It stands to reason that distance is dead. Electronic communication is better and cheaper than it's ever been. Sitting on the sofa just now, I used a cheap laptop computer to log on to my neighbour's wireless network and order a free quad-band mobile phone that - I am told - will let me make calls and send e-mails from almost anywhere in the world.
More to the point, nobody would be remotely surprised to hear it. Virtual worlds, BlackBerries, video-conferencing from the local Starbucks - it has all become so easy, and so commonplace, so quickly.
Intuitively, that should mean that geography becomes less important. E-mail and video-conferencing mean fewer flights. No more business conferences or meetings at Davos. Telecommuters don't need to clog up the roads, and property prices in London and New York should slide as people carry out their investment-banking responsibilities from Anglesey or Iowa.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's something wrong with this argument. Despite the ease of communication and the fall in the cost of transporting goods, for most people geography seems to be as important as ever. People haven't stopped flying for meetings and conferences; the World Economic Forum meetings are now a round-the-calendar circus in more than 10 countries. New York is one of the few places in the US where the property market isn't stuttering. In the US, a few hotspot cities are sucking in ever-larger concentrations of young educated workers.
So what is happening? To some extent, the same thing that happened to the paperless office. It turned out that all those computers made it easy and cheap to produce a lot of documents. Yes, the documents could in principle have been viewed on screen, but why not print them out?
Similarly, e-mail, internet networking and cheap phone calls have made it easy to maintain a lot of relationships. In principle some of them could be restricted to cyberspace, but how much fun is that? The same e-mail that allows you to maintain a long-distance business relationship also creates demand for more travel as people try to establish those relationships in the first place.
Closer to home, communication technology makes it easier than ever to arrange a drink with friends. Just e-mail a distribution list or post the invitation on your online journal. This spontaneity isn't much use if your friends are hundreds of miles away.
E-mail and mobile phones aren't substitutes for face-to-face contact at all. As the economists Jess Gaspar and Ed Glaeser have pointed out, they are complements to it.
Other technological changes have also strengthened the importance of place. If you can buy cars or films or insurance from anywhere in the world, why not buy from the place that hosts the best or cheapest producer? Cities that were once nationally dominant can become international champions too. It becomes more valuable, not less valuable, to locate in New York or London.
Face-to-face meetings have always fostered trust and clearer communication. Nicholas Crafts, an economic historian who recently concluded a talk at Oxford with the message "Distance is alive and well," believes that this is crucial.
The modern economy demands ever more complicated, fast-moving and creative projects. Formal contracts just aren't up to the task of keeping us honest in these circumstances, which means you need to be able to trust your colleagues - something that still requires you to look them in the eyes. The conference circuit is likely to be with us for a while.
