经济学人447:做自己的"愤怒的小鸟"

 　　Business.

　　商业。

　　Do-it-yourself apps

　　自己做的应用程序

　　Make your own Angry Birds

　　做自己的"愤怒的小鸟"

　　Homebrew apps have arrived

　　私人制作的软件已经来临

　　LAST year Eddie the pig took Chile by storm. The iPhone game "ePig Dash", featuring Eddie, dislodged "Angry Birds" to become the number-one paid game on the Chilean App Store. By itself, the story of a cute, if flatulent, pig pushing a bunch of irate¹ birds off the top spot is nothing unusual. What is odd is that the creator of "ePig Dash", a conjuror² and economics teacher, knew little or nothing about programming. Instead he used GameSalad, a do-it-yourself tool for app-makers.

　　去年，小猪爱迪（Eddie the pig）在智利风靡。击败"愤怒的小鸟"后，以爱迪（Eddie）为主角的iphone游戏"ePig Dash"成为智利苹果应用榜上排名第一的付费游戏。就游戏本身而言，它没什么不寻常：以可爱角色为主角，小猪胀气后，将把一群愤怒的小鸟推下顶座。奇怪的是"ePig Dash"的作者是一名魔术师兼经济学教师，他对编程可谓知之甚少，甚至一无所知。但是他使用了一款可以让程序作者自己动手做应用的工具GameSalad。

　　DIY is hot. In May Research in Motion, the maker³ of the BlackBerry, unveiled a kit⁴ that allows people with no programming skills to create a working app within minutes. Apple, too, has applied⁵ for a patent indicating it is also building a DIY tool for iOS, its mobile operating system. And in March the Massachusetts Institute of Technology released a beta version of App Inventor, which allows even simpletons to make apps for Android phones.

　　"自己动手做"（DIY）很流行。五月份，黑莓的制造商RIM（Research in Motion）公司就发布了一套允许全无编程经验的人在数分钟内创造出能正常运行的应用的工具。苹果公司申请的一项版权同样表明它在建造一款自家的iOS平台上用的DIY工具。在三月，麻省理工学院也发布了一套测试版的应用构建器。它能以傻瓜式的方式构建安卓手机应用。

　　Several start-ups already offer DIY app services. Conduit, a firm which was valued at $1.3 billion after J.P. Morgan acquired a 7% stake for $100m earlier this year, allows people to build mobile apps themselves with a simple graphical interface⁶. AppMakr, a similar service, has helped to create some 10,000 apps. Users include individuals, small businesses and the Harvard Business Review. AppMakr also offers its users help in bringing apps up to standard before submitting them to Apple's picky App Store. Other services publish to Android and Windows, or bypass Apple altogether by creating web apps.

　　有一批新成立的公司已经提供自己动手做应用的服务了。今年早些时候，摩根大通以1亿美元价格收购Conduit 7%的股权后，该公司的价值直奔13亿。这家公司便可以让用户通过简单的图形界面构建移动应用。一家与其类似的服务公司——AppMakr则已经帮助创建了约10000款应用。其用户包括个人，小型企业和《哈佛商业评论》。在用户要将应用提交给挑剔的苹果在线商店前，AppMakr也可帮助用户提高应用软件的水平，使其符合标准。其他服务公司则发布安卓和Windows平台的应用程序,或者通过创建网页应用彻底绕开苹果平台。

　　Custom-made apps can cost $10,000 or more. By contrast, DIY apps are free to create, with a subscription⁷ for continued support. Prices vary, typically from about $30 to $80 a month. Magmito, an app-building service that targets small and medium businesses, has a plan that costs as little as $50 a year. AppMakr offers a free, ad-supported service.

　　定制的应用成本高达10000美元或更多。相反，DIY应用则可以免费创建，还可购买后续支持。价格一般在每月30~80美元的范围内波动。Magmito是一家定位中小企业的应用构建服务公司。它计划着一年仅收取50美元的费用。AppMakr则提供免费的带广告服务。

　　Small businesses and tech-savvy amateurs have been the most enthusiastic early creators of DIY apps. But they can also be a profitable business. GameSalad allows users to make 2D games for smartphones, which some choose to sell. According to Steve Felter, GameSalad's boss, some developers even make a living designing apps on its platform.

　　小企业与有卓见的科技爱好者都是早期最有热情的DIY应用创建者。但为这些人提供的服务也有可能是盈利的。GameSalad让用户能为智能手机制作2D游戏，其中一些人还会销售它们。根据GameSalad经理Steve Felter的说法，一些开发者甚至在它的平台制作应用维持生计。

　　The democratisation of technology is not without drawbacks. Apple's App Store already has some 550,000 apps. Google offers 450,000 for download on its Android operating system. The coming deluge⁹ of apps made by amateurs will see those numbers swell¹⁰.

　　技术普及化也不是没有缺点。苹果在线商店已经拥有550000款应用。谷歌也在它的安卓平台上提供450000款应用供下载。由爱好者制作的应用将如泛滥般袭来，上述数字也会增长。

　　Not all will shine. "There's a lot of garbage on YouTube. But once in a while you find a gem¹¹ and everybody passes it around," says Ted⁸ Iannuzzi of Magmito. Professional app-makers may not be shaking in their boots just yet. But the clever ones, like AppMakr, are moving from creating stuff for mobile phones to creating the stuff that creates the stuff for mobile phones. App-creating software could be the machine tools of the mobile world.

　　不可能所有的都是精品。Magmito 的Ted Iannuzzi 说："YouTube里有大量的垃圾作品，但是精品从被发现到被人们广泛传播也是一瞬间的事儿。"专业的应用作者还不会感到有压力。可是像AppMakr这样明智的企业正从为智能手机创造应用转向为智能手机创造制造应用的应用。制造应用的软件将会成为移动世界中的机床。

1 irate   

adj.发怒的，生气

参考例句：

• The irate animal made for us,coming at a full jump.那头发怒的动物以最快的速度向我们冲过来。
• We have received some irate phone calls from customers.我们接到顾客打来的一些愤怒的电话

2 conjuror   

n.魔术师，变戏法者

参考例句：

• The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder.孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。
• The conjuror's magic delighted the children.魔术师的戏法逗乐了孩子们。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

7 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

8 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

9 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

10 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

11 gem   

n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel

参考例句：

• The gem is beyond my pocket.这颗宝石我可买不起。
• The little gem is worth two thousand dollars.这块小宝石价值两千美元。