VOA标准英语2011--2nd Digital Revolution is Potential Bona

2nd Digital Revolution is Potential Bonanza¹ for Innovative² Startups

The buzz was palpable at "Internet Week New York," a digital culture festival. With more than 300,000 workers employed in New York's technology sector³, and nearly $2 billion in dot-com and online companies, Internet Week is one of the most closely watched events in the wired world.
Festival chairman David-Michel Davies is director of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which co-presented the event along with the New York City Mayor's office. He says new online platforms, such as smartphones, are sparking a second digital revolution for consumers, creating a potential bonanza for start-up entrepreneurs.
"Since we have these new platforms, they are just ripe for people to come in and make them even more useful. Like how can we make that mobile phone more useful? How can it improve people's daily lives? Obviously we've been doing this on the Web for decades at this point, but there is still so much room and space that can still be explored."
Foodspotting.com is one of Time Inc's "Ten Startups to Watch" program. Online restaurant reviews have been around for years, Davies says. But Foodspotting allows people to upload reviews of particular dishes, along with photos of their meals.
"I love barbecue. So where can I get the best brisket? You can go into Foodspotting and actually search ‘brisket in New York City' and you can actually see pictures of all the different brisket dishes at all the different barbeque places with ratings and so forth," says Davies.
Groups of friends who want to ensure that no one gets lost on the way to that special out-of-the-way restaurant can use GroupMe, another new online site that allows free group messaging to and from any mobile phone - almost like a private chatroom.
Those who simply want to relax at home watching TV, but are unsure what to watch might want to try SocialGuide.com. With Socialguide, viewers can use a mobile device to post comments about a show while they're watching it. Socialguide then ranks the show based on its social popularity.
Co-founder Sean Casey says the site offers information and the experience of online community, while also offering his partners and investors⁴ huge potential profits.
"The business side is that anytime anybody is talking about TV as TV airs, we are capturing that conversation," Casey says. "So that data is very, very important to a bunch of people. Networks are interested in that data. Advertisers are interested in that data. So our plan is to create a data product that we can sell back to networks and to advertisers so they can know what are the most socially engaging TV shows that people are liking⁵ and talking about."
Other consumer-oriented startups include Yipit, which consolidates⁶ online bargains and makes them available in one searchable database, and I-Ella, an invite-only website that allows fashion lovers to put their wardrobes online and to buy, swap⁷, sell or lend their clothes to other fashionistas. Buyers pay a 10 percent transaction fee which benefits their favorite charities.
What about a quick and easy way to pay the bills? Enter Manilla, a secure, free online service that consolidates all household accounts onto one page accessible through a single password. It also offers payment reminders⁸. The arrangement appeals to businesses as well.
"Businesses today spend tons of money and tons of waste in paper and postage. The Internet has been around for 15 years, and on average only 15 percent of bills are actually paperless. And it's causing businesses a fortune," says Jim Schinella, a Manilla co-founder. "So for a business we create this wonderful relationship."
Just which dot-com ideas will produce the next Google, Facebook, eBay or Netflix is anyone's guess. But it was clear from the excitement at Internet Week New York that the desire to digitally connect with others for fun or profit or both is as boundless⁹ as the Internet itself.

1 bonanza   

n.富矿带，幸运，带来好运的事

参考例句：

• Bargain hunters enjoyed a real bonanza today.到处买便宜货的人今天真是交了好运。
• What a bonanza for the winning ticket holders!对于手持胜券的人来说，这是多好的运气啊。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

6 consolidates   

巩固

参考例句：

• We've made a good start, now it's time to consolidate. 我们有了一个良好的开端，现在应该加以巩固。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Yuan Shih-k'ai, a would-be Oriental Bonaparte, now attempted to consolidate his power. 当时，一度可能成为东方波拿巴的袁世凯试图巩固他的权力。 来自英汉非文学 - 新闻报道

7 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

8 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

9 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。