显然，距离已不复存在。电子通讯比以往任何时候都更好，价格也更为低廉。刚才，我坐在沙发上，用一部廉价笔记本电脑在邻居的无线网络上登录，订了一部免费的四频手机，据说，我可以用这部手机在全世界几乎所有地方打电话、发电子邮件。
更关键的是，没人对此会感到有任何意外。虚拟世界，黑莓(BlackBerries)，以及在当地星巴克(Starbucks)召开视频会议--这一切都已变得如此便捷、寻常，并且迅速。
从直觉上，这将意味着地理位置变得不那么重要。电子邮件和视频会议，意味着可以减少空中旅行。不用再有达沃斯(Davos)召开的商务会议。远程工作者无需阻塞道路，而伦敦和纽约的地产价格应当下跌，因为人们在Anglesey或艾奥瓦(Iowa)完成了他们的投行工作。
任何人都能发现，上述说法有些问题。尽管通信便捷、运输成本下降，但对大多数人而言，地理位置仍然与以前一样重要。人们并未停止乘飞机参加各种会议；世界经济论坛(World Economic Forum)会议不停地在10多个国家轮流召开。在美国，纽约是为数不多的几个地产市场没出现问题的地方之一，少数几个热点城市正吸引着比以往更多的、受过教育的年轻人。
那么，问题出在哪儿呢？在某种程度上，同样的事情也发生在了无纸化办公场所。计算机使制作大量文档变得更为便捷和廉价。不错，原则上讲，文档可以在屏幕上看，但是干嘛不把它打印出来呢？
同样，电子邮件、互联网和廉价电话使我们便于维护大量的关系。从原则上讲，有些东西可以限制在电脑空间中完成，但那又有多少乐趣？同样一封电子邮件，可以使你维持远距离的商业关系，但同时也造成了进行更多商务旅行的需求，因为人们设法抢先建立那些关系。
在离家比较近的地方，通信技术使安排一场朋友聚饮比以往任何时候都更加容易。只要向一个发送列表发电子邮件，或者把邀请张贴在你的在线日记上就行。但是，如果你的朋友们在几百英里之外，这种做法就没多大用处了。
电子邮件和移动电话根本无法替代面对面的沟通。正如经济学家杰斯•加斯帕(Jess Gaspar)和艾德•格莱泽(Ed Glaeser)所指出的，它们只是面对面交流的一种补充。
其它科技进步，也巩固了位置的重要性。如果你可以全世界任何地方购买企业、电影或保险，为什么不从质量最好或价格最便宜的生产商所在地购买呢？曾经在国内占主导地位的城市，也可以成为国际化大都市。住在纽约或伦敦，变得更有价值，而不是价值缩水。
面对面的会议，总是有助于增强信任，同时传达意思更清晰。经济历史学家尼古拉斯•克拉夫茨(Nicholas Crafts)最近在牛津大学(Oxford)的一次讲话中总结道，"距离没有消失，而且还很重要"，他认为这个因素十分关键。
现代经济需要比以往更为复杂、迅速变化和有创造性的项目。正式的合同还是无法等同于在这些情况下保证我们诚实，这意味着你要能够相信你的同事--这还是需要你看着他们的眼睛。因此，到处开会的情况可能还是要持续一段时间。
关键字:双语阅读
生词表:
More to the point, nobody would be remotely surprised to hear it. Virtual worlds, BlackBerries, video-conferencing from the local Starbucks - it has all become so easy, and so commonplace, so quickly.
Intuitively, that should mean that geography becomes less important. E-mail and video-conferencing mean fewer flights. No more business conferences or meetings at Davos. Telecommuters don't need to clog up the roads, and property prices in London and New York should slide as people carry out their investment-banking responsibilities from Anglesey or Iowa.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out that there's something wrong with this argument. Despite the ease of communication and the fall in the cost of transporting goods, for most people geography seems to be as important as ever. People haven't stopped flying for meetings and conferences; the World Economic Forum meetings are now a round-the-calendar circus in more than 10 countries. New York is one of the few places in the US where the property market isn't stuttering. In the US, a few hotspot cities are sucking in ever-larger concentrations of young educated workers.
So what is happening? To some extent, the same thing that happened to the paperless office. It turned out that all those computers made it easy and cheap to produce a lot of documents. Yes, the documents could in principle have been viewed on screen, but why not print them out?
Similarly, e-mail, internet networking and cheap phone calls have made it easy to maintain a lot of relationships. In principle some of them could be restricted to cyberspace, but how much fun is that? The same e-mail that allows you to maintain a long-distance business relationship also creates demand for more travel as people try to establish those relationships in the first place.
Closer to home, communication technology makes it easier than ever to arrange a drink with friends. Just e-mail a distribution list or post the invitation on your online journal. This spontaneity isn't much use if your friends are hundreds of miles away.
E-mail and mobile phones aren't substitutes for face-to-face contact at all. As the economists Jess Gaspar and Ed Glaeser have pointed out, they are complements to it.
