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科技
After the iPhone
iPhone之后
The Vision Pro marks a new era of AI-powered gadgetry. It is not alone.
Vision Pro开启了AI电子设备的新时代，但划时代的产品不止它一个。
Apple fans have eagerly awaited February 2nd to get their hands on the tech giant’s latest gadget, a new augmented-reality headset called the Vision Pro.
果粉们热切期待着2月2日，想要上手试试这家科技巨头的最新产品：一款名为Vision Pro的新型增强现实头显设备。
Some early reviewers complained that it caused headaches and had a two-hour battery life.
早期的一些评论者抱怨说，Vision Pro会引起头痛，而且电池续航时间只有两个小时。
Many potential buyers will be put off by the price tag of $3,499.
3499美元的价格也会让许多潜在买家望而却步。
Still, perhaps 200,000 have been pre-ordered, about 40% of what Apple had reportedly expected to sell this year.
尽管如此，仍有大约20万台已被预订，约为苹果今年预计销量的40%。
Tim Cook, Apple’s boss, has described trying the Vision Pro as an “aha moment”.
苹果的老板蒂姆·库克形容试用Vision Pro是一个“顿悟时刻”。
“You only have a few of those in your lifetime,” he added.
“你一生中只有少数几次这样的经历。”他补充道。
Aha or not, the Vision Pro is part of a trend.
不管会不会让人顿悟，Vision Pro是一种趋势的一部分。
In September techies got excited about a new pair of smart glasses made by Meta, Facebook’s parent company, and Ray-Ban, an eyewear brand.
9月份，脸书的母公司Meta和眼镜品牌雷朋生产了一款新的智能眼镜，这让科技迷们兴奋不已。
The spectacles are controlled by voice and can play music, send texts and film everything you see.
这种眼镜由语音控制，可以播放音乐、发送短信和拍摄你所看到的一切。
Two months later Humane, a startup founded by former Apple executives, launched the Pin, a brooch with which users interact by talking and gesticulating.
两个月后，由前苹果高管创立的初创公司Humane推出了Pin，这是一款智能胸针，用户可以通过交谈和打手势与之互动。
In January the r1, a voice-controlled gizmo half the size of a smartphone, enthralled attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
今年1月，在拉斯维加斯举行的消费电子展上，一款只有智能手机一半大小的声控设备r1吸引了参观者。
Its maker, a startup called Rabbit, has sold nearly 100,000.
其制造商是一家名为Rabbit的初创公司，已经售出了近10万台r1。
What all these devices have in common is that they mostly do away with screens, keyboards and mice.
所有这些设备的共同点是，它们大多不再有屏幕、键盘和鼠标。
Thanks to “generative” artificial intelligence (AI), computers are getting good at listening to, reading and watching stuff—and understanding it.
多亏了“生成式”人工智能，计算机的听、读、看能力正在提高，理解力也在增强。
That means hardware can be controlled by voice, gesture or image rather than touch.
这意味着硬件可以通过语音、手势或图像来控制，而不是触摸。
AI is thus enabling new “form factors”—tech-speak for gadgets in new shapes and sizes, just as the iPhone looked different from older handsets.
人工智能因此正在使新的“外形因素”成为可能，“外形因素”是一个科技术语，即设备的新形状和新尺寸，比如当初iPhone的外形就和旧有的手机不同。
Silicon Valley’s elite are cheering on the potential shift.
硅谷的精英们正在为这一潜在的转变而欢呼。
They believe AI could create a new market for consumer hardware, replacing the smartphone as everyone’s essential device.
他们相信，人工智能可以为消费者硬件创造一个新的市场，使智能手机不再是每个人的必备设备。
Sam Altman, boss of OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, is reportedly in talks to start a firm with Jony Ive, former head of design at Apple, to make a gadget purpose-built for AI.
据报道，ChatGPT背后的初创公司OpenAI的老板萨姆·奥尔特曼正在与苹果前设计主管乔纳森·伊夫洽谈成立一家公司，为AI专门打造一款设备。
Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft, an AI-ambitious tech titan, recently said that “once you have a new interface…new hardware is also possible.”
微软的首席执行官萨蒂亚·纳德拉是一个在AI方面雄心勃勃的技术巨头，他最近说：“一旦你有了一个新的界面…出现新的硬件也是可能的。
One reason for all the excitement about new gadgets is that the old ones are looking unexciting.
人们对新设备如此兴奋的一个原因是，旧设备看起来太平淡无奇。
Last year 1.2bn smartphones were sold worldwide, down by 3% from the previous year and the lowest level for a decade, according to IDC, a research firm.
