Saying in front of the owner that it was not polite to visit others, Li Yuan nodded and re-introduced the topic back to the Internet.

When it came to topics of interest, Mark had more to say.

In the thread, he mentioned a piece of software that he had written.

ZuckNet, that's the name he gave to the software.

The app was an instant messaging app that Mark wrote with the intention of making it easier for his father to communicate with the dentist at home.

Yes, his father was a dentist.

In the United States, dentists and lawyers are two of the highest-paid professions in the middle class.

Speaking of dentists alone, there is a social and cultural background.

The United States claims to be anti-discrimination, but the reality is that Americans are very good at finding all sorts of reasons to discriminate against others.

For example, the mouth is not good.

In the American culture, if you are overweight, it means that you have poor self-control, and if you have crowded teeth and a mouth full of stones, it means that your growth environment and self-quality are not high.

This has led to the fact that the profession of dentist is frighteningly well paid in the United States.

Dentists in the United States are charged by the hour, with an average charge of about $50 an hour, and such a high cost of dental care has led to dentists' salaries being higher than those of CEOs of some companies, and the average annual salary of dentists in the United States is close to $200,000.

Of course, not everyone can become a dentist.

For example, Lao Zha, who studied biology at Brooklyn College in college, was also an indispensable student back then.

Mrs. Karen laughs and says, "When Ed was young, his family bought the first color television in town, and he was curious about how it came out, so he removed the picture tube......

Li Yuan was very embarrassed, he didn't expect that Lao Zha was also a bear child back then, if this was placed in China, it would be light to beat his buttocks.

"Probably inherited his dad's genes, Mark has loved to do things since he was a child, so we hired a tutor for him and taught him how to program......"

Li Yuan really didn't know that Mark had such an experience.

However, this is also understandable, without the foundation laid since childhood, he would not have been able to soar into the sky later.

"Do you want to see the software I wrote?"

Mark asked.

"Of course. ”

Li Yuan was very interested.

There was an IBM computer in the study on the second floor of the Haim house, and everyone was curious about Mark's software, and they all followed.

The computer is on, I guess Mark used it just now, and on the refreshing WIN98 desktop, there is a boxy dialog box.

This dialog is what Mark said about ZuckNet.

As can be seen from the word Dad marked above the dialogue, it should be Mark's father Ed on the other side.

Mark and Ed had a brief exchange on the Internet, explaining the current situation by the way, and then stopped and asked Li Yuan, "What do you think?"

At first glance, it looks a bit like the early ICQ, at least the operation method is not much different, but it is more rudimentary, the contact bar and dialog box cannot be hidden, and can not be scaled freely, but it can be maximized and minimized, there is no messy function such as avatars, and the color scheme is the same as the theme style of WIN98, which is mainly blue, white and gray.

Li Yuan tried to type, but did not send it.

He stopped and asked, "Have you used ICQ?"

"Of course, I used the ...... when 'Bad Boy' appeared"

After listening to Mark's explanation, Li Yuan knew that "Bad Boy" was the name of the original version of ICQ.

"Very nice software. Li Yuan praised.

"That's not what I want to hear. Mark was not happy because of Li Yuan's compliment, but asked seriously: "You are a 'professional' person, what do you think needs to be improved?"

Mark bites the word major very hard, obviously with the meaning of the school examination.

Li Yuan thought to himself, he probably didn't have any malicious intentions, but he was a little unconvinced that he didn't even know how to program but dared to open a network company.

Li Yuan really doesn't know how to program, but Mark's question doesn't bother him at all.

Why, you ask? Nonsense, if a "person like him" hadn't even used instant messaging software, he would have just found a piece of tofu and killed him.

Li Yuan has not only used penguins, but ICQ and MSN have been used for a long time, and now, there is no one on the whole earth who has more say than him.

Li Yuan woke up and said: "When it comes to the things that need to be improved, I think there are a lot, for example, the input box is too narrow, the proportion and size of the whole dialog box cannot be adjusted, in terms of font, although you have added bold and italics, but the font size cannot be adjusted, which is very unfriendly to people with poor eyesight, in addition, there is a problem with the way of sending......"

"Wait, what's the problem with the way it is sent?" Mark couldn't help but interrupt Li Yuan, judging from his expression, his perception of Li Yuan had changed, and now it was more like asking for advice than making things difficult.

"The way to send it now is to press enter. Li Yuan pointed to the button with the word Enter and said, "If the content you want to send needs to be segmented, this design will be very troublesome, unless you write it in a notepad in advance, and then cut it all over." I think there should be two ways to send, carriage return - for people who like to write short sentences, and key combinations for people who like to write long sentences......"

After Li Yuan finished speaking, he gave advice on several other obvious issues.

Of course, these problems are all hard flaws of the software, as long as you stand in the user's position and follow the normal logic to analyze, you can find them. As for the ridiculous suggestion of the QQ show - yes, many reborn people like to ask ponies to sell skins, and Li Yuan didn't mention them at all.

It's not that it's hidden, it's meaningless.

