????要在科技行業的激烈競爭中保持領先地位常常更像是一種暗黑藝術（dark art，20世紀誕生的一種藝術形式，以暗黑、野蠻和令人不安為特質，廣泛滲透到多種藝術形態中——譯注），而不是某種科學。每天都會有人發布新產品，而出于某種原因，一些產品大受追捧，更多的則一敗涂地，籍籍無名。

????這一點在互聯網和手機市場上表現得尤為真切：創意更好的公司往往一路高歌猛進，成為新的成功典范。在互聯網領域，谷歌公司（Google）和Facebook就找到了創新之道，讓眾多競爭者無立錐之地。在手機領域，蘋果公司（Apple）的iPhone和谷歌的安卓（Android）系統幾乎讓諾基亞公司（Nokia）和行動研究公司（Research In Motion）遭到了毀滅性的打擊。

????這類公司不僅能預知消費者的需求，還能提前把握那些推動消費者購買的驅動力。對Facebook來說，成功之道在于創造更好的社交體驗。對蘋果來說，秘訣則在于洞悉消費者對手機的需求。

????此后，這類公司大獲成功的兩大要素——更好的移動性和社交體驗已成為幾乎所有產品的關鍵所在。時至今日，如果某種產品、或某個公司不把重點放在移動功能上，就會顯得與潮流格格不入。同樣，如果軟件里不加上社交元素，人們就有充分的理由認為它犯下了大錯。

????去年，針對企業在移動領域的探索對大家的日常生活有何影響這個問題，互聯網研究公司KISSmetrics發布了一項研究報告。該公司發現，在2009年2月到2011年8月期間，移動瀏覽器在網絡瀏覽市場的份額增長了1,000%，25%的移動用戶希望每天能使移動設備至少訪問一次互聯網；如果電商開設了移動網站，互聯網用戶訪問的可能性將增加51%。

????與此同時，社交媒體已日益成為這個行業至關重要的組成部分。市場研究公司高德納（Gartner）7月稱，今年社交媒體的總收入——通過廣告、游戲、數字產品和其他來源獲得——將達到169億美元，相比去年的118億美元大幅上升。而到2016年，這個數字將達到340億美元。

????消費者顯然是社交和移動潮流最大的受益者，但企業作為科技行業中一直以來推動變革的主體，同樣受益匪淺。現在，各類大大小小的公司幾乎沒有一家不采用某種形式運用社交媒體。

????對各企業來說，撇下自己的網站，花更多心思推廣在Facebook上的主頁或Twitter推送已成為司空見慣的做法。如果要在開發移動應用和沿用以前的PC和網絡瀏覽器兩者中做出選擇，他們一定會選擇前者。

????移動和社交不光成為企業界的新寵，它們已經成了一種必需品。但是，真正能從這股潮流中賺到錢的公司卻鳳毛麟角。

????比如，谷歌已在社交市場上嘗試了很長時間，但幾乎每次努力都以失敗告終。盡管它宣稱自己的社交網絡Google+廣受歡迎，但實際用戶數卻始終飽受質疑。

????在社交這條道路上，就算蘋果公司（Apple）也走得并不平坦。跟許多公司一樣，蘋果也決定在自己的某個產品中加入社交元素。結果誰是贏家？是iTunes。誰是輸家？是用戶。

????蘋果iTunes推出的名為Ping的音樂社交網絡雖然加入了社交元素，但對那些僅僅想下載點兒音樂的普通用戶來說實在價值有限。而據蘋果稱，那些原本應該充分利用這一社交特性的音樂人，他們的使用程度也并沒有達到蘋果的預期。

????與此同時，行動研究公司和諾基亞卻是圍繞著移動性構建其整個商業模式的公司。但是，那些在競爭品牌手機中發現更多心儀特性的消費者卻毫不留情地棄他們于不顧。而盡管無數的開發者希望從移動用戶那里淘到金，卻只有一小撮人最后成功俘獲了移動用戶的芳心。

????Staying ahead of the competition in the tech world often seems more like a dark art than any sort of science. Every day brings new product launches, and for one reason or another, some catch on with customers while many others fall flat.

????That's especially true in the Web and mobile markets, where companies with better ideas have come along and changed what it takes to be successful. On the Web, Google (GOOG) and Facebook (FB) found ways to innovate and practically eliminate competitors. In the mobile space, Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, along with Google's Android, all but destroyed Nokia (NOK) and Research In Motion (RIMM).

????Those companies not only anticipated consumer demand but the forces that drive customer purchases as well. For Facebook, it was about delivering a better social experience. For Apple, it was about understanding consumers' mobile needs.

????Since then, the two factors that made those companies successful -- enhanced mobility and social experiences -- have become key components in nearly every available product. Nowadays, if a product or company doesn't have some sort of mobile focus, it looks old. And if a social element isn't tacked on to software, it's considered a mistake, and for arguably good reasons.

????Last year, customer-retention company KISSmetrics released a study it conducted on the impact of mobile efforts on our everyday lives. The organization found that between February 2009 and August 2011, mobile browsers had increased their share of the Web-surfing market by 1,000%. The company discovered that 25% of mobile users expect to access the Internet from their devices at least once a day, and said that Web users are 51% more likely to visit an online retailer if it has a mobile site.

????Meanwhile, social media has become an increasingly important aspect of the industry. Research firm Gartner said in July that total social-media revenue -- generated through advertising, gaming, digital goods, and other sources -- will hit $16.9 billion this year. That figure is up from $11.8 billion last year. And by 2016, it'll hit $34 billion, according to Gartner.

????Consumers are obviously the greatest benefactors of the social and mobile movements, but the enterprise -- long the change agent in the technology world -- is also playing the game. It's hard to find a single company, both large and small, that doesn't use social media in some fashion.

????It's not uncommon for companies to promote their Facebook pages or Twitter feeds rather than their own Web sites. And when given the chance to develop a mobile application or stick to the old days of PCs and Web browsers, they'll choose the former nearly every time.

????Mobile and social haven't just become favorites in the corporate world, they have become necessities. And yet, so few companies truly benefit from that.

????For example, Google has long tried its luck in the social market, but in nearly every case, its efforts have failed. And although the company claims its latest social network, Google+, is popular, its actual usage figures have been disputed.

????Even Apple has had a rough road with social. The company, like so many others in the industry, decided to tack on a social element into one of its products. The winner? iTunes. The loser? Users.

????Dubbed Ping, the social element delivers little value to the average user simply trying to download some music. And artists, who would want to leverage the feature, according to Apple, aren't doing so to the degree the iPhone maker would like.

????Research In Motion and Nokia, meanwhile, have entire business models centered on mobility. And yet, consumers who have found more to like in competing devices are ignoring them. And despite countless attempts to the contrary, only a precious few developers have been successful at captivating mobile customers.