根据研究公司IDC的数据，去年全球智能手机销量为12亿部，比前一年下降了3%，是十年来的最低水平。
PCs did even worse, declining by 15% in 2023 to 242m units.
个人电脑的表现更糟，2023年下降了15%，只有2.42亿台。
Cash-strapped consumers are opting for cheaper alternatives, such as second-hand devices, or holding on to their current ones for longer.
手头拮据的消费者正在选择更便宜的替代品，比如二手设备，或者更长时间地使用现有设备。
The hope is that they may be persuaded to fork out for all-new gadgets because they offer something that old ones do not.
科技公司的希望是，人们可能会被说服为全新的设备买单，因为新设备提供了旧设备所没有的东西。
AI could, for instance, make using devices more seamless and more personal.
例如，AI可以让设备的使用变得更加无缝和个性化。
Users can tell or gesture to the r1 to hail a ride, order food or play music without the need to toggle between apps.
用户可以向r1发语音或手势指令，让它帮忙打车、点餐或播放音乐，而不需要在应用程序之间切换。
It also learns from users’ previous actions.
r1还会学习用户之前的行为。
Until now people had to adapt to software, says Vinod Khosla, a veteran venture capitalist and early backer of Rabbit.
资深风投家和Rabbit的早期支持者维诺德·科斯拉说，到目前为止，人们必须去适应软件。
In the r1, “the AI adapts to you.”
但用r1的话，“人工智能会去适应你的习惯”。
New gadgets are also less finicky to develop and manufacture.
新产品的开发和制造对条件的要求也不那么挑剔。
Lior Susan of Eclipse, a venture-capital (VC) firm, says that ten years ago building a high-tech widget required hundreds of staff.
风投公司Eclipse的利奥尔·苏珊表示，十年前，打造一款高科技产品需要数百名员工。
Today he can do the same thing with about ten.
如今，他只用大约10个人就能做出产品。
Every step of the manufacturing process has become easier.
制造过程的每一步都变得更容易了。
Initial versions can be mocked up in design software.
最初版本可以在设计软件中模拟出来。
Rather than buying an industrial machine to make parts for a prototype, they can be ordered from 3D-printing firms like Shapeways.
而且制作时可以在Shapeways等3D打印公司下订单，而不是购买工业机器来制造原型部件。
Sensors, batteries and chips can be bought off the shelf.
传感器、电池和芯片都可以现成买到。
Contract manufacturers, such as Foxconn, no longer insist on working only for big clients like Apple.
富士康等代工制造商不再坚持只为苹果这样的大客户工作。
Some offer dedicated services for hardware startups.
一些制造商为硬件初创公司提供定制服务。
The resulting crop of new AI-powered devices falls into two broad categories.
由此产生的一批新型AI设备可分为两大类。
The first is headsets for augmented or virtual reality (VR).
第一类是用于增强现实或虚拟现实的头显。
So far they have been most popular among gaming enthusiasts.
到目前为止，这类产品在游戏爱好者中最受欢迎。
Sales of VR headsets hit around 10m units in 2020 following the release of Meta’s Quest 2, estimates George Jijiashvili of Omdia, a research firm.
研究公司Omdia的乔治·吉加希维利估计，在Meta的Quest 2头显发布后，VR头显的销量在2020年达到了约1000万台。
He thinks that the Vision Pro will breathe new life into the industry by making VR appealing to non-gamers.
他认为，Vision Pro将让非游戏玩家也被VR吸引，从而为该行业注入新的活力。
Promotional videos depict people using the Vision Pro to watch films, work or talk to friends.
宣传视频描绘了人们使用Vision Pro看电影、工作或与朋友交谈的情景。
The second category consists of subtler gizmos.
第二类是更微妙的小设备。
Some 540m “wearables” worth $68bn were shipped last year, according to IDC.
根据IDC的数据，去年“可穿戴设备”的出货量约为5.4亿台，价值680亿美元。
Many already incorporate AI in one way or another.
许多这些设备已经以各种方式将AI整合了进去。
They include earphones (which account for 63% of the units sold), smartwatches (another 30%), wristbands such as the Whoop, a fitness tracker, and smart glasses, like Meta’s Ray-Bans (which together make up most of the remainder).
这些产品包括耳机(占总销量的63%)、智能手表(占30%)、类似健康跟踪器Whoop的腕带，以及类似Meta和雷朋的智能眼镜(二者占据了剩下份额的多数)。
Humane’s Pin and AI pendants made by two startups, MyTab AI and Rewind AI, are the latest additions to this group.
Humane公司的Pin，以及由两家初创公司MyTab AI和Rewind AI制造的AI吊坠是这一类产品中的最新成员。
