最近，知识付费受到热捧。
十几分钟读完一本书，上一节直播课掌握一门技能，订阅一个专栏文章深入了解理财知识……
一方面，信息爆炸和知识焦虑的时代，知识付费提供的内容很好的满足了读者的需求；另一方面，还给内容生产者提供了更高效的赚钱渠道。
但同时，要付费才能获取知识，把一些囊中羞涩的人们挡在了信息的门外。
知识付费究竟有什么利弊呢？
以下是Global Times (Metro Shanghai)近期刊登的一篇评论，文中部分内容配有中文编译。你支持知识付费这种模式吗？文末有投票哟，欢迎大家参与！
Paying for knowledge might have negative effects on China
A new type of app featuring audio-book style self-help lessons recently appeared in China's tech market. For a while, most of these apps were free and depended on advertisers for income. Lately, however, the app makers have switched to a pay-for-play business model that requires a paid subscription.
最近，中国的手机应用市场上，悄然兴起一波提供知识付费服务的软件。曾几何时，我们享受着免费的APP，免费的内容，只是要看看广告。但是最近，越来越多的手机应用开始推出付费的内容，用付费订阅模式来赚钱。
These audio lessons quickly became quite popular among Chinese adults in their 20s, as they covered a broad range of subject matter, from money management to socializing and romance tips to Chinese history to distilling Nobel Prize-winning works into 30-minute tracks. The audio is usually recorded by experts in those fields who are articulate enough to be understood by the average listeners.
这种付费音频在二十几岁的人中间特别受欢迎。音频内容非常广泛，从理财到社交，从中国历史到诺奖作家的书籍。这些付费的音频由相关领域的专家来录制，把相关知识转化成通俗易懂的内容。
After switching to their new subscription-based business model, I reluctantly agreed to pay 35 yuan ($5.33) per month for my favorite audio app. Overall I have been happy with its service, but as my renewal period approaches, I am hesitant to continue paying what will amount to 300 yuan per year, which is rather expensive for a university student such as myself.
One of my biggest complaints is that I feel shared information on the Internet should be free. By sharing information and content, people all over the world are able to know more in order to improve their lives, thereby improving the world itself. Without free access to content and information, the Internet as we know it would be vastly different than it currently is.
我觉得网站上的信息应该是共享的、免费的。通过共享信息，世界各地的人可以获取更多的知识，提高生活质量，更会让世界变得更好。
Coursera, an American education-focused technology company founded by Stanford professors, paved the way for providing open access to information on the Internet. They currently provide over 2,000 courses.
著名的教育科技公司Coursera，在网上提供资源，提供一些免费的课程，就是一个很好的例子。
The Chinese apps that copied Coursera's formula, however, have unfortunately become corrupted by their own new-found popularity; once they attracted an audience, they started charging money. In a sense, they are causing a societal retrogression by blocking previously free access to information.
After all, if only rich people are the better-informed segment of a society, then only they will be able to make wiser decisions and, thus, gain even more wealth. Meanwhile, the poor are forced into a downward spiral where they are now blocked from being able to obtain once-free information and knowledge. As a result, the gap between rich and poor will become widened even more than it is. When information becomes a privilege instead of a right, imagine what happens to a society's overall development.
如果只有有钱人可以得到有价值的信息，那么只有他们可以做出更明智的决断，甚至最后获得更多的财富。同时，穷人没钱获取知识，不得不进入一个恶性循环，就变得更穷。结果就是贫富差距会越来越大。如果信息变成了一种特权，甚至会影响到社会的整体发展。
To reverse the negative trend of charging for information, my first suggestion to the Chinese entrepreneurs behind these audio apps would be to offer special discounts for students, as many are incapable of earning their own income.
一个建议就是这些手机软件可以给学生打折，因为学生还没有固定的收入。
These apps are immensely useful to Chinese students and can even be crucial to our academic performance and future career development. Thus, the apps should make a concerted effort to make knowledge fairly accessible to students. Perhaps the government could even get involved by paying for audio app subscriptions for students from poverty-stricken regions in China.
但是学生又是很需要获取各种信息知识，甚至会影响到他们的学习成绩和未来的职业发展。
My other suggestion, which would benefit an even larger segment of Chinese citizens, is to have related firms sponsor certain audio courses. For example, a lesson about family life could be sponsored by a baby food company, or a fitness chain could sponsor a lesson about health and wellness. This would allow the app makers to generate revenue while providing exposure to their corporate sponsor.
为了使更多的中国人受益，如果有相关的公司企业可以赞助这些付费的内容，会是很好的一个建议。比如家庭生活相关的内容，可以由儿童食品公司赞助，如何保持健康的相关内容可以由健身馆赞助。这样，内容生产者收益的同时，那些赞助商也能得到更多曝光。
It is true that intellectuals and educators often have a hard time making money, so I understand why these app makers have switched to a paid business model. But I disagree that we, the listeners, should be the ones footing the bill.
中国有一个有趣的说法叫“穷书生”，知识分子、教育工作者常常赚不到大钱，所以内容生产者以知识付费的模式增加收入情有可原。但是让渴望知识的大众买单，有点不合理。
原文/文案：Chen Zeling
图：Chen Xia、网络
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