And we talked about swarm networks earlier. And talking about the ultimate swarm, about having all of the processors and all of the cars when they're sitting idle being part of a global grid for computing capability. We find that premise quite exciting. The automobile becomes, then, an appliance, not in a commodity sense, but in an appliance, mobile power, mobile platform for information and computing and communication, as well as a form of transportation.
之前我们谈到群网络。最强大的群,是将所有的处理器、所有未处于使用状态的汽车集合起来,作为全球电网的一部分来使用,这个假想让我们振奋不已。汽车能够成为一种电器但不是商品意义上的电器,而是作为一种能够提供信息、计算、通讯的电器、移动电源、移动平台,当然也是一种交通工具。
And the key to all of this is to make it affordable, to make it exciting, to get it on a pathway where there's a way to make money doing it. And again, this is a pretty big march to take here. And a lot of people say, how do you sleep at night when you're rustling with a problem of that magnitude? And I tell them I sleep like a baby: I wake up crying every two hours. Actually the theme of this conference, I think, has hit on really one of the major keys to pull that off — and that's relationships and working together. Thank you very much. (Applause).
但最重要的是我们要让汽车价廉物美,变得令人兴奋,并且有足够的资金进行研发。要实现我们的设想还有很长的路要走。许多人说,你全身心考虑这样一个巨大的工程的时候,晚上怎么睡得着?我告诉他们我的睡眠像小婴儿一样,每两个小时就醒来哭一次。我认为这次研讨会的主题,实际上就是策划出关键要素,并予以实现——那就是关系网的建立与相互合作。非常感谢大家。
Chris Anderson: Larry, Larry, wait, wait, wait, wait, Larry, wait, wait one sec. Just — I've got so many questions I could ask you. I just want to ask one. You know, I could be wrong about this, but my sense is that in the public mind, today, that GM is not viewed as serious about some of these environmental ideas as some of your Japanese competitors, maybe even as Ford. Are you serious about it, and not just, you know, when the consumers want it, when the regulators force us to do it we will go there. Are you guys really going to try and show leadership on this?
克里斯·安德森(译者注:他是TED大会主席):拉里,拉里,等等,先别,先等会儿。我有很多问题想问你。一个问题是,也许我的想法有误,不过在我看来,大众认为,与日本的竞争对手,甚至是福特汽车公司比起来,通用汽车公司对那些环保汽车方面的想法和计划并不严肃认真。你怎么看待这个问题呢?是不是因为消费者的需求,执政者的敦促,你们才开始认真对待这些想法?你们通用汽车是不是真的打算在这方面大展拳脚,做领头人?
Larry Burns: Yeah, we're absolutely serious. We're into this over a billion dollars already, so I would hope people would think we're serious when we're spending that kind of money. And secondly, it's a fundamental business proposition. I'll be honest with you: we're into it because of business growth opportunities. We can't grow our business unless we solve these problems. The growth of the auto industry will be capped by sustainability issues if we don't solve the problems. And there's a simple principle of strategy that says: Do unto yourself before others do unto you. If we can see this possible future, others can too. And we want to be the first to create it, Chris.
拉里·伯恩斯:那是当然,我们是非常认真的。我们已经在这方面投资了十多亿美元,所以当我们花费巨资投资时,我希望人们看到我们对环保汽车的诚意。另外,关注环保也应该是企业最基本的任务。实话告诉你:我们进入这个领域是因为其商业利润空间的增长。如果不解决这些问题,我们的业务就无法继续扩展。如果我们不解决这些问题,汽车行业的发展将会因为可持续发展的问题而受阻。有这么一个简单的战略原则:在他人超越你之前先自己超越自己。如果我们能看到环保汽车的发展潜能,别人也能,但我们要做的是成为先驱者,克里斯。