Kobe is gone. When I saw this news, I was stunned and had to confirm it repeatedly before I could believe it. I can only sigh at the impermanence of life. In my previous blog post, I just used a plane crash as an example to explain the probability behind "fate," but it wasn't Kobe!
R.I.P.
I'm not a Kobe fan or a Kobe hater. When I watched basketball, Kobe was not my favorite player. The Lakers' purple and gold dynasty was too "luxurious" at that time, and Kobe himself was very controversial. His playing style was magnificent but solitary, giving me the impression of a spoiled child who did whatever he wanted with the resources at his disposal. There is a saying that what people truly like is actually a projection of themselves. Coming from an ordinary family, I naturally didn't have much fondness for "second-generation rich" type of basketball stars.
But Kobe did have an impact on me. At that time, there was a basketball reality show called "Kobe's Disciples." I have forgotten the specific content, but I still remember a few vague scenes:
Kobe, wearing a hoodie, sitting with a determined and even angry gaze under the shadow of his hat, staring straight at you; a basketball court at night, with pale lights, and basketballs scattered all over the ground. Kobe kept shooting, from the baseline to the 45-degree angle to the front, the basketballs swished through the net one by one, but Kobe continued to shoot, again and again.
There is also the famous "4 AM in Los Angeles" and "Second place is just the first loser." When I was confused, Kobe really inspired me. He was too powerful.
The NBA Shining with Stars#
Because of the pandemic, I have been staying at home recently, and the only time I go out is when I drive around the city. Nanchang is developing rapidly, with new high-rise buildings and commercial centers rising every year. But the place where I lived when I was a child seems to have not changed at all. Even the breakfast shop downstairs is still the same. They seem to be trapped in the gap of time.
I haven't watched the NBA for many years. When I heard about Kobe, it suddenly brought back memories. I started watching the NBA in 2007, which was an era of shining stars. The '96 golden generation was in their prime, and the '03 golden generation was already emerging. Each team had its own superstar: Black Mamba Kobe, 35 seconds 13 points T-Mac, Air Canada Vince Carter, The Big Ticket Kevin Garnett, The Gentleman Ray Allen, The King LeBron James, The German Tank Dirk Nowitzki, The Stone Buddha Tim Duncan... It was like the early stages of the Three Kingdoms, with various talents and lively scenes.
I remember Zhang Jiawei wrote an article called "Two Failed Inspirational Fairy Tales," which touched me deeply.
This "fairy tale" tells the stories of Carter and Iverson: the talented young man Carter constantly practiced his other skills to make up for his weaknesses, evolving from a dunker to an all-around player; Iverson, who was only 1.83 meters tall, led the underdog 76ers to turn the tide in the first game of the 2001 NBA Finals, defeating the dream team led by Kobe and Shaq. He even faked out the Lakers' defender with a crossover move and scored a decisive shot, casually stepping over him.
Not all the stories from that time were about victory. Turning to the next page of the fairy tale, Carter was plagued by injuries and could no longer take flight, Iverson bloomed and withered, ultimately losing 1-4, and the god-like 35 seconds 13 points McGrady came to China to endorse children's English. The most touching story was Kevin Garnett. Later, he was traded back to his old team, the Timberwolves, and a passionate fan who used to dance shirtless on the court became a middle-aged man with a big belly. But when the music started, the man danced shirtless again, and the whole arena erupted.
"Jiggly Boy" Returns...and KG Approves - Funny video 2015
The video is very touching, highly recommended.
That was an era of shining stars, and every player had a distinct personality. There were always stories on the basketball court.
The Era of Heroes#
The NBA seems to be different now. The last game I watched was when the Golden State Warriors won the championship with the help of technology. I heard that they used AI to develop tactics, help players adjust their movements, and even accurately measure the protein, carbohydrates, and fats in their meals.
There is no longer heroism, no longer the legendary 35 seconds 13 points comeback, no longer the story of Kobe spending a summer learning post moves from Hakeem Olajuwon, and no longer the 4 AM in Los Angeles—AI will make sure you get exactly 8 hours, 23 minutes, and 17 seconds of sleep[1].
