The network disk is no longer just a storage tool, but will play the role of "data steward" in the cloud
”
Author | Wen Nag
Edit | Zhao Qinghui
5G technology has accelerated the advent of the Internet of Everything era, and as the number of mobile terminals surges to generate a huge amount of data, users' demand for download speed has further expanded.
On December 29, baidu network disk youth version APP was officially launched, which is a completely independent application of Baidu network disk, and its biggest feature and highlight that attracts attention from the outside world is that users can enjoy undifferentiated rates when uploading and downloading. So, how does the app actually perform? What are the additional surprises beyond the undifferentiated rate? The following Leifeng network will take you to find out.
1
How fragrant is the Baidu network disk with undifferentiated rate?
Baidu Network Disk Youth Edition continues the consistent minimalist style of Baidu Network Disk in terms of interface design, and the application interface contains 4 functional modules - file directory, transmission list, document scanning/text recognition, and personal center. Through the application interface, its core functions can be seen at a glance.
On the File Directory page, users can browse to view the files stored on the network drive. Users can save files to Baidu Network Disk Youth Edition in two ways: one is to import directly from the Baidu network disk under the same account (there are three import opportunities), according to the actual test experience, the import process is extremely fast, the import time of 1GB files is less than 1 second; the second is manually uploaded from the local, including photos, videos and documents in three forms, and supports the creation of folders. It should be noted that the initial free storage space of Baidu Network Disk Youth Edition is 10GB, whether imported from Baidu Network Disk or manually uploaded, the file size cannot exceed the remaining storage space size.
As for the upload and download speed that users are most concerned about, according to actual measurements, in the manual upload mode, the upload rate can be stable at 3-12MB/s in the case of good WiFi network conditions, while under the 5G network, the upload rate is basically maintained at 3-14MB/s, up to 32Mb/s. The download rate is stable at around 11MB/s, while according to official data, it can reach up to 52MB/s. Regardless of the upload or download rate, it has increased significantly compared with Baidu network disk.
In addition to downloading documents locally, users can also browse online. Baidu Network Disk Youth Edition has optimized and improved the online browsing function, not only supporting the playback of the original picture at multiple speeds of the video, but also transcribing audio files into documents to achieve listening and watching. Unfortunately, at present, smart audio transcription only supports Chinese Mandarin, and it is expected that more languages can be supported in the future.
In addition, Baidu Network Disk Youth Edition also supports document scanning and text recognition functions, and users can scan/text recognition documents by manually shooting and uploading locally. After the document is scanned, a PDF version is automatically generated, which can be edited and beautified by the user, and after the text recognition, it can be selected, copied and modified, and finally the document in docx format is exported and stored directly on the network disk.
From the actual experience, like all products that have just been launched, Baidu Network Disk Youth Edition still has many places to improve and optimize. However, for most users, its functions are enough to meet the needs of daily use, especially the indiscriminate rate of upload and download, which is too fragrant.
However, in addition to surprises, many people may inevitably wonder why Baidu Network Disk will launch a new youth version with no difference in speed for all users and small free storage space.
Before answering this question, we may wish to review the business model of the current domestic network disk market.
2
The cost dilemma of network disk manufacturers
As a tool-based product, the network disk determines the user experience in two aspects: first, the size of the data storage space, and the speed of data transmission speed. This is doomed to the competition between network disk manufacturers can not be separated from the competition of these two major functional points.
In the PC era and the early stage of the mobile Internet, the network transmission speed is slower, personal network disk products are mainly used to store infrequently used cold data, "large capacity" is the core appeal of users, at that time, the major network disk manufacturers have "free large capacity" as the selling point to compete for users, staged a fierce "hundred disk war".
In 2013, Kingsoft Cloud's Kingsoft Express took the lead in launching the "100G free space" plan, in order to keep up with its pace, other network disk manufacturers had to follow the introduction of similar programs, the free space of network disk from 100GB to 10TB only took less than a year.
Most Internet services can continue to reduce their marginal costs as the volume of users grows, while the network disk business is just the opposite. After relying on the free strategy to attract a large number of users, the operating costs of network disk companies have risen sharply, and it is urgent to cover the high server and bandwidth costs through commercial changes.
Advertising pop-up window implantation was the first to be proposed, can be used as a tool-based product, the frequency of network disk opening is low, and the advertising revenue is minimal. Under the huge cost pressure, the manufacturers who participated in the "hundred disk war" at the beginning either "downgraded" to survive or directly withdrew from the market.
In 2016, Sina Micro Disk, Kingsoft Express Disk, Huawei Network Disk, and 360 Network Disk were shut down one after another; in 2017, Tencent Micro Cloud announced that it would reduce the free space from 1T to 10G. In just four years, this war on the network disk came and went quickly.
As one of the few survivors in the "Great War", Baidu Network Disk has found a way to survive, but it is subject to operating costs and has been unable to meet the download experience of non-member users. However, other manufacturers have not yet been able to find a better balance between cost and survival.
If this business model of Baidu network disk is acceptable in the PC era with data storage as the main demand and the early stage of mobile Internet, it is still acceptable. Then with the in-depth development of the mobile Internet, the user's demand for speed has begun to further increase.
After the advent of the mobile Internet era, there are more and more "big content" such as 4K/8K and VR/AR, and the storage space required for individual content is getting larger and larger. Limited by cost and technology, the storage space of terminal devices such as mobile phones cannot be expanded indefinitely, and users are increasingly storing some hot data that needs to be called frequently to the cloud.
