????兩年多來，賀拉斯?德迪歐一直在數據可視化挑戰極限。上周日下午，他在個人博客Asymco.com上發布了交互式圖表，實現了超越自我。

????絕大部分傳統圖表都是二維空間圖，僅僅依靠X軸和Y軸展示數據。如果想觀察數據在這兩個維度上是如何隨時間變化的，則必須畫出一系列的圖表。

????對于德迪歐而言，這是個不同尋常的挑戰。因為在過去四年，他一直在從各個方面搜集主要手機制造商的數據——包括價格、利潤、銷量、收益和營運利潤率。怎樣才能把所有數據全部融入到一張圖表呢？

????現在德迪歐已經大功告成了。他的方法如下：使用一張基于Flash，能夠互動的氣泡式圖表。讀者能夠從中選擇八家制造商、五個Y軸、六個X軸、七種顏色以及八種尺寸。挑出一家公司，選擇“跟蹤”選項、再點擊播放按鈕，然后你就能得到和文章開篇圖片類似的圖表了。這張圖展示了蘋果（Apple）iPhone的營收與營運利潤率隨時間變化的關系，圖形的顏色（藍色）和體積顯示iPhone的銷量相對較低但利潤非常豐厚。

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????Horace Dediu, who has been pushing the envelope of data visualization for more than two years, has outdone himself with the interactive chart he posted on his Asymco.com blog Sunday afternoon.

????Most conventional graphs display data over just two axes, X and Y. If you want to see how the data in those dimensions change over time, you end up having to draw a series of charts.

????That's a particular challenge for Dediu because he's been collecting data on the leading mobile phone vendors over the past four years in many dimensions, including price, profit, volume, revenue and operating margin. How could he possibly squeeze all that into one chart?

????Well, now he's done it. His solution: An interactive Flash-based bubble chart that allows you to choose among eight vendors, five Y axes, six X-axes, seven color options and six size options. Pick a company, choose the "tracer" option, hit the play button and you get pictures like the one at right, which shows Apple's (AAPL) iPhone revenues against its operating margins graphed over time where the color (blue) and size of its bubble indicates relatively low volumes and outsized profits.

????上面展示的是諾基亞（Nokia）在大致同一時期的圖片。剛開始銷量很高（紅色），利潤也非常豐厚，但隨著營運利潤率和收益的下降，蛇形圖開始不情愿地彎向左下角。諾基亞的銷量從紅色變為黃色，而代表其利潤的圖形也縮成了狹長的圓錐形。

????The chart at left is Nokia's (NOK) path over roughly the same time period. It starts off selling high volumes (red) and making big profits and moves in a sickly southwestward direction as its margins and revenues shrink, its volumes shift from red to yellow and its profits tighten into a narrow cone.

????You can set your parameters in thousands of permutations and draw your own bubble charts for Research in Motion (RIMM), Motorola (MOT), Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC and LG -- or show eight competitors snaking over space-time all at once.

????I've never seen anything quite like it. Click here to get started.