This kind of NBA seems a bit boring.
But it seems that every industry goes through the same drama. The early days of the internet were also full of heroes and legends. Jobs traveled to India at the age of 17 and created the first Apple computer in a garage at the age of 21. Bill Gates wrote Altair BASIC in 5 days. Bezos initially only sold books. Larry Page and Sergey Brin opened the legendary story of Google with a PageRank paper. Zuckerberg created Facebook in his dorm room. Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity is still unknown...
The person I admire the most, Aaron Swartz[2], participated in writing the RSS subscription format at the age of 13 (a very ancient technology that I greatly admire) and became a major contributor to the Markdown language (also a technology that I greatly admire; this article was written on an MD editor). Later, he single-handedly challenged the entire academic publishing industry and tragically passed away.
Even religious beliefs are the same. Before monotheism emerged, the gods in Greek mythology and Norse mythology had their own personalities and worries, just like mortals: Prometheus, who stole fire; Sisyphus, who pushed the boulder. They were all memorable. All of this was eventually replaced by a serious, supreme, all-knowing god.
The internet in China follows a similar narrative logic. Wang Xing said that the first half of the internet era has ended, and we have seen countless small and medium-sized entrepreneurs struggling to survive, either joining the giants or dying. The internet industry has entered an era of gods fighting, and grassroots entrepreneurs no longer have a chance.
The ROI Era#
After the first half, the internet industry quickly evolved into an ROI era.
DAU, average time spent, PV, VV; AdLoad, CTR, CVR, CPA...
Every action is tracked, everything can be quantified, everything can be calculated for ROI, everything is business: the internet is simplified into a simple formula: growth -> retention -> monetization, and the headlines have taken this logic to the extreme: UG is responsible for growth, product development is responsible for retention, and commercialization is responsible for monetization, supported by various middle and back offices. The same logic is replicated in all visible vertical fields. Companies worth hundreds of billions of dollars, like Tencent, are unstoppable.
The happiness of ROI companies is simple and boring.
Silicon Valley, the birthplace of the internet, is not doing well either. Apple no longer adds end-to-end encryption to iCloud under pressure from the FBI. Microsoft is experiencing a second spring under the leadership of Indians, but the former PC dominator has become a SaaS company. Google removed "Don't be evil" from its values and developed a search product specifically for the Chinese market. Bezos started using AI to calculate employee productivity and fired employees with AI. Facebook is deeply embroiled in a privacy crisis and is preparing to learn from WeChat's Zhang Xiaolong to create a private domain IM. The only belief left may be Bitcoin, but blockchain has unfortunately become a tool for exploiting retail investors, and people like Justin Sun have become infamous.
Seeing the strict and precise diet of NBA players, I was confused. I couldn't tell for a moment, was the NBA always like this, and I grew up so I understand the things I didn't understand before; or did the NBA grow up, transforming from a romantic dream of a young boy to a professional manager skilled in calculations?
I can't tell. Where did that utopian ideal of numbers go? Is the concept of information flowing freely still respected? Is Information Democracy just a temporary illusion?
Zweig and the Vanished Old World#
Recently, life has been connecting in unexpected ways.
Last night, I rewatched "The Grand Budapest Hotel." It is a movie that reminisces about the old world. This time, I watched it very carefully. After the movie ended, the director said that the story was inspired by Zweig.
Last week, a friend said that if Zweig were to write "The World of Yesterday" again, Elon Musk would definitely be included. I said it's not necessarily true. Zweig wrote about the stars of the old world, and almost all of his works are a tribute to that vanished old world. However, Elon Musk belongs to the future.
Conclusion#
This article was originally going to be called "The Vanished Era of Heroes," but as I wrote, I changed my mind. Isn't there still Elon Musk? Who says this era lacks heroes? After Zweig, didn't countless heroes and legends emerge?
So, although the internet has entered the second half, for the era of heroes, it may just be a halftime break, not a curtain call. The second half will probably be even more exciting.
- I made up the numbers to illustrate the strong control power of AI.
- Highly recommended documentary: "The Internet's Own Boy"