经济学人：科技业四巨头上演“权利的游戏”
[导读]谷歌、苹果、Facebook和亚马逊这四家最大的公司统治着消费互联网领域，他们之间的战争界限正不断扩大。
互联网领域的四大巨头：谷歌(微博)、苹果、Facebook和亚马逊北京时间12月2日消息，英国《经济学人》杂志印刷版日前刊文称，谷歌、苹果、Facebook和亚马逊是当今互联网领域的四大巨头，他们年轻且财力雄厚，不断突破业务界限展开竞争，但只有做得面面俱到，才有可能成为互联网领域真正的君王。
以下是《经济学人》文章的主要内容：
在这个奇异且不断变化的领域，有一场史诗般的部落战争，这是一个入侵与包围、阴谋与背叛、战场辉煌与奸滑狡诈的传说。
乔治·马丁(George R.R. Martin)的系列奇幻小说以《权力游戏》(A Game of Thrones)开始，HBO已经将其翻拍为电视剧。这个系列小说描绘了一个令科技界
人士浮想联翩的异域世界，这是一种浸入式的体验。但在当今世界，这种逃避主义感染了一种可怕的认可度。硅谷既没有猛龙，也没有恶狼，但马丁描绘的失去国王的世界不由地令人想起当今的科技行业，在这个行业，谷歌、苹果、Facebook 和亚马逊这四家最大的公司统治着消费互联网领域，他们之间的战争界限不断扩大。去年苹果掌舵人史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)的逝世令最有可能接管王位的希望破灭。但即便在乔布斯逝世之前，由于移动计算开始打破之前的力量平衡，几大公司之间的紧张关系已经升级。
科技行业有着残酷对抗的历史：上世纪80年代的IBM和苹果，上世纪90年代的微软和网景。但是当前市场上的对抗更加丰富，更加复杂，不仅仅是因为他们各自拥有一定的优势。这四大公司当中，有三家公司仍然由已经赚到数十亿美元的创始人，或者联合创始人来管理，例如亚马逊的杰弗·贝索斯(Jeff Bezos)、谷歌的拉里·佩奇(Larry Page)，Facebook的马克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)。另外，尽管乔布斯已经不再掌管苹果，但他培养了继任者蒂姆·库克(Tim Cook)来担任CEO。风险投资公司KPCB合伙人玛丽·米克尔(Mary Meeker)表示：“在现代科技世界，我们从未看到过一个如此敬业的CEO和创始人集体。”
这个行业也从未看到过如此年轻且充满省略的公司，还能够拥有如此强大的财力，四家公司中最年长的苹果也只是成立于1976年。每家公司都拥有强大的业务模式。谷歌已经通过整合广告，将搜索变成巨大的盈利工具。Facebook也希望利用人们的兴趣和相互关系实现类似的目标。亚马逊使得在线购买实体商品和数字内容变得便宜、便捷。苹果则通过以较高的价格销售漂亮的电子产品赚得盆满钵满。
这也使得这些公司将他们的现金充实到自己的军火库当中。他们需要这些现金，所有四家公司都是在桌面和笔记本计算时代成长起来的，现在，正如马丁所描述的“冬天将要来了”，他们的世界也经历了巨大的改变。
手机装备
随着互联网走向手机，软件由云控制，原先分隔区域和战略的界限也日益模糊。威胁和机遇促使四大公司都利用自己的现金和才智冲击其他领域，有时候进
入一片荒地，有时候进入其他公司统治的领域。而他们并不是参与竞争的全部公司。
很多成功的创业公司，例如微博领域的Twitter，或者移动支付领域的Square，都想要打开自己的一片天地，无论是被四大公司之一收购，或者是建立起自己的权力。他们还有一个古老的帝国需要对抗，那就是主要依靠PC软件盈利的微软，最近微软也推出了自己的平板电脑，试图重返游戏中心。但只有四大公司之间的竞争才会对未来人们寻找信息、消费内容和购买商品产生最大的影响。
四大公司的战场，如同大多数战场一样，都是混乱且令人混淆的。而且战场五花八门。苹果和谷歌在智能手机和平板电脑操作系统领域交手;两家公司又与亚马逊在硬件领域过招;谷歌和Facebook成为社交网络领域的死敌;还有一些公
司涉足了电子商务，这一直是亚马逊的固有领地。
他们各自都有需要维护的领地。例如谷歌的搜索引擎就是自己的心脏地带，该公司继续投入资金，完善搜索算法。另外，谷歌还添加了其他搜索服务，例如收购ITA软件，这是一家提供航班和其他旅行信息的公司。
只有面面俱到，才有可能成为互联网领域真正的君王搜索引擎和外敌围攻
要想从谷歌手中抢夺这项收益丰厚的业务并不容易，但其他互联网巨头都想要尝试一下。或许最大的威胁来自苹果。两家公司过去曾在科技行业拥有最友善的关系，事实上，当时谷歌CEO埃里克·施密特(Eric Schmidt)还曾在2006年到2009年在苹果董事会任职。而现在，两家公司却陷入了激烈的竞争当中。
其中最核心的就是苹果iOS移动操作系统与谷歌Android之间的竞争，iOS 支撑着iPhone手机和iPad平板电脑，而Android则被三星和HTC等多家智能手机厂商所采用。作为一项战略举措，2005年谷歌收购了Android开发商，当时谷歌担心自己的搜索引擎和其他服务会遭到潜在竞争对手的移动设备排挤。之后，谷歌将Android打造成iOS的强有力竞争者。市场调研公司IDC的数据显示，2012年第三季度全球智能手机出货量为1.81亿部，而Android占据其中的四分之三。谷歌声称每天激活130万部Android设备。
对于苹果来说，Android的这种开源方式就像是一场战争宣言，乔布斯曾愤怒地表示想要发动“热核战争”摧毁Android。苹果的Siri语音控制助手就是一次进攻，这是一种新型的搜索引擎，可以在移动中回答人们的问题。今年早些时候，苹果还做出了一个富有争议的决定，把谷歌地图从iOS系统中撤下，取而代之的是自己研发、但却漏洞百出的地图产品。这也是想要独立于谷歌的一次尝试。
一些专家认为，亚马逊也在这个领域对谷歌构成了一定的威胁。Federated Media创始人、硅谷资深观察人士约翰·巴特勒(John Battelle)表示：“过去谷歌就像一个收费员，他把人们引导到亚马逊。而现在人们越来越多地绕开谷歌，直接前往亚马逊，寻找并购买商品。”他举了一个例子。市场调研公司Forrester估计，30%的美国在线购买者在亚马逊开始自己的搜索。有传闻称Facebook也在围绕着社交理念研发搜索产品。马克·扎克伯格最近在一次会议上表示，由于用户在Facebook上查找好友和其他信息，因此该社交网站“每天处理10亿次搜索请求，而且我们基本还没有开始尝试”。
