经济学人326:谷歌公司 无处不在的谷歌

　　Business

商业报道

Google

谷歌公司

The new GE: Google, everywhere

新时代的通用电气：无处不在的谷歌

With a string of deals the internet giant has positioned itself to become a big inventor, and reinventor, of hardware.

经过一系列收购，这家互联网巨头已经使自己站在了超级革新者的位置上，硬件行业的彻底革新者。

AT GOOGLE they call it the toothbrush test.

在谷歌，他们把这叫做牙刷测试。

Shortly after returning to being the firm's chief executive in 2011, Larry Page said he wanted it to develop more services that everyone would use at least twice a day, like a toothbrush.

在2011年重新掌舵公司后不久，Larry Page曾说他希望公司开发更多的服务，这些服务能够让所有用户在一天内至少使用两次，就像牙刷一样。

2_副本.jpgIts search engine and its Android operating system for mobile devices pass that test.

该公司的搜索引擎和安卓手机操作系统就通过了这个测试。

Now, with a string of recent acquisitions, Google seems to be planning to become as big in hardware as it is in software, developing toothbrush products in a variety of areas from robots to cars to domestic-heating controls.

通过近期一系列的并购，如今的谷歌看似正计划着成为硬件行业的微软，准备在从机器人到汽车再到室内加热控制设备等众多领域中开发牙刷级别的产品。

Its latest purchase is Nest Labs, a maker 1 of sophisticated thermostats 2 and smoke detectors 3: on January 13th Google said it would pay 3.2 billion in cash for the firm.

它的最近一次收购是精密恒温控制器和烟雾探测器制造商Nest Labs：1月13号，Google宣布用32亿美元现金将该公司买下。

Google's biggest move into hardware so far is its 12.5 billion bid for Motorola Mobility 4, a handset-maker, in 2011.

目前为止，谷歌转向硬件行业的最大动作是在2011年以125亿美元收购手机制造商摩托罗拉移动公司。

In recent months it has been mopping up robotics firms, most notably 5 Boston Dynamics 6, which makes two- and four-legged machines with names like BigDog and Cheetah 7 that can walk and run.

近几个月，它则买下了不少机器人公司，其中值得注意的是波士顿动力，一家制作名为大狗或者猎豹的双足和四足机器人的公司，这些机器人能够行走和跑动。

Google's in-house engineers have also been busy working on driverless cars and wearable gadgets 8 such as Google Glass.

谷歌自己的工程师们也在忙着研发无人驾驶汽车和可穿戴装置比如谷歌眼镜。

Nest takes Google into the home-appliance business, which is how another, much older American conglomerate 9 got started.

Nest则将谷歌带入了家用装置业务，从这项业务中走出过一家年长得多的美国巨头公司。

General Electric produced its first electric fans in the 1890s and then went on to develop a full line of domestic heating and cooking devices in 1907, before expanding into the industrial and financial behemoth that is still going strong today.

通用电气在19世纪90年代就制造了它的第一批电风扇，接着又在1907年发展出一整套室内加热和烹饪设备生产线，随后逐渐壮大成为了现今仍然迅猛发展着的工业和金融怪兽。

The common factor shared by GE's early products was electricity, something businesses were then just learning to exploit.

通用电气早期产品的所共有的一个元素是电，当时的业界刚刚开始学着利用它。

With Google's collection of hardware businesses, the common factor is data:

而谷歌一系列硬件业务的共有元素则是数据:

gathering 10 and crunching 11 them, to make physical devices more intelligent.

收集和分析它们来使物理设备变得更加智能。

Even so, the question is whether Google can knit the diverse businesses it is developing and acquiring into an even more profitable engineering colossus—or whether it is in danger of squandering 12 billions. Concern that the firm could make overpriced acquisitions has grown along with the size of its cash pile, now around 57 billion.

尽管如此，谷歌的问题在于能否有效的整合它发展和探索出的多种业务，使之成为一个甚至能带来更多利润的工程产业，否则它就是浪费了这数十亿美元。

Eyebrows 13 were raised this week when the price for Nest was revealed.

对于该公司在并购时出价过高及其现金规模的担忧正逐渐增加。

Morgan Stanley, a bank, reckons it represents ten times Nest's estimated annual revenue.

本周，Nest的收购价一经披露就令人大跌眼镜。据摩根斯坦利估算，这是Nest预计年利润的10倍。

Why fork out so much for a startup that makes such banal 14 things as thermostats?

为什么对这家生产恒温控制器这种老掉牙产品的年轻公司出手如此大方？

Paul Saffo of Discern Analytics, a research firm, argues that Google is already adept 15 at profiting from the data people generate in the form of search queries 16, e-mails and other things they enter into computers.

研究公司Discern Analytics的Paul Saffo认为谷歌在通过数据挣钱上已经是熟门熟路，这些数据是在用户们搜索查询、收发邮件以及在电脑上进行其他操作时产生的。

It has been sucking in data from smartphones and tablet computers thanks to the success of Android, and apps such as Google Maps.

安卓系统以及谷歌地图这类应用软件的成功使得谷歌还能从智能手机和平板电脑中汲取数据。

To keep growing, and thus to justify 17 its shares' lofty price-earnings ratio of 33, it must find ever more devices to feed its hunger for data.

