Though Google's search engine is all but unused in China these days, the company's latest gadget, the Google Glass , already has some early adopters here.
尽管谷歌(Google Inc., GOOG)的搜索引擎现在在中国使用的已经很少了,但该公司最新的设备谷歌眼镜(Google Glass)已经在中国找到了用户。
Apart from Tuesday's one-day sale of Glass to the general public, Google has sold the headsets by invitation only, but that hasn't stopped China's dauntless online merchants from getting ahold of the product. A simple search of Alibaba's popular online Taobao marketplace turns up dozens of listings for Glass, many of which seem to be real. (The product is also available for sale on eBay in the U.S.)
除了周二仅一天的公开销售外,谷歌目前仅向受邀者销售这款眼镜,但这并未妨碍无所不能的中国网商们拿到谷歌眼镜的货源。只要在阿里巴巴(Alibaba)旗下的淘宝(Taobao)网站上搜索一下,就能搜到数十款待售的谷歌眼镜,其中不少看似真货。(在美国,该产品也能在eBay上买到。)
As happened with Apple's iPhone, mom-and-pop electronics resellers in China have discovered there's a business to be made out of the arbitrage of buying items not yet available here and offering them at a markup online.
与苹果公司( Apple)的iPhone一样,中国的小型电子产品经销商们已发现,通过购买中国国内尚未销售的商品,然后在网上加价出售,这也是一桩不错的生意。
Two Taobao merchants said they didn't bother to take advantage of Tuesday's sale because they had already procured enough by buying Glass directly from those with invitation to purchase the product. Still, the merchants said the public sale has helped to spur demand for the smartglasses, which retail for $1,500 and sell on Taobao for 12,000-20,000 yuan ($1,950-$3,252).
两位淘宝店主称,他们根本不必利用周二的机会购买谷歌眼镜,因为他们已经从那些获邀购买该产品的人那里拿到了足够多的货。不过,这些店主表示,公开销售帮助刺激了该款智能眼镜的需求。每副谷歌眼镜的零售价为1,500美元,淘宝上的售价是人民币12,000-20,000元 (合1,950-3,252美元)。
One of the merchants, Xu Wei, said he has been selling Glass on Taobao since January, with an average of one or two purchases a day. That number jumped at the beginning of this month to five or six a day, he said.
其中一位淘宝店主徐伟(音)称,他从今年1月份就开始卖谷歌眼镜了,每天能卖出一至两副。不过本月以来,每天的销量一下子跳升到五至六副。
'Many people have been buying it as a present to give to others, some have even bought two or three pairs at once,' he said.
他表示,许多人买了当礼物送给别人,一些人甚至一次就买两、三副。
Mr. Xu said Chinese consumers have some reservations about the product. Many worry Glass may not work behind China's Great Firewall, while others wonder whether the product has an operating system that can run in the Chinese language.
徐伟说,中国消费者对该产品持有一些保留意见。许多人担心谷歌眼镜可能因为中国的防火 而无法正常工作,其他人则想知道该产品是能够刷中文操作系统。
Another seller, Zhang Jie, said his margins on the glasses have been getting hit as more and more vendors catch on. He's also seen a bump in orders this month, he said, predicting that demand will strengthen as the price for the product falls and other companies develop similar smart glasses.
另一位卖家张杰(音)说,由于有越来越多的卖家出售谷歌眼镜,他出售谷歌眼镜的利润率受到冲击。他说,他也看到本月订单增加,预计随着产品价格下跌且其他公司开发出类似智能眼镜,需求将增加。
To that end, some innovation is already happening in China. Wang Chengpeng, another Taobao vendor, sells modified versions of Glass designed to enable short-sighted customers to use the product. Mr. Wang, who first got a pair of the Google glasses in November 2013, called the product 'cool,' but was quick to enumerate its defects.
在这方面,中国已经出现了一些创新。另一位淘宝店主王承鹏(音)出售经过改进的谷歌眼镜,可以让近视的客户使用该产品。王承鹏在2013年11月份第一次得到一副谷歌眼镜,称该产品很酷,但很快就举出了产品的一些不足之处。
'It's not waterproof, it's still heavy compared to normal glasses, and the battery only lasts for three hours,' he said. 'Also the software is not that practical.'
他说,谷歌眼镜不防水,和普通眼镜相比还是很沉,电池只能续航三小时,而且软件也不是那么实用。
Though Mr. Wang is selling the product without permission from Google, his thoughts about Glass are likely pretty similar to the company's own, and help to explain why it hasn't yet made the product widely available.
虽然王承鹏是在未经谷歌允许的情况下销售该产品,但他对谷歌眼镜的看法和该公司自己的想法很类似,这也解释了谷歌为何没有全面销售该产品。
'I think innovators can try on Google Glass, but common people should wait,' he said.
他说,他认为创新人士可以试试谷歌眼镜,但普通人还是应当再等等。