苹果在与谷歌缠斗之时，也在与亚马逊进行着另外一场战斗，那就是看谁能成为最佳的在线内容提供商。推出iPod之后，苹果出人意料地凭借iTunes数字音乐商店大举进军内容领域，内容推动硬件销售，反之亦然，这是一种成功的战略，同时也开启了苹果与亚马逊之间的斗争。上世纪90年代中期，亚马逊凭借
卖书起家，不久之后就涉足多种商品销售，首先是CD和DVD碟片，现在又进入了衣饰、厨具等领域。不过去年，亚马逊480亿美元的营收当中，仍有37%来自于媒体内容，无论是实体还是数字媒体。
到目前为止，二者之间最激烈的竞争还是电子书市场。去年亚马逊占据美国电子书下载量的三分之二，苹果仅仅占据5%，但苹果已经启动了极具侵略性的战略，为出版商提供更多的电子书定价自由，吸引他们离开亚马逊平台。在数字音乐领域，情况正好相反，亚马逊的Cloud Player音乐服务努力想从苹果iTunes 巨大的市场份额中分一杯羹。在视频领域，两家公司都在与Netflix竞争，后者已经成功从一个DVD租赁商转型为流媒体视频服务商。
内容大师
到目前为止，Facebook和谷歌在这些竞争中投入的资源较少，不过两家公司都很清楚这些市场的重要性。Facebook的战略是给其他公司的内容打上社交的烙印，它已经与流媒体视频服务商Netflix和流媒体音乐服务商Spotify结成同盟，因此用户可以与好友分享他们看到的视频或听到的音乐。谷歌的YouTube 在用户自创视频领域占据统治地位，但这家公司并没有开发出亚马逊数字收费模式或苹果iTunes这样的业务。今年3月份，谷歌最终整合了音乐、电子书和其他业务，建立了全新的Google Play商店，然而谷歌在其他领域的拓展并不总是像Android一样成功。它已经向Facebook的社交领域发起了多次进攻，但收效甚微。
谷歌在Google Play商店中添加了Android移动应用，其他巨头也拥有自己的应用选择。这是他们之间相互斗争的重要方式，即看谁能够提供最优秀的移动体验。
苹果、亚马逊和谷歌之间还形成了三角争斗，三者都整合了移动设备、操作系统和应用商店。苹果率先认识到这些平台的力量，并整合了iPod和iTunes，因此也占据了领先地位。苹果iPhone的利润率如此之高，以至于市场研究公司Asymco估计，2012年第三季度，苹果在占据16%手机出货量的情况下，攫取了手机行业60%的利润。
但苹果发现自己的竞争对手有截然不同的赚钱方式。亚马逊推出了搭载定制版Android系统的Kindle电子阅读器和平板电脑，而且这些产品的售价不比成本高多少。苹果利用iTunes来销售iPod，亚马逊则利用平板电脑等硬件设备销售世界上的各种商品。
骨感现实
谷歌的平台计划不太明确。起初谷歌似乎很满意由其他厂商来生产Android 手机和平板电脑，但到2011年，谷歌决定斥资125亿美元收购摩托罗拉移动。谷歌已经开始销售由华硕和三星代工的Nexus自有品牌平板电脑，最近又开始销售搭载Chrome操作系统的廉价笔记本电脑。大多数分析师认为，谷歌将逐渐拓展廉价设备市场，希望用户能够在这些设备上使用其搜索等服务，这样提振广告业务。
接下来要说的是一个处于水深火热之中的帝国。微软，在美国市场排名第二、仅次于谷歌的搜索公司，拥有一个紧跟自己的诺基亚，还有全新的移动操作系统。搭载这个系统的Surface平板电脑为自己建立了全新的平台。与小说中流亡后急于夺回王位的贵族一样，微软也急于重塑辉煌。
到目前为止，Facebook在这方面保持中立，但在为消费者打造最优秀数字购物体验方面，Facebook并不是旁观者。赢得这场战斗就意味着要从亚马逊夺取领地。Facebook Gifts是一项全新的服务，Facebook充分利用了自己对用户兴趣和好友关系的了解，鼓励他们在适当的时机，例如生日之际购买和赠送礼物。为了推动这项业务发展，Facebook收购了一家社交礼物赠送公司Karma，并与星巴克和巧克力生产商Lindt等100多家公司达成伙伴关系。
谷歌也在尝试一项服务，允许用户在线查找和订购商品，然后支付一笔普通的费用就可以在一天内送达。这似乎类似于亚马逊Prime服务，在美国每年只需79美元就可以享受的Prime服务取得了巨大的成功。谷歌并不是要复制亚马逊的巨大仓储网络，而是与送货公司和零售商进行合作。但如果谷歌真的想要挑战亚马逊，它最终需要收购一家物流公司。UPS市值为690亿美元，不足谷歌的三分之一，而且不到谷歌现金储备的两倍。
平台就像是这场混战中的武器，各大公司都想巩固自己的固有领地，同时征服新领域。专利则是他们直接刺伤对方的武器。有些诉讼由专利流氓(Patent Troll)发起，他们专门收集专利，而不开发具体产品，但也有一些诉讼由巨头公司或者其代理人发起，专门针对另外一家巨头。苹果在智能手机领域到处寻求专利诉讼，谷歌收购摩托罗拉移动的很重要原因也是为了获得该公司数以千计的专利资产，进而增强自己在专利竞争中的防护能力和进攻火力。
每个季度，这些公司之间的战场就会扩大几倍，从数字钱包到云计算等，因此仅仅根据战术挫折调整战略就显得很难。今天的失败可能蕴含着未来成功的果实。谷歌向Facebook发起的最新进攻Google+存在固有的不足。苹果向谷歌地图发起的挑战也明显准备不充分。但如果谷歌想要在社交领域取得进展，苹果想要在地理位置服务上取得突破，他们都不得不大胆尝试，至少获得了一些据点。他们面临的挑战是灵巧地跳过最初的失望，逐步走向成功。
没有人能够迅速成功。红杉资本的风投家罗伊勒夫·博塔(Roelof Botha)认为：“会有很多的攻坚战。”对于消费者来说，这可能是个好消息，因为他们会有更广泛的创新和廉价技术可选择。当然，随着竞争升级，公司可能会更加谨慎地保护自己的核心阵地，或者利用犯规手段攻击他人。这就需要监管机构出面。乔治梅森大学(George Mason University)研究员亚当·蒂埃尔(Adam Thierer)说：“你会看到监管机构发起帝国的反击。”
其他方面
欧洲和美国的监管机构一直在调查苹果是否与出版商串谋破坏亚马逊对电
子书市场的控制，他们还在对谷歌进行调查。有些公司，包括一些与微软关系密切的公司，指责谷歌不公平地在搜索结果中推广自己的服务，例如Google+社交网络。他们还声称，谷歌未经许可就使用竞争对手的内容，并在搜索广告方面达成反竞争协议。还有指责称谷歌利用智能手机专利扼制竞争。谷歌的律师团队正在疲于应对这些指控。
