引言：“未來世界即將迎來‘OMO’（Online-Merge-Offline線上與線下融合）的時代，而中國的發(fā)展速度相當驚人，將有望在全球范圍內(nèi)首先實現(xiàn)OMO。”本文為李開復在《經(jīng)濟學人(The Economist)》雜志的The World in 2018特輯上發(fā)表的專欄文章，結(jié)合出行、零售、教育等多個領(lǐng)域，描述OMO給生活帶來的改變。
Meet OMO sapiens
Two years ago, the morning view from my office in northern Beijing was a snaking[1] traffic jam of cars. Today I look down to see a rush of orange and yellow bicycles, as commuters have leapt onto the "smart" bicycles that are reshaping rush hour in China's busiest cities.
兩年前，早上當我從北京的辦公室里往下看，看到的是車水馬龍，擁堵非常嚴重。而今天我再往下看的時候，卻是來去匆匆的橘黃色自行車，這就是現(xiàn)在的上班族騎的“智能”自行車。如今，“智能”自行車正在悄悄改變中國繁華城區(qū)早晚高峰時的景象。
[1]snaking由snake一詞演變而來，表示“蛇形的”，是不是很形象？!可以說“The snaking track might take up acres and acres of rich land.”。與snake有關(guān)的短語有“snake its way”，表示“蜿蜒行進，彎曲延伸”，英文解釋是“Something that?snakes?its?way?moves?or is?arranged?in a?twisting?way”。比如“長長的隊伍排到樓下后又一直延伸到了街上。”就可以這樣說：“A long queue had formed, snaking its way downstairs and out into the street.”
In less than a year Mobike (in which my venture fund invested) has reached 25m rides per day. That illustrates another force that will be vastly more transformative in 2018: the boundaries between the online and offline worlds are being erased.
“智能”自行車的代表品牌——摩拜單車，是創(chuàng)新工場所投資的一家企業(yè)，它在不到一年的時間里實現(xiàn)了每天2500萬的騎行量。這些都在顯示，2018年我們將迎來一場有力的變革：線上與線下的界限被消除。
These bikes are not the rusty clunkers[2] you may have seen in old black-and-white photos of China's capital. They are equipped with solar-powered GPS, accelerator, Bluetooth and a thermos detector. Both NFC (near-field communications) and microphones are activated by smartphone. To sign up to ride, you make a digital payment from your phone, and the bike's smart lock automatically opens.
這些單車并不是北京早期黑白照片中那些生銹破舊的自行車，而是裝上了太陽能全球定位系統(tǒng)、加速器、藍牙和測溫計的智能體。用戶通過智能手機，就能激活車上的近場通訊和麥克風。注冊騎行也很簡單，用手機支付押金后，摩拜單車上的智能鎖就會自動打開。
[2]clunkers有兩個意思。其一表示“破舊的汽車[機器]”，英文解釋為“an old car or other machine that does not work well”；其二表示“徹底的失?。缓翢o價值的東西”，英文解釋“something that is completely unsuccessful because people think it is stupid or wrong”。
As you cycle around the city, the various sensors transmit your moving co-ordinates[3] and other data to a cloud-based server. Each day, millions of cyclists peddling around Chinese megacities generate 20 terabytes of data, which feed back into Mobike's cloud servers—connecting people, bikes, roads and destinations as one of the world's largest "internet of things" networks. Mobike's servers use artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse traffic patterns and to balance supply and demand, maximising usage and alerting the company to any problems.
在騎行過程中，各種傳感器會把用戶的移動坐標和其他數(shù)據(jù)傳輸?shù)?i>云計算服務器。每天，中國大城市的數(shù)百萬摩拜單車會產(chǎn)生20T的數(shù)據(jù)，并反饋到云服務器上，從而將人、自行車、道路和目的地連接起來，構(gòu)成了全球最大的“物聯(lián)網(wǎng)”網(wǎng)絡。摩拜單車服務器采用人工智能來分析交通狀況并平衡供需關(guān)系，從而實現(xiàn)效率最大化。
[3]coordinates：The?coordinates?of a point on a map or graph are the two sets of numbers or letters that you need in order to find that point. 坐標
Can you give me your coordinates?