At a time when computer hardware and network conditions are poor, these fancy features will only lag behind.

Most of the early Chinese netizens were well aware of this. At that time, the most popular software was often not the official software, but various "lite versions", "LITE versions", "polyp versions" and so on. Why are there so many versions, isn't it because the official version is too bloated and everyone's computer can't run?

……

Although Li Yuan's suggestion was superficial, it still inspired Mark a lot, he picked up a pen and paper, quickly recorded the problems mentioned by Li Yuan, wrote and wrote, and suddenly found that Li Yuan stopped.

"What else?" asked Mark, anxiously.

"That's all for now. Li Yuan said: "To solve these problems is enough to surpass most communication software on the market." ”

Mark instantly understood what Li Yuan meant.

Now, in addition to the various variants of ICQ, the others are basically LAN software based on Linux architecture, and Li Yuan is actually almost more than ICQ.

This discovery rekindled Mark's passion for ZuckNet. To be honest, he was already not interested in continuing development, after all, most of the friends he met online were using ICQ, and his friend list didn't even have ten people.

Calming down a little, Mark realized that Li Yuan's words were not finished.

He asked, "You say for the time being, that is, there is more room for improvement?"

"Of course. For example, your current software is like the original phone, but you can now put the phone in our pocket, and it contains features that Bell couldn't have imagined at the beginning. ”

Li Yuan took out his mobile phone and shook it.

"You're right!" Mark said, "technology never stops, and there's so much more we can ......."

Mark began to think differently, and without Li Yuan's reminder, he proposed many concepts including "image and file transfer", "group chat" and so on.

"If we integrate all these features into the next release......"

Mark couldn't be more excited to think about it.

"Not to mention that you can't do it all for the time being, and even if you can, you will definitely fail to do so. ”

Li Yuan ruthlessly broke his illusions.

"Why?" Mark asked, "Isn't the more features the better?"

"Of course not. Li Yuan smiled: "Too many functions, the software will become bloated, if most people's computers can not run smoothly, then no matter how good the functions are, they will become 'chicken ribs' - this is our country's saying......"

Li Yuan explained the meaning of chicken ribs, and then said: "This is based on user considerations. On the other hand, from a developer's point of view, Mr. Heim knows more than I do to slowly release new features like toothpaste to get the most profits......"

Seeing Li Yuan mention himself, Heim asked, "Are you optimistic about the commercial value of this software?"

"Of course. ”

"In that case, you're not going to buy it?"

"Why didn't Mr. Heim do that?"

"I don't understand technology, so I ......"

"Me too. ”

Li Yuan spread his hands and said: "It's not this software that is valuable, but he-"

Li Yuan pointed at Mark and said, "If you believe me, you might as well take him as an investment target, he will definitely not disappoint you." ”

"Why don't you invest yourself? I don't believe you're going to give up your money-making opportunities to somebody else. Mark asked suspiciously.

Li Yuan smiled bitterly: "Of course I don't want to miss it, but firstly, I have limited funds, and secondly, I am not an American after all, and when it comes to investment, it will be very troublesome." In addition, the most important thing is that I can't stay in the United States forever, and Mark can only get the best soil for growth here......" Speaking of this, Li Yuan stopped and asked Mark, "You don't want to leave your parents and go to China, do you?"

"I don't really mind ......" Sensing that Karen was showing signs of changing face, Mark hurriedly changed his words: "Of course, I want to learn more, so I can't leave the United States, at least not before I graduate from college." ”

Hearing him say this, Karen nodded with satisfaction.

Li Yuan spread his hands to Haim and said, "So, I can only give you this opportunity to make money, after all, we are friends." ”

"Yes, we are friends. ”

Haim smiled and hugged Li Yuan's shoulders and said, "Suppose I invest in you, and then you invest in him, what do you think?"

How's that? Of course it's excellent!

Li Yuan was overjoyed in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face, but asked pretending to be puzzled: "What's the difference between this and my own investment?"

"Of course it's different. I'm guessing your reluctance to invest is because of China's policy restrictions. Heim made up the reason for Li Yuan's refusal to invest, and continued: "You see, if I invest in your company in China, the Chinese government will definitely be happy, and this investment will in turn go back to the United States - you don't even have to leave the country at all, and you have obtained investor status in the United States, which also avoids a lot of trouble......

"I have to say, it's a genius idea. ”

Li Yuan complimented and said, "But in this way, I have gained the benefits for nothing, but the risks have all fallen on you, so you are not worried?"

"Don't forget, I'm investing in your Chinese company, and if something goes wrong, you're the one who has a headache. ”

Heim was actually not worried that Li Yuan would "repay the debt", although it was only a day, he had already inquired about Li Yuan's "details" through personal connections - this is not a secret in a certain circle. Heim even hoped that something would go wrong with the investment so that he could reap the bigger benefits.

In a way, this is not an investment, but a commercial bribe.

Of course, Heim will not say it directly, but compliments: "Of course, just as you are optimistic about Mark, I am optimistic about you, and that's why." ”