因此，这四大公司的掌舵人佩奇、库克、扎克伯格和贝索斯，需要为自己的公司绘制出一幅穿越这些危险的法律和监管地区的路线图。与此同时，他们必须
避免在竞争中迷失方向，微软就曾在因为与强大的司法部对抗而失去很大领地。另外，急于在疲软的全球经济中获得收益的股东也必须感到满意。
能够做到所有这些的国王，才能够成为真正的君主，但这种脱颖而出的机率很小。正如小说一样，这些战斗和阴谋一定会层出不穷。
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Leopard seals share their suppers 豹海豹会分享它们的晚餐 Bad news if you are a penguin 假如你是一只企鹅，这真是个坏消息 Leopard seals resemble their terrestrial namesakes in two ways.They have polka-dot pelts.And they are powerful,generally solitary carnivores that are quite capable of killing a human being if they so choose—as has indeed happened once,in2003,when a British marine biologist was the victim. 豹海豹与生活在陆地上的同名动物（豹）有着两点相似之处。其一，它们的皮毛上都有着圆点花纹。其二，它们都是强大的独栖性食肉动物，只要它们愿意，是完全有能力杀死一个人的——正如2003年真实发生的那样，当时一位英国海洋生物学家就成了受害者。 Curiously,though,there have also been reports of leopard seals behaving in a friendly manner towards people—apparently trying to present gifts,in the form of prey,to divers. 但奇怪的是，也有报道称豹海豹对人类表现得十分友好——它们很显然把猎物作为礼物赠送给了潜水员。 Until now,there has been no explanation for this philanthropy.But work just published in Polar Biology by James Robbins of Plymouth University, in Britain,suggests that what the seals are actually looking for is a dining partner.
中文导读 外资风投：黯然离场？ 上世纪90年代开始,“copy to China”风潮涌起,外资在中国这块赚钱的风水宝地如鱼得水。 如今,中国市场的魅力依然吸引着众多外资入局,但他们日子并不好过。 中国本土孵化器遍地开花、本土企业不断崛起,对外资风投形成了强有力的挤压。 当下中国科技大爆发、政策逐渐健全,“copy from China”的时代已经开启。未来,外资还会青睐中国市场吗？ less where that came from 与文章最后一句呼应,改用习语More Where that Came from:A greater number of similar things can be pro-vided in the future 陆续有来 skittish adj.not very serious and with ideas and feelings that keep changing 轻浮的;易变的;反复无常的 venture capitalist n.someone who makes money by investing in high risk projects 风险投资者 demo (=demostration)n.an act of showing or explaining how sth works or is done 示范;示范表演;演示 Y Combinator 美国著名创业孵化器,Y Combinator 扶持初创企业并为其提供创业指南 startup n.a small business that has recently been started by someone 新创办的小公司 vie (with sb)(for sth)与某人争夺某物SYN contend with sb for sth high-profile adj.receiving or involving a lot of attention and discus-sion on television,in newspapers,etc.经常出镜/见报的;高姿态的 accelerator a company that helps new companies get started by giving them such things as office space,legal help and marketing services in exchange for payment 企业加速器/孵化器SYN incubator the like of sb/sth (also sb’s/sth’s like )something similar to someone or a particular person or thing,or of equal importance or value 像某人(物)一样的人/物SYN equivalent ,match Dropbox 一款网络文件同步工具,提供在线存储服务,类似于百度云pull out of to move away from sth or stop being involved in it 脱离,退出 nurture v.to help sb/sth to develop and be successful 扶持;帮助;支持SYN foster It’s important to nurture a good working relationship.