能給我你的坐標嗎？
I call this futuristic but imminent world "OMO" (online merges with offline). Four factors are enabling the arrival of omo: rapid smartphone uptake[4], frictionless payment systems, cheaper and better sensors, and advances in AI. In each of these areas, China is moving extraordinarily fast, and is poised to see the OMO future first.
我把這種現(xiàn)象稱之為即將到來的未來世界“OMO”（ Online-Merge-Offline，線上與線下融合）。四個因素將助力OMO時代的到來：智能手機的大規(guī)模應用、流暢的支付系統(tǒng)、質(zhì)優(yōu)價廉的傳感器，以及人工智能技術(shù)的進步。在所有這些領(lǐng)域，中國的發(fā)展速度驚人，并且未來將有望首先實現(xiàn)OMO。
[4]uptake
1）the rate at which a sub-stance is taken into the body, a system etc 吸收，攝取(率)
the uptake of sugars by the blood?
血液對糖分的吸收率
2）the number of people who use a service or accept something that is offered 接受〔某種服務或某事物〕的人數(shù)
The uptake of some vaccinations fell as the media stirred up fears of possible side effects.?
媒體激起了人們對疫苗可能產(chǎn)生副作用的恐懼之后，有些疫苗的注射人數(shù)下降了。
3）相關(guān)短語有“be slow/quick on the uptake”表示“to be slow or fast at understanding something?領(lǐng)會[理解]慢/快”，如：
She is not an intellectual, but is quick on the uptake.
她不是一個智力超群的人，但是理解事物卻很快。
China now has 731m peoplewielding[5]smartphones, all equipped with GPS and other sensors. Some 70% of them use their phones for digital payments, in lieu of[代替] credit card or cash. This frictionless digital payment is nearly instantaneous, usually zero-fee, requires no minimum purchase and can be used person-to-person (not only person-to-business, like credit cards).
中國現(xiàn)在有7.31億智能手機用戶，這些智能手機上都配置有全球定位系統(tǒng)和傳感器。在這7.31億用戶當中，70%的人在購物時，會使用移動支付取代信用卡或者現(xiàn)金付款。流暢的電子付款幾乎是實時到賬，通常不收取手續(xù)費，而且不限制最低購買量。此外，不像銀行卡只能用于個人對企業(yè)轉(zhuǎn)賬，移動支付可以實現(xiàn)個人對個人轉(zhuǎn)賬。
[5]wield表示“拿著 (武器、工具或設備)”或“掌握（權(quán)力）”，如“He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company.他還是主席，但在公司內(nèi)沒有什么權(quán)力?！?/p>
In the past three years this new way of buying things has taken the Chinese economy by storm. Easy digital payment systems have paved the way[6] for not just Mobike, but also Didi (the Uber of China), Meituan (delivering over 10m take-out meals per day) and many other new companies. Many of these are now also expanding internationally.
過去三年，這種購物方式在中國的經(jīng)濟領(lǐng)域掀起了巨大風暴。除摩拜單車外，便捷的移動支付系統(tǒng)還為滴滴、美團和許多其他新興企業(yè)鋪平了道路。其中滴滴相當于中國的優(yōu)步，美團每天有1000萬的外賣訂單量。所有這些現(xiàn)在都在朝著國際化的方向發(fā)展。
[6]pave the way: If something paves the way for/to something else, it makes the other thing possible. （為…）鋪平道路，（為…）創(chuàng)造條件?
Scientists hope that data from the probe will pave the way for a more detailed exploration of Mars.?
科學家們希望探測飛船發(fā)回的數(shù)據(jù)會為更深入地探索火星提供條件。
「未完待續(xù)」
