eD!ToR S!D's BR@!NLoG

（以下是頤德今天剛發的新聞稿，我在截稿還沒時間看，各位貴賓頂著加減看，保證是第一手燒燙燙的PR，還估狗不到~~）
(and then..I find the eng. edition lo)

Over the past decade, software has evolved to build bridges between disconnected islands of information and give people powerful ways to communicate, collaborate and access the data that's most important to them.

在過往十年中，軟體的發展一日千里，它將各自為政的資訊孤島串聯起來，讓使用者能在繁雜的資訊汪洋中更有效率地溝通，協同作業以及快速存取重要的資料。

But the software challenges that lie ahead are less about getting access to the information people need, and more about making sense of the information they have -- giving them the ability to focus, prioritize and apply their expertise, visualize and understand key data, and reduce the amount of time they spend dealing with the complexity of an information-rich environment.

然而，現今軟體發展所面臨的挑戰不再僅限於如何協助使用者取得所需的資訊，更應該將重心放在如何應用這些資訊。軟體的發展除了功能的增強之外，更應該將使用者的專業技能納入考量，如此一來，使用者無須浪費太多的時間去尋找需要的資料，反而可以將寶貴的時間專注於問題的分析，問題的優先順序以及具體有效的解決方案。

To tackle these challenges, information-worker software needs to evolve. It's time to build on the capabilities we have today and create software that helps information workers adapt and thrive in an ever-changing work environment. Advances in pattern recognition, smart content, visualization and simulation, as well as innovations in hardware, displays and wireless networks, all give us an opportunity to re-imagine how software can help people get their jobs done.

為因應這些挑戰，便需要更進一步提升資訊工作者 (Information Worker) 軟體的能力。以目前軟體能力為基石，我們必須更加速開發新一代軟體，以協助資訊工作者在瞬息萬變的工作環境中能更又效能及獲致成功。如同硬體、顯示器以及無線網路的不斷創新，在軟體上，更先進的作業模式辨識(Pattern Recognition)、智慧型內容、具象化及模擬等等的新功能都讓我們以更開闊的想像空間去構思新一代軟體如何幫助資訊工作者能更輕易作業。
 
This is an important goal not only because the technology has evolved to make it possible, but also because the way we work is changing.

這是一項重要的目標，不僅因為今日的科技技術可望達成此目標，同時也因為我們的工作方式不斷在改變。既然各位都是微軟執行長電子郵件的訂閱者，我希望這次針對上述變化的討論，能對各位有所助益。

Now more than ever, competitive advantage comes from the ability to transform ideas into value -- through process innovation, strategic insights and customized services. We are evolving toward a diverse yet unified global market, with customers, partners and suppliers that work together across cultures and continents. The global workforce is always on and always connected -- requiring new tools to help people organize and prioritize their work and personal lives. Business is becoming more transparent, with a greater need to ensure accountability, security and privacy within and across organizations. And a generation of young people who grew up with the Internet is entering the workforce, bringing along workstyles and technologies that feel as natural to them as pen and paper.

透過製程革新、更深層的策略規劃以及更優質的客戶服務，將創意轉換為市場價值的競爭優勢將較以往更形重要。
透過與全世界各地不同文化及區域的客戶、合作夥伴及供應商緊密的合作，我們正朝多樣且富一致性的全球化市場邁進。全球化的工作時時刻刻都在發生，並且相互接軌－因此需要新的工具，協助人們能夠妥善管理自己的工作及生活。隨著企業愈加透明化，伴隨而來對於企業本身及內部跨部門之間資訊的可信度、安全性及隱私權的需求也越來越重要。與網際網路共同成長的新一代年輕人正加入工作行列，因此新的工作風格以及對資訊科技的應用，對這些年輕人而言，早已司空見慣。

All of these changes are giving people new and better ways to work, but they also bring a new set of challenges: a deluge of information, constant demands on their attention, new skills to master and pressure to be ever more productive.

