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Business: Schumpeter: The emporium strikes back
商業(yè)：熊彼德：百貨商場的逆襲
Platforms are the future—but not for everyone.
平臺才是未來——但因人而異。
“Interesting thesis, but don’t use the word ‘platform’ in the title. No one knows what it means.”
“論題很有意思，但是標(biāo)題里不要加 ‘平臺’ 這個詞，沒人明白那是什么意思。”
That was the reaction of a professor at MIT in 2000 upon reading the dissertation of Annabelle Gawer, now co-director of the Centre for Digital Economy at the University of Surrey.
這是2000年，一位麻省理工的教授在讀現(xiàn)任薩里大學(xué)數(shù)字化經(jīng)濟(jì)中心聯(lián)席主任安娜貝爾·加威爾的研究論文時候的反應(yīng)。
She ignored the advice and kept the title.
加威爾沒有理會這條建議，在標(biāo)題中保留了這個詞。
If anyone were to counsel Ms Gawer against using the word today, it would be for the opposite reason: overuse.
如果今天再有人勸加威爾女士不要使用 “平臺” 這個詞，那一定是出于相反的理由：這個詞已經(jīng)被用濫了。
Academic papers on the concept are now legion.
關(guān)于這個概念的學(xué)術(shù)論文不勝枚舉。
Books are multiplying, too: after “Platform Revolution” in March, this month will see the release of “Matchmakers” (with the p-word in the subtitle) .
相關(guān)書籍的數(shù)量也成倍增長：在三月份的 “平臺革命” 后，即將迎來這個月 “中介” 概念的爆發(fā) (副標(biāo)題里有 “專業(yè)的” 這個詞)。
Rare is the startup that does not want to be a platform.
很少有創(chuàng)業(yè)公司不想搭建平臺。
A rapidly growing number of incumbent firms, too, are striving to build platforms.
與此同時，越來越多的在位企業(yè)也在加入這個行列。
Yet the professor’s problem remains pertinent: confusion still reigns over what exactly platforms are.
但麻省理工那位教授提出的問題依然適用：平臺究竟是什么，人們對此還是一頭霧水。
And this, combined with the hype, hides the fact that they are not for everyone.
這些疑惑再加上媒體天花亂墜的報(bào)導(dǎo)掩蓋了真相：平臺的戰(zhàn)略并非適合所有人。
Broadly defined, platforms are a type of market place where people and businesses trade under a set of rules set by the owner or operator.
廣義上來講，平臺即用戶及商業(yè)機(jī)構(gòu)在業(yè)主或經(jīng)營者建立的規(guī)則范圍內(nèi)進(jìn)行交易的市場。
Among the first were the emporiums in ancient Greece, designated places near docks where traders could exchange merchandise.
平臺的最初形態(tài)即古希臘港口邊指定場所的商業(yè)中心，在這里商人們可以交換貨物。
More recently, digitisation and the internet have given rise to a new type that is both marketplace and shared base.
最近，隨著數(shù)字化與互聯(lián)網(wǎng)的發(fā)展而興起了基于商業(yè)和共享的新型平臺。
Operating systems are an example, such as Windows for personal computers and Android for smartphones.
操作系統(tǒng)就是一個很好的例子，比如個人電腦上的 “視窗” 操作系統(tǒng)以及智能手機(jī)上的安卓系統(tǒng)。
These programs provide basic services that applications developed by others need to run.
這些程序提供的基礎(chǔ)服務(wù)使他人開發(fā)的應(yīng)用得以運(yùn)行。
Another version is e-commerce sites, including Amazon and eBay, which connect sellers and buyers (hence the title “Matchmakers” ) .
另一個例子是包括亞馬遜和易貝等電商網(wǎng)站，他們提供的平臺就將買家和賣家連結(jié)起來 (所以才叫 “中介” )。
Social networks, too, are platforms: they bring together consumers, advertisers and software developers.
社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)也是平臺，他們將客戶/廣告商/軟件開發(fā)商連結(jié)起來。
These modern platforms have three things in common.
現(xiàn)代的平臺有三個共同點(diǎn)。
They are “multi-sided”, meaning they have more than one group of customers.
“多邊性”，這意味著多個客戶群。
They exhibit strong “network effects” : a growing group of one sort of customer attracts more of the other, which again draws in more of the first and so on.
“強(qiáng)大的網(wǎng)絡(luò)效應(yīng)” : 某類客戶群的增長會吸引更多的使用者，以此類推形成正反饋。
And they are controlled by one company, which can dictate the terms of trade, such as what type of businesses are allowed on its digital property and what they have to pay for the privilege.
這些平臺都受制于某個公司，公司規(guī)定了貿(mào)易條款，比如自身的數(shù)字資產(chǎn)將決定何種商業(yè)類型會被允許以及搭建平臺所需的代價。
Such features have allowed American companies in particular to build global digital emporiums that have come to dominate the technology industry.
這樣的特征尤其有利于美國的公司構(gòu)建全球性的數(shù)字化貿(mào)易市場，由此支配科技領(lǐng)域。
In late 2015 the 44 platform firms based in Silicon Valley alone boasted a combined market capitalisation of $2.2 trillion, according to the Centre for Global Enterprise (CGE) , a think-tank.
根據(jù)全球企業(yè)中心智庫表示，2015年中僅憑44家硅谷的平臺公司就霸踞了2.2萬億美金的資本市場。
Among them, Apple’s iPhone exemplifies best how to run a platform: anybody can write an app, but it has to pass strict tests and the firm keeps 30% of all sales.
其中，蘋果公司的Iphone就是平臺運(yùn)作的典型：任何人都可以在上面編寫應(yīng)用，但是需要通過平臺嚴(yán)格的審查并且切分掉30%的銷售收入。
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