维持良好的工作关系非常重要。 localised adj.地方化的,本土化的incarnation n.化身,代表 in the context of 在?情况下;在?背景下 rift a serious disagreement between people that stops their relation- ship from continuing 分裂;分歧;严重不和SYN rupture ominous suggesting that sth bad is going to happen in the future 预兆的;恶兆的;不吉利的SYN foreboding By China,For China,Of China 建于中国、为了中国、属于中国,陆奇加入YC 时提的条件 arm a section of a large organization that deals with one particular activity 分部;职能部门 at odds with to be different from sth,when the two things should be the same (与?)有差异,相矛盾SYN conflict with venture capital money that is invested in a new company to help it develop,which may involve a lot of risk 风险资本(投入新公司的资金,风险很大) red-hot adj.new,exciting and of great interest to people 热门的,火爆的SYN sizzling operation n.a business organization;a company 商业机构;公司 Sand Hill Road 沙山路,硅谷一个普通地名,被称为“西海岸华尔街”,上百家声名如雷贯耳的风险投资公司在这里汇集,与华尔街不同,这里以投资高新技术产业为主 heavyweight n.a very important person,organization or thing that influences others 有影响力的人(或组织、事物)covet v.to want sth very much,especially sth that belongs to sb else 渴望;贪求(尤指别人的东西);觊觎 exchange n.a building where business people met in the past to buy and sell a particular type of goods 交易所 Investing in Chinese technology Less where that came from Homegrown rivals and skittish American investors are making life harder for foreign venture capitalists in China T HE FIRST “demo day”in Beijing last November of Y Combinator (YC)hosted two dozen local startups vying for the attention of high-profile investors.It marked the entrance into China of Silicon Valley’s most famous accelerator ,which has helped launch the likes of Airbnb and Dropbox .Then,days later,YC abruptly announced it was pulling out of the country. In a statement YC said that it was returning,under a new boss,to in- vesting in startups from its Californian base.Its Chinese startups will be nurtured by MiraclePlus,YC China’s new,fully localised incarna- tion .Yet in the context of a deepening Sino-American rift ,the retreat looks ominous .“Under the current global environment,to realise our mission—By China,For China,Of China —we must have the ability to master our own destiny,”wrote MiraclePlus in a social-media post,citing Lu Qi,its boss,whom YC had hired to set up its Chinese arm in 2018.(Mr Lu declined to be interviewed for this article.) At first glance,YC’s fate seems at odds with the broader health of foreign venture capital (VC)in China,with its red-hot tech indus-try.The Chinese operations of Sand Hill Road heavyweights such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital—whose fifth Chinese growth-stage fund raised $1.8bn,twice as much as its last—are thriv-ing.Chinese founders have coveted attention from foreign funds,seen as the best route to listing on American exchanges and keener than Chinese counterparts to back ideas that take longer to make money.
