Schumpeter
熊彼特
Apple is right not to rush headlong into generative AI
苹果不急于扎进生成式人工智能是对的
- headlong 轻率地
One day the Vision Pro could exploit the technology to the full
有朝一日Vision Pro可能会充分利用这项技术
IF YOU THINK Tim Cook has always led a charmed life at the helm of Apple, think again. The years straight after the death of Steve Jobs in 2011 were a trial by fire. First there was antitrust: America’s Department of Justice (DoJ) sued Apple for conspiring to fix e-book prices. Then there was competition: Samsung, a South Korean rival, went to war with the iPhone with bigger, sleeker models. Then came broader concerns. Apple’s new voice assistant, Siri, made rookie errors. Ditto Apple Maps, which went as far as relocating the Washington Monument to the Potomac river. At the time, the question hanging over the company was existential: could Apple’s creative spark survive the death of its founder? One of Mr Cook’s lieutenants was so miffed at the criticisms that he publicly retorted in 2013: “Can’t innovate any more, my ass!”
如果你以为库克执掌苹果的日子从来都一帆风顺，那再想想吧。2011年乔布斯去世后的那几年，库克就像是被架在火上烤。先是反垄断官司：美国司法部起诉苹果合谋操纵电子书价格。再有是竞争挑战：韩国对手三星推出更大更时尚的机型，与iPhone争夺市场。然后是更大方向上的担忧。苹果彼时新推出的语音助手Siri出现低级错误。苹果地图也有同样的问题，竟错把华盛顿纪念碑标记到波托马克河上。当时，围绕苹果的是一个生死攸关的问题：创始人去世后，它的创造力火花还能继续闪耀吗？库克的一位副手对这些批评感到非常恼火，在2013年公开反驳道：“再没法创新了？去你的吧！”
- at the helm 负责、掌管；掌舵
- conspire 密谋、图谋、阴谋（参见：小词详解 | conspire）
- sleek 线条流畅的；造型优美的
- rookie 新手；生手
- 拓展学习：熟词僻义 | founder 有风险，创业需谨慎
- lieutenant 助理；（尤指）副职（参见：小词详解 | lieutenant）
- miffed 有点恼火的、有点不高兴的
- retort 表示“（生气或幽默地）反驳、回嘴”，既可以作动词也可以作名词使用，多用于形容对不同意见、批评或控诉作出迅速、有力或机智的回答（参见：小词详解 | retort）
A decade or so later, Mr Cook may be feeling déjà vu. On all three counts—antitrust, Asian competition, the existential question of innovation and growth—there are parallels between then and now. Competition watchdogs in the EU are demanding compliance from March 7th with rules that for the first time breach the “walled garden” which keeps users and developers bound within Apple’s playpen. On March 4th they fined the company €1.8bn ($2bn) for allegedly stifling competition in music streaming. In America the DoJ may soon launch a case against Apple. In China, Huawei, a domestic mastodon, is seizing market share. Hanging over everything is the nagging concern, amid a levelling off in iPhone sales, that Mr Cook is missing the chance to pull another rabbit out of the hat with generative artificial intelligence (gen AI).
十来年过去了，今天的情形可能让库克有似曾相识之感。反垄断、来自亚洲的竞争、事关存亡的创新与增长问题——在这三方面，眼下的处境和当年都有相似之处。欧盟的竞争监督机构制定了新规则，首次打破了苹果把用户和开发者限制在自家花园里的围墙，要求苹果从3月7日起遵守这些规定。3月4日，它们对苹果处以18亿欧元（20亿美元）的罚款，理由是该公司涉嫌在音乐流媒体领域压制竞争。在美国，司法部可能很快会对苹果提起诉讼。在中国，本地巨头华为正在抢占市场份额。在iPhone销量停滞不前之际，悬于一切之上的还有那挥之不去的担忧：库克正在错失利用生成式AI创造另一次奇迹的机会。
- déjà vu 似曾经历的错觉、似曾相识的感觉
- watchdog （监督公司活动及监护人们权利的）监察人，监察团体
- playpen （供婴儿或幼儿在里面玩的）游戏围栏
- stifle 压制、扼杀、阻止、抑制
- mastodon 庞然大物
- nag 唠叨；不停地抱怨
