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America wants to believe China can’t innovate. Tech tells a different story

13 points by miraj 10y ago

smallnamespace 10y ago
Turns out the Great Firewall had the side benefit of protecting China's nascent tech companies from foreign competition.
- meira 10y ago
  And others countries should do the same. Brazil included.
quaunaut 10y ago
This story hasn't convinced me that China's startup scene is anything to pay attention to, outside of China. Nearly every single one of their major successes, are successes in China, and only China. Those successes, as great as they are, pale in comparison to the foreign competition in hard numbers, let alone quality and breadth of software. Furthermore, are any of these services anything that hadn't been done before a dozen times? It isn't innovation just because you have State protectionism and made it on a computer. Nor will it necessarily lead to a major financial victory beyond China.
- harigov 10y ago
  It's a start. Adapting technology to local needs is also an innovation so I wouldn't totally discount all their achievements.
- smallnamespace 10y ago
  Sure, but once the Chinese market is saturated, those same companies will have a lot of cash to throw around to acquire foreign market share and develop their technology. After all, Japan used to be a by-word for cheap, underpowered cars until the 70s.
ben_jones 10y ago
Define "innovation". According to most tech journalists Theranos innovated. By that definition, I innovated today when I took a shortcut home. Is China innovating? In some places. Is Silicon Valley innovating? In some places. What are most people doing? Not innovating.
dang 10y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12135777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12135777
allenleein 10y ago
Look at Wechat's ecosystem in China then you will realize thats Facebook Messenger's future. China’s WeChat Foretells Facebook / Microsoft Bot Platforms’ Future >>> https://chatbotsmagazine.com/chinas-wechat-foretells-facebook-microsoft-bot-platforms-future-278c3bd4bf14#.onz1tmaam https://chatbotsmagazine.com/chinas-wechat-foretells-faceboo...
newman8r 10y ago
the situation has changed in the last decade. If I was working on a hardware project I would seriously consider relocating to Shenzhen. Anyone not aware of the what's going on over there should check out this documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY&list=PLMOGwaNoHulir88Gz17PftiLMPmZ26WZ8&index=28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY&list=PLMOGwaNoHu...

13 points by miraj 10y ago

Turns out the Great Firewall had the side benefit of protecting China's nascent tech companies from foreign competition.

meira 10y ago
And others countries should do the same. Brazil included.

quaunaut 10y ago

This story hasn't convinced me that China's startup scene is anything to pay attention to, outside of China. Nearly every single one of their major successes, are successes in China, and only China. Those successes, as great as they are, pale in comparison to the foreign competition in hard numbers, let alone quality and breadth of software. Furthermore, are any of these services anything that hadn't been done before a dozen times? It isn't innovation just because you have State protectionism and made it on a computer. Nor will it necessarily lead to a major financial victory beyond China.

harigov 10y ago
It's a start. Adapting technology to local needs is also an innovation so I wouldn't totally discount all their achievements.
smallnamespace 10y ago
Sure, but once the Chinese market is saturated, those same companies will have a lot of cash to throw around to acquire foreign market share and develop their technology. After all, Japan used to be a by-word for cheap, underpowered cars until the 70s.

ben_jones 10y ago

Define "innovation". According to most tech journalists Theranos innovated. By that definition, I innovated today when I took a shortcut home. Is China innovating? In some places. Is Silicon Valley innovating? In some places. What are most people doing? Not innovating.

dang 10y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12135777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12135777

allenleein 10y ago

Look at Wechat's ecosystem in China then you will realize thats Facebook Messenger's future. China’s WeChat Foretells Facebook / Microsoft Bot Platforms’ Future >>> https://chatbotsmagazine.com/chinas-wechat-foretells-facebook-microsoft-bot-platforms-future-278c3bd4bf14#.onz1tmaam https://chatbotsmagazine.com/chinas-wechat-foretells-faceboo...

newman8r 10y ago

the situation has changed in the last decade. If I was working on a hardware project I would seriously consider relocating to Shenzhen. Anyone not aware of the what's going on over there should check out this documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY&list=PLMOGwaNoHulir88Gz17PftiLMPmZ26WZ8&index=28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGJ5cZnoodY&list=PLMOGwaNoHu...