pertwk Chapter 296 ICQ Update
Chapter 296 ICQ Update
At 10:00 AM sharp, the new version of ICQ was launched.
The server logs started ticking. The first user logged in, then the second, the tenth, the hundredth. The online user curve climbed slowly, about 12% faster than usual.
Meyer stared at the screen, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.
"Space access volume," he said.
An engineer pulled up the data: "Three minutes, 2,300 visits."
Number of group chats created.
"Fifty-two."
"Skin downloads".
"Eight hundred and seventy-four times."
Meyer's brow remained furrowed.
The data wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. For a new feature launched for free, this number of visits could only be considered "normal." What he wanted was an "explosive" surge.
"What about the media?" he asked.
Another engineer looked up from his computer. "The Wall Street Journal's online edition has already published a news flash with the headline 'ICQ launches Qzone and group chat features, directly competing with StarTalk.'"
The San Francisco Chronicle also featured it on its front page, saying, "ICQ's new free feature challenges StarTalk's paid model. CNN Technology will have a live report in fifteen minutes."
"What's the online reaction like?"
The engineer switched screens and brought up real-time monitoring of several mainstream forums and social media platforms.
On the Reddit tech subreddit, there are three posts about the new ICQ feature, with a total of 47 replies. Someone posted a screenshot of the feature and asked, "Has anyone tried it?" Most of the replies were along the lines of "It's probably just copying Xingyu's stuff" and "Waiting for you guys to be the guinea pigs."
Forum: The frequency of the keyword "ICQ" has increased, but most of the comments are neutral or negative - "ICQ finally has space, but it looks exactly the same as Xingyu". "Free is of course good, but it's so slow". "It took five seconds to load after I clicked on it, I thought it had crashed".
On the AOL forum, a popular post titled "ICQ New Feature Experience: Not Bad, But No Surprises" describes in detail the space loading speed, group chat creation process, and skin effects, concluding that "it's usable, but not as smooth as Xingyu." There are over thirty replies, with some asking "Can Xingyu's data be migrated?" and others answering "No, you have to rebuild it manually."
After reading this, Meyer remained silent; he knew where the problem lay.
It's not a function, it's a "feeling".
When users click on Xingyu's space, they feel it's smooth, beautiful, and personal. When users click on ICQ's space, they just think, "Oh, we have this too."
That sense of "surprise" is something that plagiarism can never replicate.
10:45 a.m.
The first bug report came in.
Users reported that after creating a group chat, the member list was not fully displayed. Refreshing the page caused the group to disappear. Refreshing again brought the group back, but the member list was empty.
"Data synchronization was lost," the engineer said. "It's that 0.3% loss from last night."
"How long will the repair take?"
"The emergency patch is ready, but a service restart is required. The restart will cause all users to be temporarily offline."
Meyer glanced at the number of online users—it had already surpassed 800,000.
"Wait," he said. "We'll fix all ten bugs together."
11 o'clock.
The second bug report, the third, the fourth.
Space decoration failed to save; skin layer was applied incorrectly; level displayed as negative. Friend list sorting is out of order; messages sent are not received by the recipient, but are shown as sent on my end.
Every bug was screenshotted and posted online.
A hashtag started appearing on the forum: #ICQfail
A thread on Reddit has been compiled titled "ICQ New Feature Bug List (Continuously Updated)". The main thread is updated every ten minutes, and the bug list has increased from the initial three to eleven.
"What about the media?" Meyer asked.
"The Wall Street Journal just updated its report with a new headline, 'ICQ's new feature encounters technical issues on its first day of release,'" the engineer read aloud. "But the content is still relatively neutral, saying that 'this is common in the early stages of a new version's release and is expected to be fixed soon.'"
"The San Francisco Chronicle didn't mention the bug, only user growth."
"The CNN live report just ended, and the host asked a question about stability. The guest said, 'Every new product has a break-in period.'"
Mayer understood what this meant.
Traditional media outlets, having received fees from Google and sponsored articles, and having cultivated a long-standing "relationship" with Microsoft, won't actively sing praises, but at least they won't kick someone when they're down.
But online media didn't buy it, forums didn't buy it, and users didn't buy it.
On Reddit, posts criticizing ICQ have overshadowed posts in the discussion section.
One highly-rated comment read: "ICQ will never understand that we don't care about those few dollars. What we care about is that Xingyu treats us as users, while ICQ treats us as traffic."
Another reply: "I spent half an hour decorating my profile, and it's all gone after one refresh. ICQ can't even copy properly."
Another point: "They thought free was enough. Free but difficult to use is even worse than paying."
Meyer turned off the screen and leaned back in his chair.
He recalled that three days earlier, Ballmer had said, "Users only care about whether something exists." Now he knew that users also cared about "how good it is."
Two o'clock in the afternoon.
The total number of bugs has reached twenty-three.
The server load curve spiked and then dropped several times. The number of online users plateaued after reaching 1.2 million, then slowly declined. Space visits were down 40% from their peak. Group chat creations dropped 60%.
A poll was started on a forum: "With the new ICQ features launched, will you still use Star Language?"
As of 2:15 PM, 4,700 people had voted. Results:
- Continue using Star Language, occasionally checking ICQ: 82%
- Use both: 11%
- Using ICQ only: 7%
Meyer looked at the number without expression.
He knew what this meant.
Most people who "use both" will switch to using only one after a week. Many of those who "only use ICQ" are either newly registered accounts or die-hard Microsoft fans who never use StarQ.
Star Language users did not migrate over on a large scale.
Because they have no reason to migrate.
Your friends are all there, your chat history is all there, your avatars are all there, your levels are all there. What does ICQ offer? It's free, but free services can't buy you social connections.
Four o'clock in the afternoon.
Ballmer reappeared in the operations room.
This time, he went straight to the control panel without asking if everything was ready.
"data."
Mayer brings up the real-time curve.
"Daily active users are up 18% from yesterday, but down 7% from the peak. Space visits peaked at 11:00 AM, and are now down 43%. Group chat creation peaked at 11:30 AM, and are now down 61%."
"Where's the bug?"
"Thirty-one are known, fourteen have been repaired. Seventeen remain to be repaired, four of which may result in data loss."
Ballmer stared at the screen without saying a word.
The curve on the screen resembled a heart that had been pulled out; it had jumped once and then gradually flattened out.
"What are the media saying?"
"Traditional media is neutral to positive, while online media is overwhelmingly critical." Meyer paused, "There's a poll on Reddit where 82% of people said they would continue using Star Language."
Ballmer turned and looked at the exhausted engineers in the operations room. Some were asleep, their keyboards pressed against their faces. Others held coffee, but it had gone cold and they hadn't drunk it.
"Keep fixing it," he said. "Fix all the bugs this week. Start promoting GG next week, focusing on 'free' and 'American brand'."
He walked to the door and stopped.
"Meyer."
"exist."
"Next time, don't let me see this kind of thing online."
The door closed.
The operations room was silent for a few seconds.
Then someone continued typing, but the sound was quieter than before.