考研同源外刊《经济学人》最常用600个词汇（下） 401、Final goods最终产品 旨在最终使用而非转卖或进一步加工的商品。(参见"中间产品"，intermediate goods) 402、Financial economics金融经济学 经济学的一个分支。分析理性投资者如何通过最有效的方式使用资金和进行投资以期达到目标。 403、Financial intermediary金融中介 接受储蓄存款并将其出借给借款者的机构。包括存款机构(如商业银行和储蓄银行)和非存款机构(如货币市场共同基金、经纪人商行、保险公司或养老基金)。 404、Firm(business firm)厂商 (企业)经济体系中基本的私人生产单位。它雇用劳动，购买其他投入品，以制造和销售商品。 405、Fiscal-monetary mix财政-货币政策组合 用以干预宏观经济活动的财政政策和货币政策的组合。紧缩的货币政策和宽松的财政政策，倾向于鼓励消费和抑制投资。而宽松的货币政策和紧缩的财政政策，则具有相反的功效。 406、Fiscal policy财政政策 一种政府计划。内容包括：(1)商品和服务的购买及转移支付等支出；(2)税收的数量和种类。 407、Fiscal cost固定成本 见固定成本(cost，fixed)。 408、Fixed exchange rate固定汇率
见外汇汇率(foreign exchangs rate)。 409、Flexible exchange rates弹性汇率制 一种国际汇率制度。在该制度条件下，汇率主要由市场力量(即供给和需求)决定，政府不设定及维持某种特定的汇率。有时也称作"浮动汇率制"(floating exchange rates)。当政府对外汇市场不加干预时，该制度称为纯粹的浮动汇率制。 410、Floating exchange rates浮动汇率制 见弹性汇率制(flexible exchange rates)。 411、Flow vs stock流量与存量 流量是指，带有时间跨度或曰在一个时段上所累积变动的量(好比通过一个河段的水流)。存量则指，在某一个时点上某一变量的量值(如同湖中所盛的水)。收人代表每一年的美元流入数，因此是一个流量。而到1998年12月为止某人的财富则是一个存量。 412、Foreign exchange外汇 各国用以偿付对他国所欠债务的通货(或其他金融票据)。 413、Foreign exchange market外汇市场 不同国家的通货进行交易的市场。 414、Foreign exchange rate外汇汇率 一国通货与他国通货的交换比率或曰价格。例如，如果你可以用1美元购买19德国马克，那么马克的汇率就是19。如果一国通货钉住某一汇率水平，并准备随时捍卫这一汇率，则称该国实行的是固定汇率制(fixed ex-change rate)。而由市场供求力量来决定的汇率称为弹性汇率制(flexible exchange rates)。 415、Fourfirm concentration rate四企业集中度 见集中度(concentration ratio)。 416、Fractional-reserve banking部分准备金 银行制度现代银行体系的一种管制形式。依法要求有关金融机构将其所吸收的存款
Autism? 自闭症 Why it's not “Rain Woman”? 为什么它不是“雨女” Women have fewer cognitive disorders than men do because their bodies are better at ignoring the mutations which cause them? 与男性相比，患有认知障碍的女性较少，因为她们自身的身体能更好的忽略导致认知障碍的基因突变 AUTISM is a strange condition. Sometimes its symptoms of “social blindness”(an inability to read or comprehend the emotions of others) occur alone. This is dubbed high-functioning autism, or Asperger's syndrome. Though their fellow men and women may regard them as a bit odd, high-functioning autists are often successful (sometimes very successful) members of society. On other occasions, though, autism manifests as part of a range of cognitive problems. Then, the condition is debilitating. What is common to those on all parts of the so-called autistic spectrum is that they are more often men than women —so much more often that one school of thought suggests autism is an extreme manifestation of what it means, mentally, to be male. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls are. For high-functioning autism, the ratio is seven to one.?
