AD
元器件交易网讯 3月11日消息，据外媒报道，继谷歌上月宣布将出资68亿美元让旧金山低收入家庭的5到17岁的学生免费乘坐城市公交车。提倡者又希望让巴士免费搭载老人和残疾人，目前还不清楚谷歌或者其他高科技公司是否为其打算买单。
谷歌与当地居民的争执由来已久，由于谷歌庞大的员工团体导致当地房价不断上升，并且谷歌提供的巴士占用了旧金山的公共站点。当地居民不断举行示威等行动抗议谷歌这些行为。
令人讽刺的是，谷歌将为奥斯汀和堪萨斯城的学校和图书馆提供免费上网，谷歌还参与了更多的公共设施建设。有人担心谷歌过度参与可能会导致谷歌控制现实世界，这种担心不无道理。埃格斯的小说就曾描写过这样的场景：未来有一个高科技公司影响了所有人，它的社交网络传遍了全球，并增加了谷歌Glass可以记录自己的每一瞬间的行动，保密和隐私成为过去，
（元器件交易网 白玉涛译）
以下为外文：
It"s no secret that Google — and San Francisco, more generally — has a PR problem when it comes to inequality. Much of the debate has focused on the company"s exclusive buses that shuttle employees to and from work. And housing prices in the area are skyrocketing. So in a move that appears to counter that narrative, Google announced last month that it would pay San Francisco $6.8 billion to let low-income students aged 5-17 ride city buses for free.
Now advocates are lobbying for free bus rides for seniors and the disabled, too. It"s unclear whether Google or another tech company intends to pick up the tab for this idea. But Google"s new role in providing city services makes me wonder whether Analee Newitz might have been right in predicting a city-state run by the search giant.
A city-state is set apart from its surroundings in that it exercises legal sovereignty over its own territory. City-states often have their own religion, armies and other distinguishing features of a nation-state. And while the Bay Area is too closely tied to the California economy — not to mention national laws and elected officials — to be considered a literal city-state anytime soon, the fact that Google is stepping in to provide a service that would ordinarily come from the local government is a remarkable move.
It"s a paradoxical irony. The company will soon grant schools and libraries in Austin and Kansas City access to free and fast fiber optic Internet. Google serves as a source of relief for these communities that are unserved or underserved by the existing broadband market. But how many public services is too many? Over-involvement by Google in providing civic amenities that would otherwise be a city"s responsibility brings Google"s considerable control over our online lives into the real world.
The prospect resembles the dystopian future laid out so bluntly by Dave Eggers in his controversial novel, "The Circle."
If you haven"t yet read Eggers" latest, "The Circle" posits a world in which one tech company has eliminated all the others and exerts a powerful influence over Silicon Valley. Soon, its version of a social network spreads worldwide and adds a video component that resembles Google Glass to record every moment of the human experience. Secrecy and privacy become obsolete ideas. And in conquering the world"s mindspace, the Circle takes over physically, as well:
Developments like Francis" were happening with incredible frequency in those weeks. There was talk of the Circle, and Stenton in particular, taking over the running San Vincenzo. It made sense, given most of the city"s services were funded by, and had been improved by, the company.
Critics have highlighted Eggers" heavy-handed treatment of Silicon Valley and its sometimes messianic attitude. But with Google funneling a small portion of its vast resources into subsidizing public transit, at least this much of his prediction may be coming true.