The high-speed network transmission brought by 5G technology also enables users to access data stored in the cloud more conveniently and quickly.
In other words, in the era of mobile Internet, the network disk has become an extension and extension of the memory of terminal devices, and frequent data retrieval and transmission have begun to become a new core appeal.
With a network disk with no difference in download speed but small free capacity, without affecting the user's data transmission experience, to meet the basic storage needs, Baidu network disk may be a reference to foreign markets, hoping to attract some users with higher demand to pay for expansion or through other monetization means to establish a new business model. However, whether the new model will eventually be accepted by users is still unknown.
3
Can the "Dropbox model" break the game?
No business model can be just wishful thinking on the part of the manufacturer.
However, it turns out that the free network disk service of "big space + fast download" is difficult to operate for a long time.
From a longer perspective, any long-term service product needs to establish a benign and sustainable business model. Before finding a reasonable means of monetization, if you blindly pursue free, you will only be dragged down by high operating costs.
Some industry analysts believe that Internet companies provide large space, fast download network disk services, which is a loss of money, not only can not generate revenue, but also to pay for server, commercial bandwidth and other costs. In contrast, operators have a huge advantage in this market, the cloud and the network are their own asset investment, and they have mastered the user resources, and it is very easy to establish a charging model in the mobile phone tariff package.
To some extent, the free strategy of network disk manufacturers has a certain effect at this stage. Especially some latecomers, whose user scale is small, the cost pressure is not large, and they can rob some users from the market with free as a gripper and quickly complete the cold start. But in the long run, as the scale of users grows, they will eventually face the same problems as Baidu network disks.
Looking at the global market, the business model of "basic free capacity + paid capacity expansion" is relatively reasonable and market-proven. At present, foreign network disk service providers Dropbox, iCloud, etc. all provide indiscriminate upload and download services, and charge by selling "expanded space" to users.
Taking iCloud as an example, it only provides free storage space for 5G, and users can pay for expansion according to their own needs: upgrading to 50G requires 6 yuan / month, while upgrading to 200G requires 21 yuan / month.
At present, domestic mainstream mobile phone manufacturers have also learned from the models of iCloud and Dropbox, such as Huawei, OPPO, etc., which provide 5G basic storage space, and have successively launched mobile phone cloud disk products, and have a certain user volume.
Compared with iCloud, Baidu Network Disk Youth Edition still has certain advantages in free storage capacity, and users can have more choices. For users with data storage needs, the original version of Baidu network disk can be used free of charge, and for users who emphasize data transmission and sharing, they can also find a tool to improve the download experience through Baidu network disk youth version.
For users with dual needs for download speed and space, they can pay to meet the demand, and the sustainability of this operating model has also been verified abroad.
4
In the 5G era, where will the network disk go?
The operation of the business model has its inertia, although the major network disk manufacturers are trapped in the current business model, but it is not easy to take the initiative to change, especially the Baidu network disk with a large user volume.
Next, will the online disk market return to the "hundred disk war" and open a new round of price competition?
Professor Ouyang Rihui, vice president of the China Internet Economy Research Institute of the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that under the convention, the network disk market will usher in a new pattern of development, but we must also be vigilant against returning to the "price" whirlpool. Practice has proved that the development of the network disk market should learn lessons, vicious price competition is not advisable, which is not conducive to technological innovation, nor is it conducive to the industry ecology, and it is not conducive to the improvement of consumer experience.
"Any industry must first be healthy and orderly in order to talk about long-term development." Wang Junxiu, director of the Beijing Information Society Research Institute, said that under the guidance of the convention, online disk enterprises should focus more on the improvement of user experience, the exploration of sustainable development models, and bid farewell to malicious competition, so that the industry can develop better.
For all online disk companies, the best way to avoid falling into the price vortex may be to establish and consolidate their differentiated competitive advantages through technological innovation. In the 5G era, the development and iteration of new technologies such as "cloud migration" provides an important opportunity for the transformation of the network disk industry.
In the future, in the case of cloud computing power is strong enough and latency is low enough, more services can be provided to users in the cloud, which directly broadens more network disk use scenarios: such as work and study, and is no longer limited to life and entertainment, and the main body of use is no longer limited to mobile phones and computers, but to more intelligent terminals.
Shen Ziyu, CEO of Yijiatong Technology, said, "The opening up of the end cloud is a major trend in the development of the automotive industry. Powerful data storage capabilities in the cloud are an essential element of the in-vehicle smart cockpit experience. ”
In the future, the network disk will no longer be just a storage tool, but will play the role of "data steward" in the cloud to meet the needs of users for data processing and consumption processing of each port.
In addition to opening up more life scenarios, with the introduction and implementation of relevant laws and regulations such as the Data Security Law, security will also become one of the important battlefields for various network disk manufacturers to compete for products.
Since the "100-plate war" in 2013, the competition of the individual network disk track has lasted for 8 years, but it is far from the moment of the end, and the domestic network disk enterprises still have huge room for exploration in business models and technological innovation.
He Xia, chief engineer of the Institute of Policy and Economics of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said that under the convention, enterprises have made certain improvements to the user experience, which is a good start. In the 5G era, network disk companies should explore and innovate more, and drive the benign development of the industry while doing a good job in user service, which is the key to winning the future.
END