Mobile is playing a bigger role in the world, and as it does, it’s enabling some profound shifts in how we live. Soon, our mobile devices – from smartphones to wearables – will know so much about us that they will transform into personal mobile concierges and be able to seamlessly transact on our behalf without prompting. We’re already moving toward this hyper-connected world – toward the Internet of Things – where machine-to-machine communications will soon outpace human-to-machine conversations. But for this connected world to work as seamlessly as many envision, it requires much more than just technology that can predict our wants and needs.
手机在世界上的作用越来越大。它使我们的生活方式也正在发生深刻的变化。不久，从智能手机到可穿戴设备，我们的移动设备将深入了解我们的点点滴滴，它们将转化为“移动个人管家”，无需提示就能够无缝地代表我们将事情办妥。我们已经开始迈向这样一个超级连接的世界——即所谓的物联网中，机器对机器的通信将很快超越人机对话。但要让这个互联世界像许多人想象的那样无缝运行，它所需要的远不止能够预测人类需求的技术那么简单。
For one, it requires an open and secure, developer-friendly platform — one that is linked together through a cross-platform mobile payments OS. Startups need to be able to quickly move through hundreds of failures before ultimately finding the product or service that resonates with consumers. Today’s most successful startups at one point had to iterate and pivot based on critical feedback from the market. Before Instagram and Flickr became the successful businesses they are today, for example, they both started out with completely different business models but evolved their businesses in response to market feedback.
首先，它需要一个开放、安全、对开发者友好的平台，一个能够通过跨平台移动支付操作系统连接在一起的平台。初创公司需要具备百折不挠的精神，才有望最终发现能够引起消费者共鸣的产品或服务。当今最成功的初创公司必须基于市场的重大反馈意见完成迭代升级。举例来说，在Instagram和Flickr收获今天的成功之前，它们最初都采用过完全不同的商业模式，但随后根据市场反馈不断进化。
Security is also paramount. There’s both a need to reduce friction — like removing passwords and enabling logins with the touch of finger — and increase security. In order for young startups to be able to get feedback, customers need to be able to trust that their data — whether it’s passwords or payment information — won’t be compromised. This is especially important as devices become increasingly connected and information gets quickly passed around from one service or device to the next. Customers need to trust that if their refrigerator gets hacked, sensitive data like their credit card information won’t be compromised.
安全性也是至关重要的。互联设备既需要减少摩擦，比如去除密码，能够实现一键登录；又需要提高安全性。为了让年轻的初创公司获得反馈，消费者需要相信他们的数据，无论是密码，还是支付信息，都不会受到损害。随着设备更加紧密地连接在一起，信息在各种服务或设备之间的传递更加迅速，这一点变得尤为重要。消费者需要相信，如果他们的冰箱被黑客攻击，像信用卡信息这样的敏感数据不会遭受外泄风险。
Finally, this all needs to be connected through an agnostic payments OS — one that isn’t confined to a specific platform — that will enable and authenticate purchases. It’s great that your fridge can ping your smartphone when you’re out of eggs or need to pick up some milk, but imagine if your fridge could seamlessly make the order for you. This in the next step in connected commerce.
最后，所有这一切都需要通过一个不可知的、不局限于特定平台的支付操作系统进行连接，以启动和验证购买行为。当家里没有鸡蛋或者需要订购一些牛奶时，你的冰箱能够通过智能手机给你发送提示信息，这的确很美妙。但请想象一下，如果你的冰箱能够无缝地替你下订单，那将是怎样一番情景？而这，正是互联商务的下一步。
Today, 1.9 billion devices are already connected to the Internet and it’s estimated that by 2020, we’ll reach 30 billion connected devices globally. As we shift toward a world where our smartphones are now our primary computing devices, we’re moving from what some call an “on-demand world,” to what I see as an “at your service world” – where our devices know what we want, when we want it, and can initiate things on our behalf. From buying through to shipping, technology will be able to deliver these magical experiences without people having to drive the interaction. This is the future of Smart Commerce.
如今，已经有19亿部设备与互联网连接。据估计，到2020年，全球的联网设备将达到300亿部。现在，随着我们迅速迈入一个智能手机作为主要计算设备的世界，我们也正在从一个有些人所称的“随需应变的世界”转移至一个我所认为的“为您服务的世界”。届时，我们的设备将知道我们什么时候想要什么东西，并且能够代表我们启动相应流程。从购买直至运送，技术能够自发地实现这些神奇的体验，而无需我们亲自驱动这些交互过程。这就是“智能商务(Smart Commerce) ”的未来。
Technologies already exist that enable people to pay across mobile apps with a single touch, or make a purchase without even taking out a wallet or phone thanks to beaconing technology. But that’s just the beginning. Soon, our mobile devices – with access to everything from geo-location information to purchase history to biometric data — will know enough about us that they’ll be able to facilitate not just a single transaction, but trigger a chain of transactions and experiences without prompting. Our devices will not only know our past activity, but also learn our habits and routines and begin to anticipate and predict our needs and preferences.
拜信标技术所赐，让人们在各种移动应用上单击支付，或者说无需掏钱包或手机就能够买东西的技术已经存在。但这仅仅是个开始。不久，从地理位置信息，到购买历史，再到生物特征数据，我们的移动设备将无所不知，从而不仅仅能够推动仅仅一笔交易，而且能够引发连锁交易和体验，无需我们进行任何提示。我们的设备不仅会知道我们过去的活动，同时也了解我们的习惯和惯例，并开始推测我们的需求和喜好。
Imagine a future where your connected wearable device, which tracks your physical activity, identifies that you haven’t been as active this week as you typically are. As a result, it connects with your grocery and/or meal delivery service and orders healthier, low-calorie options for the week — knowing from your past purchase data that you like carrots and Brussels sprouts but would never eat broccoli. These experiences may seem magical now, but soon they’ll be a routine part of our lives. In fact, earlier this month, Munchery, one of our customers, and Jawbone announced a partnership allowing Munchery customers to track the nutritional data in their meals on their Jawbone Up app. Now it’s not so hard to imagine how a partnership like this could play out in the real world.
想象这样一个未来：联网的可穿戴设备持续跟踪你的身体活动，从而能够确定你本周是否像你通常那样积极锻炼。通过跟你的杂货店和送饭服务连接在一起，它能够为你订购更适合本周健康需要的低热量食物。没错，基于你过去的购买数据，它当然知道你喜欢胡萝卜和甘蓝，但绝不会吃西兰花。就目前而言，这些体验似乎不可思议，但它们很快就将成为日常生活中再正常不过的事情。事实上，我们的客户Munchery公司本月初与Jawbone公司宣布合作。这份协议将允许Munchery的客户通过他们的Jawbone Up应用来跟踪其饭菜中的营养数据。现在不难想象，类似合作将出现在现实世界之中。
The connected Internet of Things is rapidly becoming reality. But in order to realize the full potential of a truly connected world, we first need to put into place the foundational fabric on top of which the Internet of Things will exist.
物联网正在迅速地成为现实。但为了实现一个真正连接的世界的全部潜力，我们首先需要铺就物联网赖以存在的基础结构。
Bill Ready is CEO of Braintree, a company that helps online businesses process online and mobile payments. Follow him @williamready
本文作者比尔·雷迪是Braintree公司CEO，该公司致力于帮助互联网企业优化在线流程和移动支付业务。
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