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Apple
蘋果
Frictionless fruit
一體化產品
Convenience is the technology giant's latest weapon
便捷性成了這位科技巨頭的最新武器
Cooking up a better Apple ecosystem
庫克讓蘋果的生態系統提升了一個層次
AN APPLE launch that has an audience of thousands clapping and whooping? Must be a new iPhone, surely, or the long-awaited iWatch? The truth may sound dull, but it matters as much as any fancy new gadget. What Apple's boss, Tim Cook, presented on June 2nd, at the company's annual conference for software developers in San Francisco, were upgraded operating systems, one for its Mac desktops and laptops and another for its mobile devices, plus a new programming language. These, combined with other moves to nurture the Apple “ecosystem”, should make its offerings even more attractive to both developers and consumers—and even more formidable to its rivals.
這次蘋果發布的產品引起了觀眾的歡呼雀躍嗎？這次發布的肯定是一款新的iPhone，或是那期盼已久的iWatch吧？雖然發布會真正的內容或許聽來無趣，但它在蘋果發展戰略中的地位不亞于一款華麗的新產品。本月2號，每年一度在三藩市舉行的蘋果軟件開發者發布會上，蘋果的老總蒂姆·庫克向世界展示了最新升級的操作系統，其中包括一套臺式和筆記本電腦的新系統，還有另外一套移動設備所使用的新系統，同時還推介了一套全新的編程語言。與其他共同構成蘋果生態系統內容的結合之下，無論是站在開發者還是消費者的角度來看，新一代的操作系統都將會令公司的產品變得更有吸引力，甚至還能在同行業的競爭里進一步拉開差距。
Apple's pitch is greater convenience, in at least three ways. First, the operating systems, OS X Yosemite for Macs and iOS 8 for mobiles, will do more than improve on the current versions when they are released in the autumn.They will allow devices to work together seamlessly. An e-mail started on an iPhone or iPad can be finished on the desktop. If your iPhone rings, you will be able to take the call on your Mac—in effect, using it as a speakerphone.
至少從三個方面我們可以看出，本次蘋果的戰略中心在于提供更好的產品便捷性。首先是新的兩大操作系統，當中包括電腦使用的OS X Yosemite以及移動設備所使用的iOS 8。而今年秋季這兩大新系統正式發布時，人們將會看到這次的升級不僅僅是新系統在現有系統的基礎上進行提升。新系統能夠讓所有的蘋果產品進行無縫對接。例如，一封郵件的編輯可以從iPhone或者iPad上開始，并且能夠轉移到臺式電腦里完成。如果你的iPhone響起了電話鈴聲，那你能夠在自己的電腦里接聽這通電話—實際上就相當于把電腦作為揚聲電話來使用。
Apple is not the first to make such a promise. When Microsoft launched its Windows 8 system in the autumn of 2012, its big idea was to provide the same experience on all types of device, from desktop to mobile. Yet few have bothered to buy Windows smartphones or tablets, or personal computers with Windows 8. “Microsoft have all the pieces,” says Carolina Milanesi of Kantar WorldPanel, a research firm, “but they haven't pulled it all together.”
蘋果并不是首家做出這種承諾的公司。例如，微軟在2012年秋季Windows 8操作系統發布會舉行之時，就已經將這樣的一個設想呈現了出來：一個能夠連接從電腦到移動設備所有類型產品，提供一體化體驗的操作系統。然而，只有很少一部分人不厭其煩地購買了配有Windows系統的智能手機或平板電腦，或是配備Windows 8系統的個人電腦。來自調查公司Kantar WorldPanel的Carolina Milanesi表示，“微軟已經擁有全部所需的設備，但他們并沒有將其整合到一塊。”
Not only does Apple promise friction-free computing; it has customers who are likely to use it. They upgrade eagerly, either by buying new gear or by installing new software on old stuff. Mr Cook boasted at the conference that 89% of Apple's mobile devices were on iOS 7 and 51% of Macs on OS X Mavericks, the current incarnations. In comparison, he gloated, only 14% of Windows personal computers were on Windows 8. And a mere 9% of mobile devices with Google's Android operating system had the latest variant.
