????假如你在iTunes商店訂閱在線版本的《連線》（Wired）,、《名利場(chǎng)》（Vanity Fair）、或者《紐約客》（New Yorker）等雜志時(shí),，面對(duì)上面的彈出窗口,，你會(huì)點(diǎn)選“允許”嗎？
????當(dāng)蘋果公司（Apple）的銷售代表向主要的雜志出版商顯示此彈出窗口時(shí),，多數(shù)人臉都嚇得煞白,。他們無不深知，如果按照“他們自己的”（而非蘋果的）隱私策略,，利用訂閱人的姓名,、電子郵件地址以及郵政編碼等信息，能撈到多少好處。
????比如,，僅2000年,，出版商結(jié)算機(jī)構(gòu)（Publishers Clearing House）就向美國(guó)23個(gè)州支付了1,800萬美元的賠償金,，以彌補(bǔ)各類有嫌疑的非法行為造成的損失,，其中包括用特別快遞的形式，遞送欺騙性彩票,、偽造的簽有私人姓名的支票和信封等,。
????但是，出乎所有人的意料（包括我們自己在內(nèi)）,，在iTunes上訂閱雜志的用戶中有近半數(shù)點(diǎn)選了“允許”按鈕,。《福布斯》雜志（Forbes）的杰夫?博科維奇上周三曾撰文對(duì)此進(jìn)行報(bào)道,，相關(guān)數(shù)字即源自該文,。博科維奇表示，蘋果互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)副總裁艾迪?庫(kù)伊已經(jīng)證實(shí),，此數(shù)字準(zhǔn)確無誤,。
????博科維奇寫道：“出版商曾擔(dān)心，蘋果會(huì)拒絕向他們提供生意上需要的消費(fèi)者數(shù)據(jù),。但是,，事實(shí)表明，他們的擔(dān)心純屬多余,。事實(shí)往往如此：欲得到客戶的姓名和電子郵件地址,，只需直接問他們即可?！?/p>
????《福布斯》還表示,，正是因?yàn)槊靼琢诉@個(gè)道理，“出版商們最終表示贊同蘋果公司的做法,?！?/p>
????當(dāng)然，也并非百分之百的“贊同”,。如同在iTunes上訂閱的其他所有內(nèi)容一樣,，蘋果都要提取30%的費(fèi)用，這點(diǎn)可令人不大滿意,，但永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)改變,。
????這30%的提成被稱作蘋果稅。大概也正是由于這筆蘋果稅,，時(shí)代公司（Time Inc.）等出版商仍然不采用iTunes訂閱的方式,。如果你想直接在iPad上閱讀《時(shí)代》、《體育畫報(bào)》（Sports Illustrated）或者《財(cái)富》（Fortune）等雜志，你得通過時(shí)代公司的官網(wǎng),，而非蘋果公司的網(wǎng)站訂閱,。在注冊(cè)訂閱這些雜志的印刷版之后，你就可免費(fèi)在iPad上閱讀這些雜志了,。
????譯者：大海 |
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????If you were subscribing to the online edition of, say, Wired, Vanity Fair or the New Yorker on the iTunes store, and you were faced with the pop-up window at right, would you opt-in and click "Allow"?
????Most major magazine publishers, when shown this screen by Apple (AAPL) representatives, blanched. Each of them knew full well the kind of gravy they can make out of subscribers' names, email addresses and zip codes under "their" (as opposed to Apple's) privacy policies.
????See, for example, the $18 million settlement Publishers Clearing House paid 23 states in 2000 for various alleged misdeeds, including misleading sweepstakes claims, fake personalized checks and envelopes tricked out to look like special deliveries.
????But to everybody's surprise -- including our own -- about 50% of users who subscribe to magazines on iTunes select the "Allow" button. This according to a piece published Wednesday by Forbes' Jeff Bercovici, who says the figure was confirmed by Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of Internet services.
????"It turns out," Bercovici writes, "that the publishers' fear that Apple's policies would deny them the consumer data they need to do business was unfounded. As often as not, to get the customer's email's name and email address, all you have to do is ask."
????According to Forbes, this discovery is "the surprising reason publishers are finally saying yes to Apple."
????Well, not quite "yes." There's still the sticky business of the 30% cut Apple wants to take -- in perpetuity -- of every subscription ordered through iTunes.
????That so-called Apple tax may help explain why some publishers, Time Inc. included, are steering clear of iTunes subscriptions. If you want to get Time, Sports Illustrated or Fortune (which publishes this blog) delivered to your iPad, you have to subscribe through Time Inc.'s (TWX) website, not Apple's. Once you've signed up to get the printed magazine, the iPad version is free. |
