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As everything from tooth brushes to tractors grows more connected, the phenomenon is spreading to other industries.
現在，從牙刷到拖拉機都充滿了連接，這個現象已經擴展到了其他領域。
The latest iterations gather mounds of data, analyse them and serve up the results, thus enabling all kinds of digital offerings, from predicting failures to giving advice.
電子產品不斷更新迭代聚集了大量數據，分析后再將結果上傳，那么從預測失敗到給出建議它都做得到。
One example of such a data platform is Nest, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s holding company.
數據平臺的一個典型例子就是Nest，谷歌母公司Alphabet的子公司。
It sells devices, such as wireless thermostats and smoke detectors, which double as vehicles to collect information, allowing the company to offer tailored energy and security services.
它的主要產品是像無線恒溫器和煙霧探測器之類的電子設備，這些設備同時也是信息收集工具，以便公司在信息的基礎上為用戶提供量身定做的能源及安保服務。
This trend alarms non-tech firms.
這個趨勢警醒了非科技類公司。
They fret that if the likes of Apple and Google come to control such data platforms, these new intermediaries will seize a big chunk of their profits.
他們擔心蘋果和谷歌這類科技公司控制了作為中介的數據平臺，他們一大部分利潤將會被瓜分掉。
This fear has sparked a rush to build or buy such systems.
這種恐慌激起了一股系統購買潮。
Last year car-makers Audi, BMW and Daimler acquired Here, a digital-mapping firm.
去年，汽車制造商奧迪，寶馬和戴姆勒收購了Here，這是一家地圖系統平臺公司。
General Electric, an American conglomerate, is betting big on Predix, which helps customers improve how they run locomotives, jet engines and other gear.
美國企業集團通用電氣對Predix壓下巨注，幫助客戶的機車，噴氣引擎及其他裝置跑得更好。
Apollo Hospitals in India is creating a marketplace for health-care services.
印度的阿波羅醫院為保健服務開創了一片市場。
Many more established companies are sure to follow suit, as are thousands of startups.
很多大公司對此都如法炮制，創業公司亦是如此。
But before they tread this path, they should consider a few caveats.
但在他們涉足前，還是要考慮一些注意事項。
First, most products and services are not substantial enough to make a good platform.
首先，大部分產品和服務都沒有大到能撐起一個平臺的量。
And even if they are, it is not always a good idea to turn them into one, says Ms Gawer, who is co-authoring a book to debunk myths about the concept.
正與人合著一本揭示平臺概念的書的加威爾女士表示，即使他們足夠大，轉型為平臺也并不一定是一個很好的選擇。
The late Steve Jobs, for instance, long resisted opening Apple’s app store to others for fear of losing control.
例如，已故的喬布斯就因為擔心失控而一直抵觸開放蘋果應用商店。
Second, network effects often fizzle.
其次，網絡效應往往虎頭蛇尾。
All sides of an online marketplace have to be nurtured in parallel to avoid imbalances, such as having far more sellers than buyers.
在線市場的方方面面一定要平行發展才能避免出現例如賣家遠遠超過買家的不平衡的場面。
During the dotcom bubble most business-to-business marketplaces failed because their pursuit of growth led to such lopsidedness.
在互聯網泡沫時代，大部分B2B電子商務的失敗就是因為單方面追求增長而導致失衡。
Even firms that had a head start, such as MySpace and Nokia, a social network and a mobile-phone maker respectively, didn’t manage to turn them- selves into fully fledged platforms.
即使像社交網絡我的空間和手機制造商諾基亞這樣有先發優勢的公司，也沒有成長為一個成熟完整的平臺。
Most successful ones are the product of specific circumstances and even chance, reckons Peter Evans of CGE.
法國通用電氣公司的皮特·埃文斯回想，其實成功的平臺都是某些特定環境和均等機會下的產物。
Amazon, for example, took off in part because its customers did not have to pay sales tax if they were outside the firm’s home state, Washington.
例如亞馬遜，能夠迅速取得成功的而部分原因就是因為如果用戶本人不在公司所在地華盛頓購物，通過其平臺購買就不用繳付營業稅。
Third, it is not always easy to make money from platforms.
再次，通過平臺賺錢并不容易。
Misjudge how much to charge each group of customers, and the flywheel can come to a juddering halt.
對不同客戶群的定價策略判斷失誤，利潤的飛輪就戛然而止了。
What is more, for a platform to make good money, switching to a rival has to be costly, argues Andrei Hagiu of Harvard Business School.
更何況哈佛商學院的安德烈·哈邱也表示，平臺要賺很多錢的話，競爭戰非常消耗成本。
This risk even hangs over Uber, the fast-expanding taxi-hailing service: using a competitor is easy for both passengers and drivers.
這種風險也困擾著擴張最迅速的租車服務公司Uber：無論對于司機還是乘客來說，轉換到其競爭對手門下極其容易。
Platforms with a leg in the physical world are likely to take more time to emerge than the purely digitalsort.
較純數字平臺而言，立足于現實的平臺想獲得生存的話，很可能需要付出更多的時間。
And firms have some alternatives: those with outstanding products and a strong brand can try to forgo others’ platforms, hoping that they succeed on their own.
公司也不是沒有選擇：產品出眾且品牌能力強的公司，即使不依靠平臺也可以憑借自身成功。
But ultimately most firms will have no choice but to do business on somebody else’s digital property, and to agitate for better terms if the owner gets too greedy.
但最終大多數公司都沒得選擇，只能和其他人的數字資產交易，并且在資產所有者太過貪婪時焦慮的爭取更好的交易條款。
Call it the class struggle of platform capitalism.
我們姑且稱之為平臺資本主義的階級斗爭好了。
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