person since 2007. I may have a chance to become a vice president when I stayed at Tencent.

In addition to Sohu, Sina, and these three large portals, which have successively launched video sites, there are actually some informal video sites.

This small-scale video site, also called "DV video site", is similar to a community forum.

The first DV video website is called Sanbeishui, the full name is Sanbeishui DV Culture Net, which was created by a few college students in Fengtian and gathered a large group of DV enthusiasts. Everyone uses DV to make a film, then uses VideoStudio to make a video, and then upload it to the website to share with friends.

These folk DV fans all have the heart to be a great director. In 2004, there was an old man who spent tens of thousands of dollars on his father to make a DV movie and upload it to three glasses of water. It was not for money or fame, but for the sincere praise of netizens.

On the day Sohu Broadband went live, Sohu announced a video solicitation activity: We are all great directors!

There is no limit to the length of time and type. As long as your film does not violate national laws and public morals, you can upload it to Sohu Broadband to participate in the competition. The event lasts for three months. Netizens will vote to determine the first prize, second prize, third prize and excellence prize. The maximum bonus is 100,000 yuan and the minimum is 1,000 yuan. Mr. Zhang Chaoyang, CEO of Sohu, will personally issue certificates and bonuses to the winners.

This event launched by Sohu is still very eye-catching, especially on the DV video network such as SanbeiShui. DV enthusiasts simply come out, all picking up their DVs and running to shoot movies. Including the webmasters of these websites, all intend to sign up for the competition, resulting in no one to maintain and manage the website. When Sohu's activities are over, these websites should almost be closed-anyway, users have all gone to Sohu, and even the webmaster has become a well-known video author of Sohu Broadband.

So, Sohu Video received the first advertising list-DJI aerial drones.

At the Tomson Golf Course, Song Weiyang held the remote control in his hand and looked up at the drone in the sky, asking rather speechlessly: "Why is there no image transmission system?"

"Do you think that with this remote control in your hand, you can receive images from high above?" Guo Bing asked back.

Song Weiyang said: "The image cannot be transmitted to the ground immediately, so how can you confirm that the drone captured the image that the user wanted?"

Guo Bing said: "It depends on my personal feelings. If it doesn't work once, I will shoot a second time."

"That's a fart!" Song Weiyang said.

Guo Bing said: "It's useful, it's more convenient and cost-effective than renting a helicopter for aerial photography."

Song Weiyang suddenly smiled bitterly: "I gave you 5 million before and after, so you can make this product for me?"

"It's great, okay," said Guo Bing. "I did a test for half a year before I successfully connected the gimbal to the motor, which not only reduced the weight but also saved the cost. This is in the field of civilian aerial drones. It’s a very big innovation, so far I have sold two of them!"

"You are really a genius." Song Weiyang was dumbfounded. He invested 5 million yuan and took nearly two years. The product was put on the market for three months, and the sales volume was only more than 70,000 yuan (each drone sells for 36,000 yuan).

Guo Bing said: "Although this is not the most advanced in the world, it is definitely the most practical consumer aerial drone in the world. And the flight control system I made is also very stable. I also recruited all the alumni of the Computer Department of Harbin Institute of Technology. I joined the company, and others gave up their work in the research institute because of this."

"You say yes, so be it, keep working hard!" Song Weiyang said, patting his shoulder.

Guo Bing spread his hands and said, "There is no money."

"Out of money again?" Song Weiyang asked rhetorically.

"There was still some money. I spent 100,000 on Sohu advertising, and the remaining money is only enough to pay the salary next month." Guo Bing said flatly.

Song Weiyang said happily, "You are here to collect debts. Let's give you another 3 million head office."

In today's consumer drone aerial photography field, drones and cameras are separated, and users need to purchase them separately and then assemble them by themselves. Even the balance ring used to stabilize the picture needs to be purchased from a third-party company, and then DIY installed by yourself — specializing in sports cameras~www.readwn.com~ The first film camera has just been launched this year, and sports digital cameras have to It will take two years to come out.

To put it bluntly, those who play drone aerial photography these years are all a bunch of rich tech houses with thieves.

DJI drones (including digital cameras) priced at 36,000 yuan are already sold very cheaply. Other drones (excluding shooting equipment) often sell for tens of thousands, and those that are slightly better are sold. More than 100,000. Because the current mainstream is a single-wing UAV, the manufacturing cost is very expensive.

Why the costly and difficult-to-operate single-wing drones will become the mainstream because they are more powerful and can carry heavier things to the sky. However, the current high-end camera equipment is very heavy, most of the cameras that can be used for high-altitude shooting, multi-rotor drones can not be carried, even if they are brought to the sky, they will easily get out of control.

The four-rotor DJI drone developed by Guo Bing uses the lightest digital video camera at the moment, at the cost of a slightly blurry picture.

Don't tell me, in order to participate in Sohu video activities, after watching the DJI drone advertisement, I really spent 36,000 yuan on this thing. Then these kaizi complained about the poor quality of the shooting while boasting about how convenient and practical the DJI drone is, painful and happy.

It’s practical to use a woolen thread, and the pictures can’t be passed down. Aerial photography relies on experience and feeling. It often takes more than a dozen shots to be satisfied.

After more than a year, DJI UAVs sold more than 30 units, with sales of only 1 million yuan, while Song Weiyang's investment in this was as high as 8 million yuan. Many DJI employees ran away because they felt that there was no future in staying, and only a few classmates remained with Guo Bing to continue playing.

Before the development of image transmission technology matures, consumer aerial drones can only be regarded as toys, and cannot expand the market scale at all. They will have to continue to lose money for many years.