蘋果不僅對外承諾了一體化操作的更新，而且該品牌的顧客們也愿意去使用新系統。無論是購買新設備，還是在原有設備上更新軟件，這些“果粉”永遠渴望著更新換代。發布會當中，庫克先生夸口稱在目前使用的最新一代系統普及率方面，移動設備的iOS 7版本達到了89%，而電腦設備的OS X Mavericks則達到了51%。隨后他得意地表示，相比之下，微軟最新的系統Win 8在個人電腦市場普及率僅為14%，然而谷歌公司的安卓系統在移動設備市場的更新普及率也僅有9%。
Apple's second move towards greater convenience is to loosen some of its tight restrictions on developers. They will be allowed to bundle apps for sale at a discount in Apple's store, to show video previews and to invite users to test beta versions. Apple will also allow third-party apps—for example, ones that apply fancy effects to photos—to be embedded in its own apps.
蘋果第二項優化便捷性的措施，在于放寬以前對開發者的部分嚴格限制。開發者們即將能夠將不同的應用在蘋果商店中進行捆綁折扣銷售，能夠給用戶們播放前瞻視頻，以及能夠邀請用戶下載測試版本的應用。蘋果還會允許第三方應用（例如，一款能將特殊效果加到照片上的軟件）嵌入蘋果自己的應用當中。
The new programming language, Swift, will make it easier to write apps. Thanks to all this, programmers should be even keener to write them for iOS 8 first, before they turn to Android's many versions or to Windows. A fuller app store is in turn a bigger draw for consumers.
全新的編程語言Swift能夠使開發者更容易創造新的軟件應用。多虧了這一點，編程人員應該會更愿意先為iOS 8系統開發軟件應用，而不是轉向安卓系統里為數眾多的不同版本，或者是投向Windows系統。一個貨架上商品琳瑯滿目蘋果商店，相應地會對消費者們產生更大的吸引。
The third convenience-boosting move is to simplify the growing mishmash of applications in two fields: health and the home. Apple plans to bring a lot of third-party health apps under a common platform, HealthKit, so that a blood-pressure reading from one app, say, might trigger an alert from another that prompts a call from the doctor. Likewise, HomeKit will bring together diverse apps for stuff around the house: at bedtime, a verbal instruction to an iPhone may lock the doors and dim the lights.
第三項優化是關于簡化日益雜亂的健康管理和家庭管理應用。蘋果計劃將大量的第三方健康管理應用都收攏到一個通用的平臺下，名為HealthKit。比方說，由于該平臺的整合作用，其中某個應用測量出的血壓讀數，或許能夠在另一個應用引起健康警報，進而通知醫生打電話過來了解情況。同樣地，應用平臺HomeKit能夠將繁雜的同類家庭管理應用整合起來：在睡覺時間，通過iPhone發出語音指令或許能夠直接鎖門以及調暗燈光。
Apple hopes that the sheer ease of having several interconnected apps in one place will bind people to its ecosystem of devices and software. People will still be able to switch to other devices, and take their data with them, but the fiddliness of changing over may keep them loyal. What may be more likely to put them off is who might get to see all their assiduously compiled data, especially about their health, a concern Apple sought to allay this week.
蘋果希望通過整合相互聯系的應用而達到極端便利體驗，能夠整合人們的生活，令他們與蘋果的軟件硬件生態系統緊密相連。人們依舊可以選擇別家的設備，并且能夠帶走他們留在舊設備當中的數據，但或許正是因為這樣便捷的轉變方式，蘋果能夠一直保持客戶們的忠誠。另外一個更有可能阻礙人們使用這樣的應用平臺的因素，是信息安全問題。人們擔心自己的每天辛苦記錄的資料可能會被其他人獲取，尤其是用戶的健康信息。而這正是一個在本周蘋果極力想要向用戶們緩解的一個擔憂。
Although Microsoft's new boss, Satya Nadella, is bursting with bright ideas about a “mobile first, cloud first” world, the firm has a lot of catching up to do. As for makers of Android devices, they lack Apple's control over the operating system and the app store. The biggest of them, Samsung, plans to sell a smartphone based on its own operating system, Tizen—probably as a hedge against reliance on Google. “This is something only Apple can do,” purred Mr Cook this week. For now, he is right.
雖然微軟的新老總Satya Nadella正想極力推動一堆充斥著腦海的好點子，有關創建“移動和云優先”世界的好點子，但公司還有許多方面需要努力迎頭趕上。至于安卓設備的制造商們，他們所欠缺的是蘋果公司的控制力——對操作系統以及應用商店的控制力。安卓陣營里規模最大的三星，正準備發售搭載了自家操作系統Tizen的智能手機——或許以此擺脫對谷歌安卓系統的依賴。本周，庫克先生興奮地說道：“這是只有蘋果才能完成的事業。”而暫時來說，他說得很對。