为了保证持续增长以及保持高达33的股票市盈率，它甚至还会寻找更多设备来满足其对于数据的渴望。

Packed with sensors 18 and software that can, say, detect that the house is empty and turn down the heating, Nest's connected thermostats generate plenty of data, which the firm captures.

比方说，Nest连接型的恒温控制器利用房子中遍布的传感器和软件探测到房屋是空的，于是调低了加热系统的。

Tony Fadell, Nest's boss, has often talked about how Nest is well-positioned to profit from the internet of things—a world in which all kinds of devices use a combination of software, sensors and wireless 19 connectivity to talk to their owners and one another.

这个过程中就会产生很多的数据，并被谷歌收入囊中。Nest老板Tony Fadell时常提及Nest怎样对自己准确定位来从物联网中获利。在物联网的世界中，各个设备通过软件、传感器以及无线连接的结合来接受用户以及其他设备的信息。

Other big technology firms are also joining the battle to dominate the connected home.

其他大型技术公司也在加入争夺联网家居统治权的战斗。

This month Samsung announced a new smart-home computing 20 platform that will let people control washing machines, televisions and other devices it makes from a single app.

这个月，三星宣布了一个新型智能家居处理平台，让人们只用一个应用软件就能控制三星生产的洗衣机、电视和其他设备。

Microsoft, Apple and Amazon were also tipped to take a lead there, but Google was until now seen as something of a laggard 21.

微软、苹果和亚马逊也跃跃欲试，想引领这一潮流。不过在此之前，谷歌都被视作落后者。

I don't think Google realised how fast the internet of things would develop, says Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies, a consultancy.

我不认为谷歌意识到了物联网的迅猛发展，咨询公司Creative Strategies的Tim Bajarin这样说道。

Buying Nest will allow it to leapfrog much of the opposition 22.

买下Nest使得谷歌一跃超过了很多对手，同时也带来了一些人才。

It also brings Google some stellar talent.Mr Fadell, who led the team that created the iPod while at Apple, has a knack 23 for breathing new life into stale products.

在苹果公司带队开发了iPod的Fadell很擅长给旧产品注入新鲜生命。

His skills and those of fellow Apple alumni at Nest could be helpful in other Google hardware businesses, such as Motorola Mobility.

他和Nest的那些前苹果雇员们的才能对于谷歌的硬件业务很有帮助，比如说摩托罗拉手机。

Google has said little about its plans for its new robotics businesses.

谷歌很少提及它在机器人业务上的计划，

But it is likely to do what it did with driverless cars: take a technology financed by military contracts and adapt it for the consumer market.

但是这很可能会和它的无人驾驶车一样：和军方签订协议，由其提供资助来开发技术，再将这些技术为消费市场进行调整。

In future, personal Googlebots could buzz around the house, talking constantly to a Nest home-automation platform.

在未来，你的家中可能会充斥各种通过Nest家用自动化平台相互沟通的家用谷歌机器人。

The challenge for Mr Page will be to ensure that these new businesses make the most of Google's impressive infrastructure 24 without being stifled 25 by the bureaucracy of an organisation 26 that now has 46,000 employees.

Page先生将面临的一个挑战是，确保这些新业务充分利用谷歌出色的基础设施而不是被这个如今拥有46,000雇员的庞大组织的官僚主义所扼杀。

Google has had to overcome sclerosis before. Soon after returning as boss, Mr Page axed various projects and streamlined the management.

谷歌之前就曾遇上必须克服内部僵化的问题。回归就任老板后不久，Page就砍掉了许多项目并改进了管理体系。

Nest is being allowed to keep its separate identity and offices, with Mr Fadell reporting directly to Mr Page.

Nest被允许保留自己的独立身份和自己的办公室，Fadell也只需直接向Page进行报告。

Google has also protected its in-house hardware projects, such as Google Glass and self-driving cars, from succumbing 27 to corporate 28 inertia 29 by nurturing 30 them in its secretive Google X development lab.

谷歌之前就通过在秘密的Google X研发实验室单独运行的方式来保证谷歌眼镜和无人驾驶汽车这类自己的硬件项目免受企业惰性的影响。

It has also given its most important projects high-profile bosses with the clout 31 to champion them internally.

同时它还会让很有影响力的上层来领导最为重要的项目，以从内部提供足够的支持。

The new head of Google's robotics business is Andy Rubin, who led the successful development of Android.

谷歌机器人项目的负责人是成功领导了安卓系统开发的Andy Rubin。

Such tactics are good ways to avoid the pitfalls 32 of conglomeration 33.

这种策略能够避免过度聚集的误区。

But to ensure success, Google will need to avoid another misstep.

但要确保成功，谷歌还需避免犯下另一错误。

Its chequered record on data-privacy issues means that Nest and other divisions will be subject to intense scrutiny 34 by privacy activists 35 and regulators.

它过去的多次数据隐私问题意味着Nest和其他分公司都会遭到隐私维权人士和立法者的严格监管。

Provided it can retain the confidence of its users on this, Google should be able to find plenty of new opportunities in both software and hardware that pass the toothbrush test and keep a bright smile on its shareholders 36' faces.

假如能够保留用户们对此的信心，谷歌就能在软件业和硬件业中都找到足够多能通过牙刷测试的机会，还能让其股票持有人的脸上常驻灿烂笑容。