戴上5D眼镜，体验多维图表

    两年多来，贺拉斯•德迪欧一直在数据可视化挑战极限。上周日下午，他在个人博客Asymco.com上发布了交互式图表，实现了超越自我。

    绝大部分传统图表都是二维空间图，仅仅依靠X轴和Y轴展示数据。如果想观察数据在这两个维度上是如何随时间变化的，则必须画出一系列的图表。

    对于德迪欧而言，这是个不同寻常的挑战。因为在过去四年，他一直在从各个方面搜集主要手机制造商的数据——包括价格、利润、销量、收益和营运利润率。怎样才能把所有数据全部融入到一张图表呢？

    现在德迪欧已经大功告成了。他的方法如下：使用一张基于Flash，能够互动的气泡式图表。读者能够从中选择八家制造商、五个Y轴、六个X轴、七种颜色以及八种尺寸。挑出一家公司，选择“跟踪”选项、再点击播放按钮，然后你就能得到和文章开篇图片类似的图表了。这张图展示了苹果（Apple）iPhone的营收与营运利润率随时间变化的关系，图形的颜色（蓝色）和体积显示iPhone的销量相对较低但利润非常丰厚。

    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.

    上面展示的是诺基亚（Nokia）在大致同一时期的图片。刚开始销量很高（红色），利润也非常丰厚，但随着营运利润率和收益的下降，蛇形图开始不情愿地弯向左下角。诺基亚的销量从红色变为黄色，而代表其利润的图形也缩成了狭长的圆锥形。

    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.