Other technological changes have also strengthened the importance of place. If you can buy cars or films or insurance from anywhere in the world, why not buy from the place that hosts the best or cheapest producer? Cities that were once nationally dominant can become international champions too. It becomes more valuable, not less valuable, to locate in New York or London.
Face-to-face meetings have always fostered trust and clearer communication. Nicholas Crafts, an economic historian who recently concluded a talk at Oxford with the message "Distance is alive and well," believes that this is crucial.
The modern economy demands ever more complicated, fast-moving and creative projects. Formal contracts just aren't up to the task of keeping us honest in these circumstances, which means you need to be able to trust your colleagues - something that still requires you to look them in the eyes. The conference circuit is likely to be with us for a while.
显然，距离已不复存在。电子通讯比以往任何时候都更好，价格也更为低廉。刚才，我坐在沙发上，用一部廉价笔记本电脑在邻居的无线网络上登录，订了一部免费的四频手机，据说，我可以用这部手机在全世界几乎所有地方打电话、发电子邮件。
更关键的是，没人对此会感到有任何意外。虚拟世界，黑莓(BlackBerries)，以及在当地星巴克(Starbucks)召开视频会议--这一切都已变得如此便捷、寻常，并且迅速。
从直觉上，这将意味着地理位置变得不那么重要。电子邮件和视频会议，意味着可以减少空中旅行。不用再有达沃斯(Davos)召开的商务会议。远程工作者无需阻塞道路，而伦敦和纽约的地产价格应当下跌，因为人们在Anglesey或艾奥瓦(Iowa)完成了他们的投行工作。
任何人都能发现，上述说法有些问题。尽管通信便捷、运输成本下降，但对大多数人而言，地理位置仍然与以前一样重要。人们并未停止乘飞机参加各种会议；世界经济论坛(World Economic Forum)会议不停地在10多个国家轮流召开。在美国，纽约是为数不多的几个地产市场没出现问题的地方之一，少数几个热点城市正吸引着比以往更多的、受过教育的年轻人。
那么，问题出在哪儿呢？在某种程度上，同样的事情也发生在了无纸化办公场所。计算机使制作大量文档变得更为便捷和廉价。不错，原则上讲，文档可以在屏幕上看，但是干嘛不把它打印出来呢？
同样，电子邮件、互联网和廉价电话使我们便于维护大量的关系。从原则上讲，有些东西可以限制在电脑空间中完成，但那又有多少乐趣？同样一封电子邮件，可以使你维持远距离的商业关系，但同时也造成了进行更多商务旅行的需求，因为人们设法抢先建立那些关系。
在离家比较近的地方，通信技术使安排一场朋友聚饮比以往任何时候都更加容易。只要向一个发送列表发电子邮件，或者把邀请张贴在你的在线日记上就行。但是，如果你的朋友们在几百英里之外，这种做法就没多大用处了。
电子邮件和移动电话根本无法替代面对面的沟通。正如经济学家杰斯•加斯帕(Jess Gaspar)和艾德•格莱泽(Ed Glaeser)所指出的，它们只是面对面交流的一种补充。
其它科技进步，也巩固了位置的重要性。如果你可以全世界任何地方购买企业、电影或保险，为什么不从质量最好或价格最便宜的生产商所在地购买呢？曾经在国内占主导地位的城市，也可以成为国际化大都市。住在纽约或伦敦，变得更有价值，而不是价值缩水。
面对面的会议，总是有助于增强信任，同时传达意思更清晰。经济历史学家尼古拉斯•克拉夫茨(Nicholas Crafts)最近在牛津大学(Oxford)的一次讲话中总结道，"距离没有消失，而且还很重要"，他认为这个因素十分关键。
现代经济需要比以往更为复杂、迅速变化和有创造性的项目。正式的合同还是无法等同于在这些情况下保证我们诚实，这意味着你要能够相信你的同事--这还是需要你看着他们的眼睛。因此，到处开会的情况可能还是要持续一段时间。
关键字:双语阅读
生词表:
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