By Super Neuro
The French team has been doing very well in the group stage of this World Cup. With two wins, one draw and no losses, they have secured first place in the group and entered the quarterfinals. Even in the predictions of many professional organizations, France is the second or third favorite to win the championship.
In recent years, France has been constantly innovating in the fields of fashion, consumption, and culture, but it seems that there is not much output in the field of technology. It is even difficult for us to name a few decent French technology brands.Does the French Empire, which once dominated all of Europe, really not want to get a piece of the pie as artificial intelligence sweeps the world?
The French Empire once dominated Europe
This land has always produced many scientific giants, such as Marie Curie, Ampere, Descartes, Pascal and so on. Since the Curies discovered the radioactive element radium and Becquerel discovered the radioactivity of natural uranium in 1903, France has had a total of more than 40 Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry and other fields.
In history, France has infinite glory to be proud of. Louis XIV, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the French Civil Code, Napoleon, and even the French language, philosophy, literature, art, gardens, food, fashion, and luxury goods are all evidence of what the French love to talk about.
French scholar Prochason once described France in this way: "In the 19th century, people could choose not to go to London, Vienna, Berlin and Rome, but no matter who they were, no matter where they came from or what their nationality was, they had to go to Paris."
Because at that time, Paris was the center of the world, just as Athens was originally the soul of Greece.
The prototype of Internet services that predates the World Wide Web
In the field of scientific and technological innovation, France also once shone brightly: the microcomputer, color television, and the optical system used to film the first human landing on the moon were all invented in France;
In the medical industry, inventions such as progressive lenses, cardiac defibrillators, sunscreen, and artificial heart transplants also come from France.
But few Chinese readers know that as early as 1982, France established the world's first Internet prototype before the United States -Minitel.
One of Minitel's classic styles
Minitel means "mini terminal" in French. It looks like a mobile phone, but also has the functions of a TV and a computer.
Through Minitel, users can look up telephone directories, book flights or train tickets, access bank accounts and other services, shop online and participate in various forums.
The invention and widespread use of Minitel preceded the World Wide Web service on PC by more than ten yearsIt is important to know that the www World Wide Web service was not available to the public on the Internet until August 1991.
exist Minitel DevelopmentAt its peak in 1997, statistics showed that there were more than 9 million Internet terminals installed in France, with 25 million users and 26,000 services provided.
The most popular Minitel services are:
Like all areas of the Internet, porn services have become very popular on Minitel.
The most famous among them is 3615ULLA.
Before explaining this service, I would like to point out that all Minitel services start with the number "36", which is like an address. By entering the number corresponding to the service on the terminal, you can access the service and use it. The service is charged by the minute, similar to the voice calls in our country before.
For example, typing in 3615 AAVOYANT will get you astrology services, charged by the minute you are online, at 40 cents per minute. For another example, typing in 3615 CHAMMONIX will get you a ski resort. ChamonixA room.
3615ULLA represented the most popular service at that time, providingSex Chat HotlineAs long as you choose this service, a young man or a young lady will answer the phone and share some mature life experiences with you and teach you some principles of life in a gentle and sweet voice.
The 3615Ulla service was launched in 1987. In that year alone, the service fee reached 1 billion francs, which was 6 billion yuan at the exchange rate at the time.
In France, there is a saying:“Whenever you mention Minitel, you will inevitably mention 3615Ulla. Every French person over 20 years old will have seen this famous poster in their lifetime.”
3615Ulla’s famous poster, with the slogan “What do men fantasize about?”
No matter what service the enterprise releases,One third of the profits go to the state, because Minitel is still run by the French government. A state-run porn service, isn't that impressive?
Therefore, in addition to the strong support from the government, ordinary people must have also contributed to such a considerable profit.It also sparked a wave of entrepreneurship targeting this platform.
Minitel has fallen from grace
At that time, many countries were envious of this French product, and the French were also very proud of it. Some even said that Jobs got a lot of inspiration from Minitel, which led to the birth of macOS.
The then French President Jacques Chirac once proudly said:“Today a baker in Aubervilliers can check his account through Minitel. Can the same thing happen to a baker in New York?”
So even after the advent of the World Wide Web, France still stuck to its old ways. France seemed to have a good hand, but it didn’t know how to play its cards well. Minitel is the best Internet service and has always responded passively to the emergence of the World Wide Web.
MInitel before its closure was called "The web before the web" by the media
However, after 1995, Minitel's shortcomings gradually became apparent. Excessive intervention by the French government, the bulkiness and closedness of the terminal, and the development of the global Internet industry gradually restricted Minitel. With the popularization of smartphones, Minitel was completely helpless.
In February 2009, France Telecom still insisted that the Minitel network still had around 10 million connections per month, and that year, the iPhone 3G had already been sold worldwide.
Until June 30, 2012, France Telecom officially shut down the Minitel service due to high operating costs and outdated technology. 400,000 French users still use Minitel.
Is it too late to boost AI now?
As a result, France has enjoyed almost no benefits from the Internet boom in the past decade.
In a recent fascinating interview with French President Emmanuel Macron, he talked about France’s AI strategy:He has made artificial intelligence a national priority.Macron said in the interview, "This huge technological revolution is actually a political revolution. It is an issue that a country needs to focus on and cannot be easily ignored."
The French government is expected to invest $1.5 billion to build artificial intelligence laboratories and research and development centers, and provide projects and financing for companies engaged in related work. The purpose of this move is to make France ahead of China and the United States in the field of artificial intelligence research and development, while preventing brain drain.
In addition, France has drafted a document to attract companies in this field to France (Microsoft, Samsung, Fujitsu, DeepMind, etc. have already announced projects in France). Macron believes that increasing investment in the field of artificial intelligence is crucial because France needs to compete with China and the United States and prevent the loss of talent in the country.
It seems that France is finally We learned something from the Minitel incident. If Napoleon had seen this, he might have wondered, “Why can’t we win even though we’ve been so extravagant in France?”
Four words: Destiny. Translated into plain language: This is fate.
