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China's Tech Copycats Transformed Into a Hub For Innovation (wired.com)
hackingbear writes: Following similar path of the 19th century America, China has advanced from being copycats to innovators. After its middle class has risen from 4% of population to 2/3 in the last decade, a generation both creative and comfortable with risk-taking are born. "We're seeing people in their early twenties starting companies—people just out of school, and there are even some dropouts," says Kai-Fu Lee, a Chinese venture capitalist and veteran of Apple, Microsoft, and Google, who has spent the past decade crisscrossing the nation, helping youths start firms. Major cities, i.e. Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, are crowded with ambitious inventors and entrepreneurs, flocking into software accelerators and hackerspaces. They no longer want jobs at Google or Apple; like their counterparts in San Francisco, they want to build the next Google or Apple. Venture capitalists pumped a record $15.5 billion into Chinese startups last year, so entrepreneurs are being showered in funding, as well as crucial advice and mentoring from millionaire angels. Even the Chinese government—which has a wary attitude toward online expression and runs a vast digital censorship apparatus—has launched a $6.5 billion fund for startups.
A communist venture capitalist... what'll they think of next?
A stock exchange named after a Communist revolutionary leader? (Different "they", but still....)
Maybe the Trump you are talking about is a cheap ripoff made in china . The original is is sitting somewhere on a golden toilet , controlling everything else.
So what? Japan used to make poor quality rip offs too. One thing China has going for it is an underdeveloped IP litigation system. Standing up to China won't work. You need to stand up to your leeches - companies that abuse IP protection that stifles innovation.
Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
Deng Xiaoping: "it doesn't matter whether a cat is black or white, if it catches mice it is a good cat"
China makes cheap copy's / rips off other techs some times on the 3rd shift.
You can't have it both ways. One the one hand, /.ers consider copyright and patents (which prevent rip-offs) evil and useless and on the other hand, they complain about China ripping off their tech.
I missed the memo where everyone was supposed to hold these two views simultaneously.
what a bunch of whooey - China has a quarter of the world's population, and a quarter of the world's smart people. Do you really think those smart people are just going to make 'rip offs', when there's more fun stuff to do - Chinese geeks are just like geeks anywhere
Spend some time hanging out in Shenzhen and you'll see just what you're up against, lots and lots of smart people - your designers in the US are building in China, but they're designing 1000s of kilometres away from their factories, designers in Shenzhen are a subway ride away from them, they can pop over and tweak a process to save money and time to markegt
Chinese IP law may not be the same as the US's - they're a different country, you know they are allowed their own laws, they don't have to have yours. If they can compete better by not having the US-style copyright nightmare - good for them - without Disney on their backs they can compete far better than you can
Japanese companies' structures are similar to what their ancestor's handicraft workshops. In fact, some of those workshops become today 'companies'.
That is, the culture of Japan affects how the the 'innovativeness' of Japanese. Overall, the Japaneses want to be respected by their skill of their profession.
Meanwhile, the Chinese want their name be written in history, their highest desire, no matter *how* they achieve this, example:
http://www.scmp.com/news/china...
“People die twice. Once, physically, and the second time, when they die from people’s memories,” Fan said. “My museums will be here even after I die. When people talk about the Jianchuan Museum Cluster, they will mention me. In that sense, I gain immortality; I will never die.”
I get the impression there's a lot of people who get around those barriers by not caring. Seems to me that you can dot the i's and cross the t's later when you have a successful business.
These barriers are put up on purpose to encourage people to make that mistake. Then if you are successful, the government comes in and makes you an offer you can't refuse on the basis that you're a dirty lawbreaker and if you don't comply they will bust you up and put your organs up for auction.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Is it news? Chinese tech followed this general pattern:
1) Knock-off 1.
2) Knock-off 2.
3) Own invention.
It's especially visible in such areas as aerospace or high-speed trains. Now most of the tech has moved well into stage 3. Some products are even becoming iconic - DJI Phantom is now seen as a stereotypical quadcopter, for example.
It's worth pointing out that the U.S. became the industrial powerhouse it is by ignoring European patent and copyright law during the late 1800s/early 1900s, and illegally building tools and products based on European designs.
I'm of the opinion that IP holders have gotten fat and lazy by manipulating the legal process to extend IP law and duration far, far beyond the point where it's helpful to the economy. And if China can build this stuff cheaper and better by flaunting IP law, then the world will be better for it even if it screws over the IP holders. That's not to say IP is useless. Just that the pendulum has swung too far in one direction, and it needs to be swung back to return us to the point where IP law is benefiting society.
It was the same with Germany at the beginning of the 19th century, with the U.S. at the end of the 19th century, with Japan in the 1950ies and Taiwan in the 1970ies. It always takes some time for a society to learn all aspects of a trade, and until then, it it is mostly trying to copy the perceived leaders. What else is there except asking: How did they do it? and then trying to figure it out by trying it yourself. And if there is not much of intellectual property to protect inside a country, there is no incentive to even have this protection. And even more: the U.S. needed decades after introducing protections for domestic works and inventions, to expand that protection to those of foreign origin. You can read the letters of complaints Charles Dickens wrote when he learned that in the U.S., his novels were reprinted and sold cheaply, and he wasn't able to do anything about it. Only when cheap rip-offs of their own products started to flood the export markets of the U.S., it agreed to allow similar protections to foreigners.
Exactly right. Now matter HOW they achieve this. Innovation does not occur predictably. The "any way will do" attitude is what allows innovation to happen.
Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
More like, it would happen in America if you got your shit under control with your insane billionaires and actually helped out small businesses. As much as I dislike our current gov here in Australia at least they made the awesome move to give small businesses a $20,000 tax cut this year! (available to all businesses making $2 million or less.) America is still screwing the little man in favour of the big boys and still bleeding to death for it.
If you sell your competitive advantage, you shouldn't be surprised or complain when someone uses it.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
but I do - and I go to Schenzhen to build my open source hardware - the thing is it's the first-mover advantage - have a bright idea and get it to market fast. If you build and sell stuff cheaply from the get-go you're less likely going to get nuked by copying,the copiers will go off an copy someone pumping their prices higher
Luckily I live in a country that doesn't allow software patents - as I said if one doesn't have to have the US's stupid rent-seeking IP laws you have a leg up - the whole TPP et al attempt to force the rest of us into the straight jacket you've made for yourselves is sad, if it succeeds, I'l just reincorporate in China, that's quite doable these days