双语盘点新兴数字经济的各种名称：你会说吗？

屈联西

Since muddled naming leads to muddled thinking，here's a rundown of what each name really means，and why it's an inadequate label for the bigger shift that's going on.


　　混乱的命名往往导致混乱的思想，下面就简要介绍数字经济每个名称的真正含义，并解释它为什么不能充分描述当前正发生的巨变。


　　Sharing economy


　　共享经济


　　One of the oldest and still most widely used names，probably because the first big success of this new economy was Couchsurfing，the site that matches travelers up with people willing to let them stay a few nights for free. The name is apt for any service that allows a thing previously available only to its owner to be used by other people，thus making more efficient use of resources.


　　这是最老且至今仍最常用的名称之一，大概是因为这种新兴经济的首个成功范例是Couchsurfing，该网站帮助旅行者找到愿意免费留他们住几个晚上的人。凡是让以前只有主人可用的东西也可供其他人使用从而提高资源利用率的服务都非常适合这个名称。


　　But the name is often applied to any firm that uses a snazzy app or algorithm to manage access to a resource—such as Zipcar，which rents out cars by the hour. And if Zipcar is the sharing economy，then so are Hertz and Avis. Moreover，“sharing economy”is about the reallocation of resources，when most of the biggest changes going on are about the reallocation of labor， as with Uber and Taskrabbit，for example.


　　但这个名称常常被用于任何一家运用时髦应用软件或算法来管理资源享用权的企业，比如计时出租汽车的齐普轿车租赁公司（Zipcar）。如果说Zipcar是共享经济，那么赫茨汽车出租有限公司（Hertz）和阿菲斯出租汽车有限公司（Avis）也都是。此外，“共享经济”讲究的是资源的重新分配，而当下变化最大的大多是劳动力的重新分配，比如优步公司（Uber）和跑腿兔网站（Taskrabbit）。


　　Peer（or peer-to-peer） economy


　　对等（或称点对点）经济


　　The most insidious term in the lexicon. It's meant to get at the more direct connection between the people on either side of a transaction，unmediated by a big faceless company，but“peer economy”is misleading in two ways.


　　这是所有词当中最险恶的一个名称。“对等经济”的本意是要说明交易双方之间不经由某个大公司牵线搭桥的较直接的联系，但它具有两方面的误导性。


　　First，it implies that you and the poor soul who bikes across the city in the snow to deliver a gift for your child's birthday are peers，when in fact，wealth inequality is essential to making this kind of economic relationship work. Second，it intentionally elides the role of the platforms that connect these so-called peers，presenting them as almost frictionless， neutral， practically invisible marketplaces for facilitating transactions. In reality，design decisions made by companies such as Uber determine how much power people on each side of the transaction have， and of course the companies themselves are big economic actors too.


　　首先，它暗示你和那个冒雪骑自行车穿越整座城市为你的孩子送来生日礼物的那个可怜人是对等的，而事实上，贫富不均是建立这种经济关系所必需的条件。其次，它有意省略了把这些所谓对等者联系起来的平台的作用，把它们当成在促进交易时几乎从无摩擦、保持中立、简直无影无形的市场。实际上，优步等公司的设计决策决定着交易双方各自掌握多大权力，而且公司本身无疑也是重要的经济成分。


　　Access economy


　　享用权经济


　　Not used much，because it refers to something pretty specific：services that let you pay to use things like cars （Zipcar），movies （Netflix），or music（Pandora，Spotify） without owning them.This is indeed a big economic shift，and one that's been going on since long before the Ubers of this world came into being，but it's only one aspect of the broader changes.


　　这个词不常用，因为它指称的对象非常具体：让你花钱使用而不必拥有某样东西如汽车（齐普轿车租赁公司）、电影（奈飞公司）或音乐（Pandora，Spotify）的服务。这确实是一个巨大的经济转变，早在优步之类企业诞生很久以前就已开始，但它只是总体变化的一个方面。


　　On-demand economy


　　随选经济


　　Another recent favorite，probably because this is where the venture capital money is： services that offer cars， food， home-cleaning， and other services at the touch of an app button. But it's way too narrow to capture all the new kinds of businesses that are being created.（to be continued）


　　这也是近来流行的一个称谓，大概是因为它受到风险资本的垂青：点一个应用软件按钮即可享受汽车、食品、保洁等服务。但它实在太狭隘了，根本不能涵盖时下不断涌现的所有新类别业务。


　　Gig economy 


　　零工经济


　　This seems to be a favorite right now， perhaps because it's a relatively value-neutral way of expressing the nature of work for many people in the new order: not a steady job but a series of gigs. It also has promise bcause it hints at the fact that gig-style working could expand， from work like driving cars and delivering groceries to more specialized work; why not an Uber for lawyers？


　　However， for the same reason， “gig economy”is narrow， not getting at either the “sharing” part of things， nor at the fun