An inch of time is an inch of gold, but an inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time.
Time is the most ubiquitous, yet the most precious resource in the world.
Airplanes, cars, construction machinery, industry... in a sense, they are all technologies that compress time.
Humans can do more with less time, and the world has subsequently entered an era of great development. In just over a hundred years, as if on fast-forward, humanity has produced more than in the previous millennia combined.
To the elite wizards, the greatest significance of Roger's Virtual Reality was that it made the 'time' of wizard civilization several times that of Muggle civilization! It could even be said that every slight increase in the rate of thought acceleration represented a further crushing advantage for wizards over Muggles.
So, when the press conference entered the Q&A session, almost all the questions from the audience revolved around this issue.
However, Roger didn't elaborate much on this topic, as it wasn't his main focus of research at the moment.
Roger understood their thoughts, but in his opinion, the leap in life-level was more powerful and meaningful than thought acceleration.
The questioner was clearly not satisfied with Roger's "please look forward to it" answer and wanted to dig for more inside information.
But with Roger unwilling to budge, they had no other recourse.
"You mentioned that the Virtual Reality client will be popularized in thousands of British households within half a year. After completing domestic popularization, do you have plans to expand Virtual Reality to other countries?" Seeing that they couldn't pry any more insider information from Roger, the next person called upon to ask a question changed direction.
The speaker was a middle-aged wizard. He was a reporter, but not from a British wizarding media outlet.
He was from Germany.
The magical communities of Britain and Germany had already begun close cooperation, and many people in Germany were paying attention to important matters concerning British wizards.
Especially Roger's affairs, which were being closely monitored by a faction of political forces led by the German Minister of Magic, Vogel.
This world wasn't only the Hogwarts Board of Directors who recognized value; there were plenty of intelligent people everywhere, and Germany also wanted the right to use this technology.
"Of course, our ultimate goal is to popularize Virtual Reality worldwide," Roger replied affirmatively.
"In the future, Virtual Reality will become an indispensable part of humanity, ubiquitous like the network electronic signals Muggles are currently using."
"I believe that something this convenient should not be confined to one country or region," Roger added.
Not to mention matters related to the Second Magic, once Virtual Reality was fully rolled out, it would essentially replace all signal-receiving electronic devices such as televisions, computers, and mobile phones.
Virtual Reality would not only be able to perform all the functions of the internet but do them better.
...No, some specific things still couldn't be replaced.
For example, content that certain minors couldn't access. Although Virtual Reality could fully achieve this, ... humans would certainly have various privacy needs.
Roger's network function was essentially the overlay and interference of the upper virtual world on the lower virtual world.
If interference was possible, then retrieving some 'historical records' would naturally be possible.
Clearly, not everyone could accept their actions being completely exposed under someone else's watchful eye.
The teachers and students within Hogwarts didn't care because the person currently in charge of the network was Roger, and Roger was a Seer. They already had a general understanding of what a Seer could do from their year of interaction.
Therefore, they didn't develop any other ideas.
And Roger's current power wasn't enough for global networking. In the future, there would certainly be a period where various countries would establish their own 'local area networks,' which would likely lead to further complications.
Of course, although these issues were foreseeable, Roger didn't dwell on them because no one could predict the future with certainty. Perhaps his technology would have new breakthroughs in a while that could solve this problem?
This was also a common problem faced by many Seers. Even if they could see potential future events far ahead, they wouldn't say too much, because for a Seer, the future was not absolutely predetermined.
It was better not to speak too much about things that were not about to happen, as it might be detrimental.
"You mentioned earlier that you would sell the Virtual Reality client at a low price. Will you charge extra based on the experience content within Virtual Reality?"
Roger spotted a familiar face in the crowd: Luna's father, the editor-in-chief of The Quibbler.
After Roger called on him, Xenophilius Lovegood asked a rather practical question.
"Regarding this matter, my personal opinion is that charging is allowed, but random charging is prohibited," Roger stated, not disliking the question.
This was indeed a crucial issue.
"As everyone knows, the virtual world was created by me as just an 'empty shell.' To perfect it bit by bit, to make it closer to reality or more fantastical, it will definitely require the efforts of many people."
"My Subspace Magic Technology Company is willing to provide some basic services free of charge."
"However, for some advanced customization needs, not only can our company conduct research and development, but ordinary wizards can also showcase their unique talents. If someone develops something interesting and wants to charge for it, I think prohibiting it would actually break a certain positive cycle."
Roger answered Xenophilius's question very seriously.
His meaning was simple: Roger would provide the platform for free.
But for user-generated DLC and various software applications, Roger was in favor of them profiting.
However, if someone were to monopolize technology and charge exorbitant prices, Roger would step in to manage it.
The popularization of the Second Magic would coincide with the popularization of Virtual Reality, but it would clearly take wizards a considerable amount of time to acquire and fully control this power.
During this transitional period as the wizarding community shifted towards a high-level martial civilization, Roger would do his best to maintain the healthy development of the Virtual Reality industry.
After answering Xenophilius Lovegood's question, Roger casually pointed to a blonde woman sitting not far from him.
It was Rita Skeeter, a special correspondent representing the Daily Prophet.
Roger certainly wouldn't deny a prominent local newspaper the opportunity to speak.
Rita Skeeter stood up, strictly adhering to the instructions given by her BOSS, not daring to cause trouble in such a setting.
She posed a question that was equally critical and serious: "Director Roger, you said you intend to promote Virtual Reality technology to foreign countries and even the entire world. Have you considered whether other countries would be willing to accept it?"
"If they accept it, is there a possibility that they might enact laws for some unfavorable operations?"
"What would you do if such a situation occurred?"
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