Free exchange 自由交易 The digital proletariat 数字无产阶级（无产阶级，不占有生产资料的阶级，这里意思我们产生数据，却无偿的交由互联网公司使用） 导读： Economists propose a radical solution to the problems posed byartificial intelligence 经济学家提出了一个彻底解决人工智能相关问题的方法。 正文： YOUhave multiple jobs, whetheryouknowitornot. 不管你有没有意识到，你身上都有多种生意。 Most begin first thing in the morning, when you pick up your phoneand begin generatingthe data thatmake up Silicon Valley’smost importantresource. 大多数生意在早晨开始，你拿起手机时就开始产生了数据。这些数据组成了硅谷最重要的资源 That, atleast, ishowwe oughtto think aboutthe role ofdata-creation in the economy, according to a fascinating new economics paper. 至少，这就是我们应该思考的：数据创造在经济里扮演怎样的角色，这是根据一篇很有吸引力的新经济文章提到的。
We are all digital labourers, helpingmake possible the fortunes generated by firms like Google andFacebook, the authors argue. 其中作者认为，我们就是所有数字的劳工，帮助像谷歌和脸书这样的公司创造财富。（fortunes命运，幸运，富有）Ifthe economy is to function properlyin the future—and ifa crisisoftechnological unemployment isto be avoided—we musttake accountofthis, and change the relationship between biginternetcompaniesand theirusers. 在未来经济运转良好的情况下，如果想要避免工业发展带来的失业危机，我们必须着眼于这件事情，并且改变大型互联网公司和他们用户之间的关系。 Artificial intelligence (AI) is getting better all the time, and stands poised totransform a host of industries, say the authors 作者说，人工智能势头一直越来越好，势必（准备）改变一大批工业。 But, in orderto learn to drive a carorrecognize a face, the algorithmsthatmake clever machines tick（滴答，拟声词，表示机器运作）mustusuallybe trained on massive amountsofdata. 但是，为了做到自动驾驶和人脸识别（主语是AI），使智能机器运作的法则必须经常用非常大量的数据进行测试。Internetfirms gather these data from users every time they click on aGoogle search result, say, orissue a command to Alexa.
The Brain Activity Map 绘制大脑活动地图 Hard cell 棘手的细胞 An ambitious project to map the brain is in the works. Possibly too ambitious 一个绘制大脑活动地图的宏伟计划正在准备当中，或许有些太宏伟了 NEWS of what protagonists hope will be America’s next big science project continues to dribble out. 有关其发起人心中下一个科学大工程的新闻报道层出不穷。 A leak to the New York Times, published on February 17th, let the cat out of the bag, with a report that Barack Obama’s administration is thinking of sponsoring what will be known as the Brain Activity Map. 2月17日，《纽约时报》刊登的一位线人报告终于泄露了秘密，报告称奥巴马政府正在考虑赞助将被称为“大脑活动地图”的计划。 And on March 7th several of those protagonists published a manifesto for the project in Science. 3月7日，部分发起人在《科学》杂志上发表声明证实了这一计划。 The purpose of BAM is to change the scale at which the brain is understood. “大脑活动地图”计划的目标是改变人们在认知大脑时采用的度量方法。 At the moment, neuroscience operates at two disconnected levels. 眼下，神经学的研究处在两个断开的层次。 The higher one, where the dimensions of features are measured in centimetres, has many techniques at its disposal, notably functional magnetic-res onance imaging, which measures changes in tissues’ fuel consumption. 在相对宏观的层次当中各个特征的规模用厘米来衡量，有很多技术可以使用，尤其是用来测量组织中能量消耗变动情况的核磁共振成像技术。 This lets researchers see which bits of the brain are active in particular tasks—as long as those tasks can be performed by a person lying down inside a scanner. 该技术可使研究人员找出在完成具体的任务时，大脑的哪些部分处于活跃状态。At the other end of the scale, where features are measured in microns, lots of research has been done on how individual nerve cells work, how messages are sent from one to another, and how the connections between cells strengthen and weaken as memories are formed. 而另一个度量的层次则要求用微米来测量各种特征，这一层次的研究很多都是关于单个神经细胞是如何工作的、信息在神经细胞之间是如何传递的以及当产生记忆的时候神经细胞之间的联系是如何得到加强和减弱的。 Between these two, though, all is darkness. 然而，位于这两个层次之间的研究还处于一片漆黑当中。 It is like trying to navigate America with an atlas that shows the states, the big cities and the main highways, and has a few street maps of local neighbourhoods, but displays nothing in between.