這些改變帶給人們更新更好的工作方式，但也同時帶來新的挑戰：資訊氾濫、不間斷的需求變化、學習處理變化的新技能，以及提高生產力的壓力。

For example, "information overload" is becoming a serious drag on productivity -- the typical information worker in North America gets 10 times as much e-mail as in 1997, and that number continues to increase. A recent study showed that 56 percent of workers are overwhelmed by multiple simultaneous projects and interrupted too often; one-third say that multi-tasking and distractions are keeping them from stepping back to process and reflect on the work they're doing. In the United Kingdom, it's estimated that stress accounts for nearly one-third of absenteeism and sick leave.

舉例而言，「資訊超載」已經成為嚴重延誤生產力的主要原因。我們可以輕易地發現，目前在北美的資訊工作者，這些人每天所收到的電子郵件已經是1997年時的十倍多，我們更可以預期在未來的四年中，會成長到目前的五倍以上。根據近期的一份研究報告指出，56% 的工作者必須同時肩負多數個重要的專案計畫，且工作經常受到打擾；而有三分之一的工作者表示，同時肩負多項工作及分散注意力在每份工作上，往往使其無法回至一般作業流程，且對目前的工作不利。據估計，英國將近三分之一的曠職與病假與這種作業模式所產生的壓力有關。

It's also not easy enough just to find the information people need to do their jobs. The software innovations of the 1980s and 1990s, which revolutionized how we create and manipulate information, have created a new set of challenges: finding information, visualizing and understanding it, and taking action. Industry analysts estimate that information workers spend up to 30 percent of their working day just looking for data they need. All the time people spend tracking down information, managing and organizing documents, and making sure their teams have the data they need, could be much better spent on analysis, collaboration, insight and other work that adds value.

然而，要找尋工作所需的資訊也絕非易事。1980 和 1990 年代的軟體創新，徹底革新了我們建立和操控資訊的方式，但也同時形成新的挑戰：如何尋找資訊、具體化並了解資訊，然後採取行動。根據 IDC 分析公司估計，資訊工作者每天花 2.5 個小時尋找工作所需的資料－佔去一個工作日 30% 的時間。人們花在搜尋資訊、管理並組織文件、確定工作團隊擁有所需資料的時間，應該可以更有效的運用在分析、協同作業、洞察理解及其他有附加價值的工作上。

At Microsoft, we believe that the key to helping businesses become more agile and productive in the global economy is to empower individual workers -- giving them tools that improve efficiency and enable them to focus on the highest-value work. And a new generation of software is an important ingredient in making this happen.

在微軟，我們相信協助企業於全球經濟中能更靈活應對、更具生產力的關鍵在於提升每個資訊工作者的效能，給予他們更適切的工具提昇效率，並使他們能更專注於最具價值的工作。然而若要實現這個目標，就必須仰賴新一代的軟體。
 
How We Will Work  未來的工作方式

Over the next decade, we see a tremendous opportunity to help companies of all sizes maximize the impact of employees and workgroups, drive deeper connections with customers and partners, enable informed and timely decision-making, and manage and protect critical information.

在未來十年中，我們可以預見一個絕佳的發展契機，可以協助各種規模的企業，將員工及工作群組的能力發揮至極限、讓企業與客戶及商業上的夥伴更緊密地結合、讓資訊在企業中更透通，並協助管理人員達成更有效率的決策，除此之外，並有效地管理及保護公司重要的資訊避免遭到入侵。

The next generation of information-worker applications will build on promising technologies -- such as machine learning, rich metadata for data and objects, new services-based standards for collaboration, advances in computing and display hardware, and self-administering, self-configuring applications -- transforming them into software that will truly enhance the way people work --

下一代的資訊工作者應用程式將會結合前景看好的科技－如智慧型學習、更豐富詳盡的資料與物件查詢系統、以最新XML為標準而建構的協同作業，更先進的計算與顯示器硬體的提升，以及自我管理與自我最佳化設定的應用程式－將這些科技轉換成可真實提升工作方式的軟體：

Improving personal productivity: One consequence of an "always-on" environment is the challenge of prioritizing, focusing and working without interruption. Today's software can handle some of this, but hardly at a level that matches the judgment and awareness of a human being. That will change -- new software will learn from the way you work, understand your needs, and help you set priorities.

