经济学人下载:互联网商业,又一轮的数字淘金热

These technological trends have given rise to new “platforms”—computing bases on which other companies can build services. Examples include operating systems for smartphones and social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Some of them are used by hundreds of millions of people. And the platforms are generating oceans of data from smartphones, sensors and other devices.

这些技术上的潮流已经产生出新的“平台”——建立在别的公司上的计算数据库可以构建出各种服务。实例包括面向智能手机和像脸书（Facebook）和LinkIn这样的社交网络公司的操作系统。这些操作系统中的某些为数亿计的人群所使用。而这些平台从智能手机、传感器和其他设备中孕育出数据的海洋。

These platforms are vast spaces of digital opportunity. Perhaps the most striking example of the innovation they have sparked is the outpouring of downloadable software applications, or “apps”, for smartphones and computers. Apple’s App Store, a mere three years old, offers more than 300,000 of them. Users of Facebook are installing them at a rate of 20m a day. Services such as Skype have also benefited from the spread of smart devices and lightning-fast connectivity.

这些平台都是空间巨大的数据机遇。也许，因他们而得以闪耀的，在创新方面最为惊人的例子，就是倾泻而来的可下载软件应用，或者就是面向智能手机和个人电脑的“apps”。苹果的应用仓库，仅仅3岁大，提供的应用超过30万种。脸书（Facebook）的用户，以每天2000万人的平均速度安装这些应用。像Skype这样的服务同样从灵巧设备的播散和光速般迅捷的接入性能上得利。

Some excited people have likened this technological upheaval to the Cambrian explosion 500m years ago, when evolution on Earth speeded up in part because the cell had been perfected and standardised. They may be exaggerating. Even so, creating a web firm has become much easier. By tapping into cheap cloud-computing capacity and by using platforms to reach millions of potential customers, a company can be up and running for thousands of dollars rather than the millions needed in the 1990s.

有些因此着迷的人将这种技术上的爆发与5亿年前的寒武纪（生命）大爆发比连到一起。那时候，地球上的进化速度出现加速，有部分原因就是由于细胞已经有了完美的表现和标准的形态。他们可能被夸大了。即便如此，创建一家网络公司变得更加容易。通过导入便宜的“云计算”能力和使用平台来获取数百万的潜在用户，一家公司能够得以树立，并用数千美元而不是20世纪90年代所需要的数百万美元来进行运营。