18Bitcoin’s future比特币的未来 Hidden flipside另一面；反面隐藏的另一面 How the crypto-currency could become the internet of money 加密货币是怎样变成互联网货币的 Mar 15th 2014 | From the print edition Bitcoin: the original 比特币的由来 1.THE father has been found in time for 及时赶上his child’s funeral. That would appear to be 似乎是，仿佛，显示为the sorry 遗憾的state of affairs 事态，状态，情况好坏in the land of Bitcoin, a crypto-currency, if recent press coverage 新闻报道is to be believed. On March 6th Newsweek新闻周刊（美国一杂志）reported that it had足迹，踪迹tracked down 追踪Satoshi Nakamoto,中本聪Bitcoin’s elusive [?'l(j)u?s?v]难以捉摸的creator. And on March 11th Mt Gox, the Japanese online exchange 交易所，交换，交流，兑换that had long dominated控制；支配；占优势；在…中占主要地位the trade in the currency before losing $490m of customers’Bitcoins at today’s prices, once more再一次，重新filed 提出for 再一次申请bankruptcy protection, this time in America. “父亲奔赴孩子的葬礼。”如果最近的新闻报道属实的话，那似乎会是比特币领域很遗憾的情况。3月6日，据《新闻周刊》报道，业已追踪到比特币发明人中本聪的踪迹，此人难以捉摸。日本的在线交易所Mt Gox长期以来一直是比特币行业的佼佼者，而如今，这一平台4.9亿客户的比特币被盗，于是，3月11日Mt Gox又在向美国申请破产保护。 2.In reality, things are rather different. Evidence证据，证明；迹象；明显is mounting 增加；爬上that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto, whom Newsweek identified as Bitcoin’s father, is not the relevant Satoshi. More importantly, Bitcoin’s best days 得意时代；全盛时代may still be ahead of优于，超过it—if not as a fully fledged成熟的；快会飞的；羽毛丰满的currency, then as a platform for financial innovation金融创新. Much as虽然，尽管（表让步）；非常像，和…几乎一样the internet is a foundation for digital services数字化服务, the technology behind Bitcoin could support a revolution革命in the way people own and pay for things. Geeks极客，专业人士of all sorts各种各样的are getting excited—including a growing number of 越来越多的venture capitalists,风险投资家，风险资本家who know a new platform when they see one. 事实上，一切都是迥然不同的。不断增加的证据表明《新闻周刊》的报道是错的，多利安-蒲伦蒂斯-中本聪(Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto)和比特币之父中本聪并不是同一个人。更重要的是，如果比特币没有作为一种完全成熟的货币，而是作为金融创新的平台，那么达到比特币的全盛时代依然任重而道远。如同互联网是数字化服务的基石一样，比特币背后的科技可以引领一场革命，而这场革命可以改变买方和卖方的交易方式。各路极客们都异常兴奋，其中不乏渐多大批风险资本家，一旦一个新平台出现，这些人就会对其了如指掌。 3.To understand the enthusiasm in this modern currency, it helps to think about a very old one. Until the early 20th century the people on Yap,[j?p]雅浦岛an island in the Pacific Ocean,太平洋used large stone disks 圆盘，磁盘(pictured) as money货币，钱，钱币for big expenses, 开支；消费；损失，代价such as a daughter’s dowry.嫁妆，陪嫁，天资Being very heavy, they were rarely 很少地；难得；罕有地moved when spent. Instead, they simply changed owners. Every
Disney Star Wars, Disney and myth-making How one company came to master the business of storytelling FROM a galaxy far, far away to a cinema just down the road: “The Force Awakens”, the newest instalment of the Star Wars saga, is inescapable this Christmas. The first Star Wars title since Lucasfilm, the owner of the franchise, was acquired by Disney in 2012 for $4.1 billion, it represents more than just the revival of a beloved science-fiction series. It is the latest example of the way Disney has prospered over the past decade from a series of shrewd acquisitions (see article). Having bought Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, Disney has skilfullycapitalised on their intellectual property—and in so doing, cemented its position as the market leader in the industrialisation of mythology. Its success rests on its mastery of the three elements of modern myth-making: tropes, technology and toys. From Homer to Han Solo Start with the tropes. Disney properties, which include everything from “Thor” to “Toy Story”, draw on well-worn devices of mythic structure to give their stories cultural resonance. Walt Disney himself had an intuitive grasp of the power of fables. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, is an avid student of the work of Joseph Campbell, an American comparative mythologist who outlined the “monomyth” structure in which a hero answers a call, is assisted by a mentor figure, voyages to another world, survives various trials and emerges triumphant. Both film-makers merrily plundered ancient mythology and folklore. The Marvel universe goes even further, directly appropriating chunks of Greco-Roman and Norse mythology. (This makes Disney's enthusiasm for fierce enforcement of intellectual-property laws, and the seemingly perpetual extension of copyright, somewhat ironic.) The internal mechanics of myths may not have changed much over the ages, but the technology used to impart them certainly has. That highlights Disney's second area of expertise. In Homer's day, legends were passed on in the form of dactylic hexameters; modern myth-makers prefer computer graphics, special effects, 3D projection, surround sound and internet video distribution,