提高個人生產力：對於「永不停息」的作業環境而言，最嚴格的挑戰莫過於如何列出各項工作的優先順序性、如何能不受干擾地專注完成這些重要的工作。目前的軟體可以處理以上部分問題，但其能力終究無法與人類的判斷力與警覺性相比。這種限制將再不久的將來獲得突破，新的軟體將會學習您的工作方式、了解您的需求，並協助設定工作優先順序。

Pattern recognition and adaptive filtering: Rules and learned behavior will soon be able to automate many routine tasks. Software will be able to make inferences about what you're working on and deliver the information you need in an integrated and proactive way. As software learns your working preferences, it can flexibly manage your interruptions -- if you're working on a high-priority memo under a tight deadline, for example, software should be able to understand this and only allow phone calls or e-mails from, say, your manager or a family member.

作業模式辨認與適應性：透過規則和學習行為，將可幫助使用者將許多例行工作自動化。新一代的軟體能夠推測使用者正在執行的工作，主動蒐集並提供所有相關的資訊。當智慧型軟體已經學習到了你的工作偏好，便能夠靈活地判斷哪些事情或是人物能在何時中斷你目前手邊的工作。舉例而言，若是你正在處理一份緊急的備忘錄，軟體將能輕易地判斷你正處於無法接受干擾的狀態，因此，軟體將會自動設定過濾掉所有不重要的電話及電子郵件，只有當你的主管或是配偶找你時，才會通知你。

Unified communication: Integrated communication will provide a single "point of entry" to the networked world that is consistent across applications and devices. People should have a unified, complete view of their communication options, whether by voice or text, real-time or offline, with ready access to tools like speech-to-text and machine translation. You should be able to listen to your email, or read your voicemail. Project notifications, meetings, business applications, contacts and schedules should be accessible within a single consistent view, whether you're at your desk, down the hall, on the road or working at home.

溝通一致性：整合式的溝通將提供網路世界的單一「入口」，所有網路上的應用程式及裝置中皆適用。對於溝通的選項，應該透過一致且完整的檢視讓使用者可以一目暸然。無論是連線或是離線狀態，使用者均可以使用語音或是文字輸入的方式直接使用到內建的工具程式，比方說語音辨識輸入及轉譯等功能。如此以來，你可以直接收聽電子郵件的內容，也可以在電腦上看到語音留言的內容。經由一目瞭然的檢視畫面，無論你是在辦公桌前、上下樓梯、走在路上或是在家工作，都能輕易地存取企劃案通知、會議、商業應用、聯絡人以及行程安排等等資訊。

Presence: We're just beginning to tap the potential of presence information to help information and notifications flow where they're needed and better enable ad-hoc collaboration to solve problems and get things done. Presence information connects people and their schedules to documents and workflow, keeping you close to the changing data and expert insight that is relevant to what you're doing.

善用現有的資訊：我們正嘗試應用現有資訊來強化資訊及通報系統的作業流程，並透過臨時性的協同作業機制來解決一些問題。現有的資訊將人及時間行程銜接至文件與工作流程，讓你更了解與工作相關之瞬息萬變的資料，並學習專業的洞察力。

Team collaboration: Over the next decade, shared workspaces will become far more robust, with richer tools to automate workflow and connect all the people, data and resources it takes to get things done. They will capture live data and documents in ways that will benefit teams that work across the hall or around the globe. Meetings will be recorded with sophisticated cameras that can detect and focus on speakers around the room. Notes taken on a whiteboard will automatically be captured and emailed to participants, and attached to the video of the meeting. They will also serve as lasting repositories for institutional knowledge, so teams won't have to "reinvent the wheel" and work with limited knowledge of the company's past experience.

