The Economist 经济学人精读 [37]
选自 December 23, 2017,Business 商业版块
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#Eva说#
网上购物的不便之一在于送货时人不在家，东西放门口又怕被偷。但是，亚马逊和其他众多电商已与门锁制造商合作，用特殊门锁和屋内监控摄像的组合，解决了送货进门（是进门，进到屋子里，不是上门）问题。这一服务也为邮政公司，清洁员，遛狗人，Airbnb房客解决了进门不便的问题。毫无疑问，肯定会有质疑的声音（文章读多了深知其套路）。一方面有一计算机安全公司称他们已经黑入并关闭了亚马逊的一个门锁视频监控系统。另一方面，特殊门锁和屋内监控的组合无法解决一“小意外”，宠物跑出来了，传家宝被快递员打翻了等等诸如此类。但是，综合来看，连进门这样的难题都解决了，不愁其他解决不了。
#以上，个人总结和理解，欢迎批评指正，欢迎留言讨论#
#有输出才有进步#
E-commerce
Home runs
The chimney is not the only way to get stuff into homes in time for Christmas[烟囱不是可以让圣诞节的采购及时到家的唯一途径]
After staying at home one afternoon for a delivery of discounted toilet disinfectant[消毒剂] that never came, Valentin Romanov, a Stockholm IT manager, installed a special lock on his flat’s entrance[VR，斯德哥尔博的一个IT经理，在家等了一下午都没等来打折卫生间消毒剂送到之后，为他的公寓大门安装一个奇特的锁]. When no one is in, deliverymen unlock the door and slip[悄悄的做] packages inside[当没人在家时，送货员打开锁，将包裹悄悄放入家里]. Four months on, Mr Romanov has doubled his spending online and says he cannot imagine life without in-home deliveries[四个月之后，R先生网购的时间加倍，说道他无法想象没有货送到家的生活]. These are sweet words for delivery firms and online retailers, Amazon included, that are setting up partnerships with[建立合作]lock manufacturers to overcome a big hurdle[难题] for e-commerce[这些都是对送货公司和网络零售商的赞美之词，包括亚马逊在内，网络零售商与门锁制造商正在建立合作克服电子商务的一个大难题].
Conventional deliveries fail so often that a parcel is driven to a home an average of 1.5 times in the Nordic region, says Kenneth Verlage, head of business development at PostNord, a logistics giant operating in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden[传统的送货方式经常无法将货物送到，在北欧地区，一个货物的平均送货次数为1.5次，KV，PostNord的商务发展总监说道。PostNord是一个在丹麦，芬兰，挪威和瑞典经营的物流巨头]. It is an expensive inefficiency made worse, he says, by the fact that recipients have still often had to wait for a failed delivery[他说，这样的低效成本很高，并且会因接收人经常等来错误的送货变得更糟]. Somecouriers leave packages on doorsteps, but this invites theft[一些送货员会将包裹留在门口台阶上，但是这引来了小偷]. Of 1,000 Americans surveyed this year by Shorr, a packaging firm, nearly a third had been victims of “porch piracy[门廊偷窃]”, as this is known[据Shorr，一家包装公司所了解，在他们今年调查的1000个美国人中，将近三分之一的人是“门廊偷窃”的受害者].Two-fifths avoid certain online purchases for fear of it[五分之二的人因害怕包裹被偷而避免一些网购].
A number of firms now sell wirelessly connected locks which a courier’s delivery staff can open using a passcode or smartphone app after the resident has issued a temporary authorisation, before leaving home or remotely[许多公司现在销售可以无线连接的门锁，送货员可以通过住户在离家之前或是远程给予的临时授权的密码或手机应用将锁打开]. Deliveries are filmed with an indoor security camera paired with the lock[送货的过程将被门内与门锁搭配使用的监控摄像记录]. The short videos are sent to parcel addressees and typically end, comically[滑稽的] in Mr Romanov’s view, with a jiggle[晃动]of the door handle from outside to show that the departing delivery person has locked up[这个短视频会发给收件人，通常以外边门把手的晃动结束，已显示要离开的送货员将门锁上了，这在R先生眼里很有趣].
Amazon began offering in-home deliveries in37 American cities in November[亚马逊在11月开始在美国的37个城市提供送货进门服务]. Shoppers who have had a special lock and camera installed (costing$199) can select in-home delivery at checkout[安装了特殊的门锁和摄像头（话费199美元）的顾客可以在结账时选择送货进门]. Like most firms offering the service, Amazon is tight-lipped[闭口不谈] about user numbers[与大多数提供这种服务的公司一杨，亚马逊对这项服务的用户数量闭口不谈]. The boss of August Home, a San Francisco maker of in-home delivery looks, says that already hundreds of thousands of delivery drivers, dog-walkers[遛狗的人（小编备注：国外因为几乎家家户户养狗，因此也产生了一种职位叫做dog-walker，指提供遛狗服务的人）], cleaners and Airbnb guestsuse its app keylessly to enter others’ homes[August Home，一家旧金山送货进门门锁制造商，该公司老板说，已经有成百上千个送货员，遛狗人，清洁工和Airbnb房客在使用他们的手机应用，无需钥匙就可进入别人的家].
Offerings are multiplying[大幅增加][供货量也正在大幅增加]. In 2018 August Home will go to Australia and Britain, and PostNord will launch in-home delivery in four Nordic countries[2018年，August Home将会进入澳大利亚和英国市场，PostNord将会在北欧四国提供进门送货服务]. Walmart and Sears have tried it; Sears even tested unattended[无人看管] appliance[器具器械] repairs[Walmart和Sears也试用了这个服务；Sears甚至测试了无人值守器具维修服务]. Five logistics firms and two Swedish supermarket chains are trying or using locks from Glue, a firm based in Stockholm, for in-home deliveries[五个物流公司和两家瑞典连锁超市已经尝试或使用了Glue，一家总部设于斯德哥尔摩的公司的送货进门服务].
Sceptics[持怀疑态度的人] reckon these efforts will not amount to much[持怀疑态度的人认为，这样的努力不会有太多结果]. Plenty of consumers will be fearful about theft[众多消费者都害怕盗窃]. Rhino Security Labs, a Seattle computer-security firm, claims it hacked into and shut off the video in one Amazon lock-and-camera system[Rhion安全实验室，一家西雅图计算机安全公司，声称他们黑入并且关闭了亚马逊的一个门锁与摄像头监控系统]. In-home deliveries are incompatible with burglar[窃贼] alarms[送货进门服务与窃贼警报是无法兼容的]. And what if an improperly fenced-off dog or cat slipsoutside[如果一只没有关好的狗或者猫溜出来了怎么办]? Or an heirloom[传家宝] on display getsknocked over[如果摆出来的传家宝被撞到了怎么办]? These are trickyquestions[这都是很难说的问题]. But e-commerce firms have unlocked harderones[但是电子商务公司已经解锁了更难得问题（怎么看都觉着这句话里有话，暗指打开房门这个难题，与第一段最后一句算是照应吧（高中语文阅读理解题考点之一，首尾呼应，））].
20171226 509 words
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我是Eva
一个认真学英语的美少女