What went wrong IN RECENT months many economists and policymakers, including such unlikely bedfellows as Paul Krugman, an economist and New York Times columnist, and Hank Paulson, a former American treasury secretary, have put “global imbalances”—the huge current-account surpluses run by countries like China, alongside America’s huge deficit—at the root of the financial crisis. But the IMF disagrees. It argues, in new papers released on Friday March 6th, that the “main culprit” was deficient regulation of t he financial system, together with a failure of market discipline. Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, said this week that global imbalances contributed only “indirectly” to the crisis. This may sound like buck-passing by the world’s main interna tional macroeconomic organisation. But the distinction has important consequences for whether macroeconomic policy or more regulation of financial markets will provide the solutions to the mess. In broad strokes, the global imbalances view of the crisis argues that a glut of money from countries with high savings rates, such as China and the oil-producing states, came flooding into America. This kept interest rates low and fuelled the credit boom and the related boom in the prices of assets, such as houses and equity, whose collapse precipitated the financial crisis. A workable long-term fix for the problems of the world economy would, therefore, involve figuring out what to do about these imbalances. But the IMF argues that imbalances could not have caused the crisis without the creative ability of financial institutions to develop new structures and instruments to cater to investors’ demand for higher yields. These instruments turned out to be more risky than they appeared. Investors, overly optimistic about continued rises in asset prices, did not look closely into the nature of the assets that they bought, preferring to rely on the analysis of credit-rating agencies which were, in some cases, also selling advice on how to game the ratings system. This “failure of market discipline”, the fund argues, played a big role in the crisis. As big a problem, according to the IMF, was that financial regulation was flawed, ineffective and too limited in scope. What it calls the “shadow banking system”—the loosely regulated but highly interconnected network of investment banks, hedge funds, mortgage originators, and the like—was not subject to the sorts of prudential regulation (capital-adequacy norms, for example) that applied to banks. In part, the fund argues, this was because they were not thought to be systemically important, in the sense that banks were understood to be. But their being unregulated made it more attractive for banks (whose affiliates the non-banks often were) to evade capital requirements by pushing risk into these entities. In time, this network of institutions grew so large that they were indeed systemically important: in the now-familiar phrase, they were “too big” or “too interconnected” to fail. By late 2007, some estimates of the assets of the bank-like institutions in America outside the scope of existing prudential regulation, was around $10 trillion, as large as the assets of the regulated American banking system itself. Given this interpretation, it is not surprising that the IMF has thrown its weight strongly behind an enormous increase in the scale and scope of financial regulation in a series of papers leading up to the G20 meetings. Among many other proposals, it wants the shadow banking system to be subjected to the same sorts of prudential requirements that banks must follow. Sensibly, it is calling for regulation to concentrate on what an institution does, not what it is called (that is, the basis of regulation should be activities, not entities). It also wants regulators to focus more broadly on