團隊合作：在未來十年內，共享的工作環境將會發展的更為健全，在共享的工作環境中，豐富的工具程式將自動地整合所有相關的人力、資料及資源以便完成工作。此工作環境將可擷取即時的資料和文件，將這些有用的資訊傳送給整個工作團隊，無論這些團隊位於全球的任何地點，都可因此而獲益。舉例而言，會議的形式可能出現重大的轉變，我們無須再長途跋涉聚集在一起開會。經由共享的工作環境，數台高精密的數位攝影機將自動對焦於發言者，並將影像即時傳送給所有參加會議的人。而會議中討論的重點及會議記錄也可以透過電子白板自動擷取，連同會議的影像檔案透過電子郵件傳送給所有與會者。同時，這份會議記錄還會自動儲存至知識管理的資料庫中，讓相關的工作團隊都可以分享這些資訊，如此一來，知識的累積將更快速有效率，工作團隊將不必再面臨窘迫而稀疏的經驗傳承，也無須一切都重新來過。

Optimizing supply chains: XML and rich Web services are increasingly making it possible for businesses to seamlessly share information and processes with partners, and build supply chains that stretch across multiple organizations but work as a unified whole. But there's still plenty of friction that can be removed from the way companies work together. Employees shouldn't have to manually match purchase orders with invoices. They shouldn't need to print and mail bills that could easily be sent in electronic form. Expanding the reach of Web services can help optimize and reduce the amount of unnecessary manual work and make these supply chains vastly more efficient.

供應鏈最佳化：由於XML以及多樣化的網路服務快速發展，我們已經可以與所有的商業伙伴共享各種商業資訊以及作業流程，並與數個不同的供應商共同架構統一的供應鍊管理系統。然而，不同的公司在尋求共同合作之際，利益的衝突摩擦總是在所難免，因此，我們應該花多一些時間及精力去思考如何移除這些障礙。如果這些障礙都可以漸漸除去，財部部的人員將不再需要加班去一張張核對訂單及發票，也不需要列印所有的帳單再一一郵寄，可以經由電子表單直接寄送客戶。善用網路服務的延伸可幫助達到最佳化，並減少不必要的人工作業，使供應鏈達發揮最大的效率。

Finding the right information: A new layer of context-sensitive services will give you flexible and intuitive ways to manage information that go beyond the "file and folder" metaphor of today. You shouldn't have to "think like a database" and formulate search queries to ask for the information you need. Pattern recognition can help tag and organize information automatically, as well as extract meaning from documents and enable them to be queried in more natural and intuitive ways.

發現正確資訊：目前的資訊多數是透過「檔案及資料夾」的形式存在，因此，使用者必須層層開啟檔案夾，方能找到需要的資訊。這種耗時又費工的作法在新一代的軟體中將被徹底顛覆。新的”context-sensitive” (智慧型關聯式)的層級觀念將提供更靈活及直覺式的管理。使用者不需要以「資料庫方式思考」，然後設定搜尋問題來找出需要的資訊。作業模式辨認可自動標記並組織資訊，自文件中擷取摘要，以便以更自然、更直覺式的方式提出問題。

Spotting trends for business intelligence: Sophisticated algorithms will be able to sort through millions of gigabytes of data to identify trends that human analysts might miss. Software should be able to find meaningful connections in mountains of data and present them to experts -- or even automated processes -- that can act on them. Software can ensure that actions which result in changes to other work processes will automatically ripple through the system, making the entire business more agile and responsive to information that affects the bottom line. Over time, software will "learn" what information people use -- and what they don't -- and will adjust its behavior accordingly.

