The billionaire battle for the metaverse 

Next, they operate in constrained worlds. Apple is a particular bugbear for Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Sweeney. The iPhone-maker is using the privacy settings in its iOS operating system to control the extent to which Facebook can sell digital adverts. Epic is engaged in an antitrust battle with Apple over the fees its App Store imposes on game developers, which has so far been fairly unsuccessful. That is why both men vow so vehemently to promote interoperability—ie, no closed systems —as well as common standards. They, too,want to be architects of the operating systems of the future.

Vehement  adj. /ˈviːəmənt/（感情）强烈的，激烈的；（尤指）愤怒的 • a vehement denial/attack/protest, etc. 强烈的否认、攻击、抗议等

interoperability /ˌɪntərˌɒpərəˈbɪləti/ n. [计] 互操作性；互用性

They won't have the field to themselves. Apple, though so far quiet about the metaverse, is no doubt preparing an offensive. Telecoms firms want a sniff, having invested heavily in ultra-fast, low-latency 5G spectrum. Rapidly growing platforms like Roblox, offering a build-your-own games model that attracts 200m users a month, have already captured young hearts. There are naysayers, too, notably proponents of more distributed technologies that are known as Web3, who argue that block chains and cryptocurrencies are the next big thing-though as Ben Thompson, a tech pundit,points out, these may find much better use cases in the metaverse than in the real world.

They won't have the field to themselves. 这句话直译是他们（前面提到的布局元宇宙的公司）不会有自己的field。这个field指的应该是元宇宙中公司所控制的领域（市场）。这个整句话要联系上下文进行理解，上文提到的是脸书、腾讯等一些企业的元宇宙布局。下文就提到苹果、通讯企业等其他主体也会在元宇宙的世界分一杯羹。因此我理解是元宇宙的市场不会被脸书之类的互联网巨头所垄断。

sniff/snɪf/  

动：1.抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气） •We all had colds and couldn't stop sniffing and sneezing. 我们都感冒了，一个劲地抽鼻子，打喷嚏。 2.~ (at) (sth) （吸着气）嗅，闻

名词：1.吸气（声）；抽鼻子（声）；嗅；闻•She took a deep sniff of the perfume. 她使劲闻了闻香水。 2.~ of sth 感觉；察觉 •The sniff of power went to his head. 权力在握的感觉使他得意忘形。3. ~ of sth 微小的可能性•She didn't get even a sniff at a medal. 她根本不可能拿到奖牌。 4. have a (good) ˌsniff aˈround：仔细检查（某处）

low-latency ：低延时，低等待时间                  5G spectrum：5G频谱

Roblox：一个大型多人在线游戏创建平台

naysayer /ˈneɪseɪə/摇头族（指那些说某事成不了、经常否定、拒绝或者反对一些事情的人）

Pundit  n. /ˈpʌndɪt/ 行家；权威；专家

Moonshots

There is a lot to play for. AS Mr Thompson says:"Elon Musk wants to go to the Moon. Mark Zuckerberg wants to create entirely new moons in digital space." But just as space is a race, so is the metaverse. Messrs Zuckerberg, Huang, Sweeney, Ma et al may promise a future for the internet that is more open, immersive and engaging than the mobile one that exists today. But each wants to get there first, so that they can set the rules to their advantage.

Messrs /ˈmesərz/ 先生的复数形态，Mr的复数形式，用于一组人名或公司名称前）

译文

Next, they operate in constrained worlds. Apple is a particular bugbear for Mr Zuckerberg and Mr Sweeney. The iPhone-maker is using the privacy settings in its iOS operating system to control the extent to which Facebook can sell digital adverts. Epic is engaged in an antitrust battle with Apple over the fees its App Store imposes on game developers, which has so far been fairly unsuccessful. That is why both men vow so vehemently to promote interoperability—ie, no closed systems —as well as common standards. They, too,want to be architects of the operating systems of the future.

其次，他们在受约束的世界中运作。对于扎克伯格和斯威尼来说，苹果尤其令人头疼。iphone制造商正在使用iOS操作系统中的隐私设置来控制Facebook销售数字广告的范围。Epic正在针对苹果在其应用商店上对游戏开发商的强制收费参与一场反垄断战争，目前来看不怎么成功。这也是为什么这两个人都慷慨宣誓要提高系统间的互操作性（既不能封闭系统）并推行通用标准。他们也希望成为未来操作系统的设计师。

They won't have the field to themselves. Apple, though so far quiet about the metaverse, is no doubt preparing an offensive. Telecoms firms want a sniff, having invested heavily in ultra-fast, low-latency 5G spectrum. Rapidly growing platforms like Roblox, offering a build-your-own games model that attracts 200m users a month, have already captured young hearts. There are naysayers, too, notably proponents of more distributed technologies that are known as Web3, who argue that block chains and cryptocurrencies are the next big thing-though as Ben Thompson, a tech pundit,points out, these may find much better use cases in the metaverse than in the real world.

他们不会独占市场。虽然苹果目前为止对元宇宙没啥表态，但绝对会有动作。通讯企业在急速、低延时的5G通讯上进行了大量投资，也想要在元宇宙分杯羹。如Roblox那样的快速成长的平台，它提供可以自己创建游戏的模式每月吸引了2亿用户，已经俘获了年轻人的心。还有一些否定党，比较突出的是分散式的互联网技术WEB3的支持者，他们主张区块链和加密货币是未来的主流趋势。然而，Ben Thompson，一位科技专家指出，这些技术有可能在元宇宙中找到更好的应用而不是现实世界。

Moonshots

There is a lot to play for. AS Mr Thompson says:"Elon Musk wants to go to the Moon. Mark Zuckerberg wants to create entirely new moons in digital space." But just as space is a race, so is the metaverse. Messrs Zuckerberg, Huang, Sweeney, Ma et al may promise a future for the internet that is more open, immersive and engaging than the mobile one that exists today. But each wants to get there first, so that they can set the rules to their advantage.

还有更多的去探索。如同Thompson先生所说：“马斯克想探索月亮，扎克伯格想在数字空间创造全新的月亮。”就如太空探索是一场赛跑一样，元宇宙开发也是。扎克伯格、黄、斯维尼和马化腾等人可能承诺会带来比现今移动互联网更加开放、沉浸式和参与感的未来网络。但他们谁都想先人一步，这样就可以制定对自己有理的规则

英文转自：《经济学人商论》21年12月刊