On March 16th Bartleby left the offices of The Economist to head home.That was the last day when all editorial staff assembled in our London redoubt.And, at the time of writing, no date for a return to the office is in sight.It is remarkable how quickly we have adapted. The newspaper has been written, edited and produced from couches and kitchen tables. January and February seem like an ancient era-the BC (before coronavints) to the new AD (after domestication).The shift may rival great workplace transformations in the 19th and 20th centuries. Twitter has already said that all its employees will be allowed to work from home permanently and Facebook expects half its staff to do so within a decade.

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3月16号，巴托比离开《经济学人》的办公室回家了。那是所有编辑人员在我们的伦敦阵地集合的最后一天。并且在撰写本文的时候，返回办公室的日期尚不明确。我们适应的太快了，真是不可思议。这份报纸是在沙发和餐桌上进行写作、编辑和制作的。一月和二月仿佛是一个古老的纪元——公元前（冠状病毒前）到新的公元（居家后）。这种转变可能与19世纪和20世纪的职场大变革相匹敌。Twitter已经表示，允许所有员工永久居家办公，Facebook预计其一半员工将在10年内完成这项转变。

It bas been a much more sudden transition than occurred with factories.Steam power meant they were designed around one great power system, complete with belts and pulleys that snaked through the building. A failure at some point in the system meant the whole thing might grind to a halt.Then electrification allowed individual machines to have their own power source. But it took half a century from the introduction of electricity in the 1880s before factories were reconfigured to take advantage of the new power source.The current, rapid shift to AD was enabled by preconditions. First, broadband services are today quick enough to allow for document downloads and videoconferencing. Second, advanced economies revolve around services, not manufacturing. Back in the 1970s, when Britain adopted a three-day week (to combat a miners' strike), there were power cuts and TV stations had to close down early. In other words, home life was severely affected as well. The pandemic has not turned the lights off.

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这是一个比工业革命更为突然的转变。蒸汽动力意味着它们是围绕着一个巨大的动力系统设计的，由传送带和滑轮蜿蜒流通整个大楼来产生动力。系统中的某个故障意味着整个系统会缓慢停止。然后电气化允许单个机器有自己的电源。但是，从19世纪80年代引入电力到工厂重新配置以利用新能源，用了半个世纪的时间。目前快速向公元后的转变是由先决条件促成的。首先，今天的宽带服务很快，足以进行文件下载以及视频会议。第二，发达经济体围绕服务业展开，而非制造业。回到20世纪70年代，英国采取每周三天工作制（遏制矿工罢工）时，出现了断电现象，使电视台不得不提早关门。换句话说，家庭生活也受到了严重影响。但是疫情没有造成断电。

Not only that, it has made remote work seem both normal and acceptable. In the past employees who stayed home had to overcome the suspicion that they were bunking off.Now those who insist on being at the office sound self-important.Things are missing, of course. Video calls lack the spontaneity of a normal meeting; no off-the-cuff remarks to lighten the mood. Distance makes it difficult to generate camaraderie. Creativity is probably harder to foster.Octavius Black of Mindgym, a consultancy, says new ideas come from weak links in networks--ie, people you meet occasionally. Such "casual collisions" have become rarer.

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不仅如此，它还使远程工作看起来正常且可接受。过去，呆在家里的员工必须克服他们偷懒的嫌疑。现在那些坚持要在办公室的人听起来很自以为是。当然，有些东西不见了。视频通话缺少正常会议的自发性；没有即兴点评来带动气氛。距离使产生友情变得困难。创造力可能更难培养。咨询公司Mindgym的Octavius Black表示，新的想法来自于网络中的弱连接——即你偶尔遇到的人。这样“偶然的碰撞”变得越来越罕见了。

注释
1.in sight 看得见

There was no garage in sight, so I hitched a lift into town.

放眼望去看不到修车厂，所以我就搭顺风车进了城。

2.grind to a halt 缓慢停止

We saw the automobile grind to a halt when the engine blew up.

我们看见那辆车因为发动机出故障而慢慢地停下来了。

3.take advantage of 利用

We can take advantage of new technology more quickly by farming out computer operations.

把计算机业务分包出去，我们就可以更快地利用新技术。

4.revolve around 旋绕

Some of the most entertaining conversations you can have with friends revolve around dating horror stories.

你和朋友间一些有趣的谈话可以围绕着你的恐怖约会故事展开了。

5.off-the-cuff 未经准备的，即兴的

His aristocratic demeanour and habit of making off-the-cuff remarks contribute both to his appeal and his potential liability.

他贵族化的举止和发表即兴讲话的习惯，都增强了自身吸引力和潜在累赘的可能性。

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