察覺商業智能的趨勢：精密的演算法可以針對數千億的資料進行整理，找出人類分析師可能遺漏的趨勢。軟體應能在龐大的資料中發現有意義的連結，並交給專家繼續處理，或者經由軟體本身內建的商業智能分析功能更近一步地完成分析。軟體必須要確保其他作業程序處理完成的結果必須要能及時且自動地更新所有的工作群組，讓資訊保持在最更新的狀態，使整個企業對於影響其底線的資訊能夠採取更敏捷的回應。經過一段時間後，軟體將「學會」資訊工作者的工作行為模式，並且依情況調整其本身行為模式。

Insights and structured workflow: Software should take a more holistic view of workflow, providing data and metrics on specific activities to make it easier and faster to spot inefficiencies and points of failure. Smarter workflow tools will use pattern recognition and logic to find problems such as repeated customer complaints or inventory problems, and route them to the right person for resolution. This will go a long way towards reducing frustration, lost time and errors that result from broken or inefficient processes.

洞察力與有組織的工作流程：軟體應對工作流程採取更全面性的檢視，針對特定活動提供資料與標準，以便能更輕易迅速地發現效率不佳和失敗之處。智慧型的工作流程工具使用模式辨認和邏輯觀念，可以輕易地發現重複的客戶抱怨或庫存問題，並將問題立即反應給適當的人員解決。如此將可大大降低不周全或效率欠佳的流程所帶來的挫折感、損失的時間和錯誤。

A New Generation of Productivity Software 新一代的生產力軟體

In a new world of work, where collaboration, business intelligence and prioritizing scarce time and attention are critical factors for success, the tools that information workers use must evolve in ways that do not add new complexity for people who already feel the pressure of an "always-on" world and ever-rising expectations for productivity.

在新的工作世界中，整合協同合作、商業智慧並將有限的時間及精力專注於最重要的事情上，將是成功的決定性因素。對於這些資訊工作者而言，新一代的軟體應該讓使用者覺得輕鬆方便。那些令資訊工作者備感壓力的「永不停機」作業以及提高生產力的期望都應該交由軟體，透過協同作業及商業智慧來承擔起這些重責大任。
 
We believe that the way out of this maze is through integration, simplification, and a new breed of software applications and services that manage complexity in the background, and extend human capabilities by automating low-value tasks and helping people make sense of complex data.

我們深信要解決目前的這些窘境，高度的整合、更精簡的作業程序以及新一代的應用軟體將扮演舉足輕重的角色。所有無價值卻繁雜的工作都應該由軟體接手處理，並協助人們將更多的時間專注於一些關鍵性資料的分析。

We aim to make this happen through a next-generation productivity platform that builds on the solid foundation of today's Microsoft Office system of programs and services. We will enable people to create more effective professional documents, access work information from anywhere, and better manage personal, team and project tasks. We're investing in a secure infrastructure that makes it easy for anyone to securely collaborate on documents and work processes. We're offering better data visualization and analysis tools that bring out the trends and patterns buried in mountains of data. We're making it easier for businesses to create, track, manage and distribute content both within and across organizational boundaries. And we're offering open XML standards and rapid development tools so corporate developers can build and extend applications that specifically target their needs.

我們將試圖在下一代的生產力平台中加入前述的關鍵性技術，協助資訊工作者達成此目標，此平台是依目前 Microsoft Office 系統的程式與服務之穩固基礎所建立。我們將更專注心力讓人們製作更有效率的專業文件、隨時隨地存取工作資訊、更有效管理個人、團隊以及專案等等工作。我們目前正投注於一項安全性的基礎架構，它可以讓任何人皆可輕易且安全地合作文件及工作流程。我們正在嘗試要提供更好的資料圖像化與分析工具，發現埋藏於龐大資料中的趨勢與模式。我們努力使企業能更輕易地在組織間建立、追蹤、管理並發佈內容。同時我們也提供開放式的XML 標準，以及更迅速的開發工具程式，如此企業研發人員便可建立並擴展針對其需求所產生的應用程式。

Microsoft has been innovating for the information worker for more than two decades -- and in many ways we've only just begun to scratch the surface of how software can help people realize their full potential.

為滿足資訊工作者的需求，微軟致力於軟體的研發也累積了二十多年的經驗。但是，要如何幫助人們實現每個人的無限潛能，我們仍有更多的努力空間。