Invisible Engines

作者:Evans, David S./ Hagiu, Andrei/ Schmalensee, Richard

页数:408

出版时间:2008-4

价格:$ 22.54

isbn号码:9780262550680

具体描述

Winner of the Business, Management & Accounting category in the 2006 Professional/Scholarly Publishing Annual Awards Competition presented by the Association of American Publishers, Inc.

Software platforms are the invisible engines that have created, touched, or transformed nearly every major industry for the past quarter century. They power everything from mobile phones and automobile navigation systems to search engines and web portals. They have been the source of enormous value to consumers and helped some entrepreneurs build great fortunes. And they are likely to drive change that will dwarf the business and technology revolution we have seen to this point. Invisible Engines examines the business dynamics and strategies used by firms that recognize the transformative power unleashed by this new revolution—a revolution that will change both new and old industries.

The authors argue that in order to understand the successes of software platforms, we must first understand their role as a technological meeting ground where application developers and end users converge. Apple, Microsoft, and Google, for example, charge developers little or nothing for using their platforms and make most of their money from end users; Sony PlayStation and other game consoles, by contrast, subsidize users and make more money from developers, who pay royalties for access to the code they need to write games. More applications attract more users, and more users attract more applications. And more applications and more users lead to more profits.

Invisible Engines explores this story through the lens of the companies that have mastered this platform-balancing act. It offers detailed studies of the personal computer, video game console, personal digital assistant, smart mobile phone, and digital media software platform industries, focusing on the business decisions made by industry players to drive profits and stay a step ahead of the competition. Shorter discussions of Internet-based software platforms provide an important glimpse into a future in which the way we buy, pay, watch, listen, learn, and communicate will change forever. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.

用户评价

我必须承认，这本书需要读者投入相当的专注度，它不适合在碎片时间里囫囵吞枣地阅读。它要求你暂时放下外界的纷扰，全神贯注地沉浸其中。但一旦你进入了作者构建的世界，你会发现所有的付出都是值得的。它所探讨的议题，那种关于权力、记忆与遗忘的本质探讨，极具穿透力和持久性。读完之后，它并没有像许多流行的作品那样，读完即忘，反而像是在你的认知地图上刻下了一个新的坐标点，让你对周遭世界的理解产生微妙的偏移。这种能够引发持续思考的书籍，才真正称得上是优秀的文学作品，它塑造的不是暂时的愉悦，而是长久的对话。

这本书的文字风格有一种冷峻而疏离的美感，仿佛透过一块被打磨得光滑但略带磨砂质感的玻璃在观察这个世界。作者对环境和氛围的渲染能力简直是教科书级别的，每一个场景的描摹都充满了细节，但又绝不冗余。你几乎可以闻到那些陈旧书页散发出的霉味，感受到雨夜里街灯投下的昏黄光晕，那种沉浸式的体验让人难以自拔。更值得称道的是，人物对话的处理，真实得近乎残酷，没有多余的客套，字里行间全是试探、机锋和未尽之言。这种克制却有力的表达方式，使得情绪的爆发更具冲击力，它让你在阅读时，不自觉地放慢语速，品咂每一个用词的准确性。这简直是一次对语言魅力的极致展现。

说实话，初读这本书时，我有些担心它会不会过于晦涩，毕竟题材本身的复杂性摆在那里。然而，作者通过巧妙地植入一些极具个人色彩的“微观世界”片段，成功地拉近了与读者的距离。那些关于童年记忆、某个特定气味或是某段被遗忘旋律的回溯，如同一个个温暖的小锚点，将宏大的主题稳稳地锚定在人性最柔软的部分。这使得原本可能显得疏离的叙述，变得异常亲切和可感。它成功地平衡了思辨性和情感性，让你在思考那些深刻的哲学命题时，并没有感到压力，反而是被角色的命运深深牵动。这种润物细无声的教育力量，远胜过直白的灌输。

这本书的叙事节奏把握得极佳，读起来有一种抽丝剥茧的快感。作者似乎深谙如何在高潮迭起中嵌入精妙的伏笔，让你在享受紧张刺激的阅读体验时，又忍不住要去猜测接下来会发生什么。尤其是在描绘人物内心挣扎和道德困境时，笔触细腻而富有张力，那些潜藏在光鲜外表下的暗流涌动，被刻画得淋漓尽致。我特别欣赏作者在处理多线叙事时的功力，不同的故事线索看似独立，实则相互牵扯，最终汇聚成一个宏大而令人信服的整体。那种层层递进，直至真相大白时的震撼感，久久萦绕在心头，让人不得不合上书本，静静回味一番布局的精巧。它不是那种让你轻松翻阅的消遣读物，更像是一场精心设计的智力迷宫，每一步都充满陷阱，但也因此充满了探索的乐趣。

这本书的结构设计简直像一座巴洛克式的建筑，华丽、复杂，且充满了符号学的意味。我特别留意了作者是如何处理时间线和视角的转换的，那不是简单的章节跳跃，而更像是一种精密的编织工艺，不同的时间点和不同的叙述者之间，存在着一种微妙的共振和回响。读到中段时，我甚至会停下来，在脑海中勾勒出这些错综复杂的关系网，试图找出那个隐藏在所有叙述背后的“真实”结构。这种对形式的极致追求，让阅读本身变成了一种智力上的挑战与享受。每一次视角的切换，都像是打开了一扇新的窗户，让你从一个全新的角度重新审视已经发生的一切，那种豁然开朗的感觉，是阅读此书最过瘾的地方。