Book 3  Unit 8

                               Text C   Obsolete Technology
                                              Jack Smith

Jack Smith is a well-known writer for a daily newspaper in Los Angeles, California. He writes about all kinds of topics in his column, and receives many letters from readers who want to express their views.

In recent issues of this newspaper, we have printed stories about young people who are helpless when faced with obsolete technology such as the dial telephone (拨盘式电话), or when they are required to do simple addition. Now we've received a bunch of letters protesting that such negative stories are unfair to young people. 

You may remember reading here about the fifth-grade pupil who wanted to call home from school but didn't know how to use a dial phone. He had never seen a telephone without push buttons. Or perhaps you noted the article about an ice cream shop that had to close for the day because the computerized cash register（收银机）broke down. No one working there knew how to manage the business without the help of this sophisticated machine. 

These stories suggested that young people are almost wholly dependent on new technology. They also implied that we older people are being made obsolete along with the machines of our era. 

Perhaps it is the latter that really hurts. 

A reader named John A. Junot wrote in  to say that switching from old skills to new ones is a natural part of progress. “Cultures do not lose arts and skills,” Junot argues. “They abandon them. Calculating by slide rule（计算尺）is in exactly the same class as  sailing and hand weaving. To the extent that those things are done, they are done as hobbies,  out of historical interest, not for practical purposes.” 

Junot points out that certain ancient skills, such as archery (射箭术) and sailing, are improved by modern technology. “Robin Hood probably couldn't shoot one of today's bows, which are manufactured from sophisticated high-tech materials.” 

He adds: “You implied that the fifth-grader who didn't know how to use a dial-type phone was somehow culturally deprived , and that it would be a good idea for him to learn. I fail to see how.  Dial phones are uncommon now and soon will be extinct（灭绝的）. This is no tragedy. They are vanishing because they don't satisfy the demands of modern consumers. For one thing, you can't use a dial phone to page (呼叫) someone.” 

Junot also notes that it would have been impractical for the ice cream clerks to go on doing business, making their calculations by hand, when their computerized cash register failed. “Today's cash registers have all kinds of features that we have come to rely on. They compute sales tax and provide receipts (发票) for businesspeople who are charging their purchases to expense accounts . Are you suggesting that  the kids who work in the shop should give the customers numbers scribbled (潦草地书写) on the backs of paper sacks?  No one would accept them. The manager did the right thing when he closed the store.”

Apparently, then, we have seen the end of mental calculations. The computers in today's fast-food restaurants note the amount of money paid and display the exact amount of change due . The clerk doesn't even have to figure out how much change is owed back from a $10 bill, nor does the customer, since both can assume that the computer never makes a mistake. 

It's OK with me. I never was any good at arithmetic anyway, and I'm glad I've lived long enough to see it become obsolete.

Still, I was glad to get a letter from a member of the young generation, Barbara L. Sigman of Simi Valley, who wrote: “I cannot let your article pass without at least a murmur of protest. The young are not all as mindless as you imply. Some of us read great authors like Shakespeare. Some of us know a tiny bit about history. And better yet, there are still a few of us who can dial telephones and make change for a dollar without using a computer.” 

Thank you, Ms. Sigman. I'm glad to know that all is not lost.

                              过时的技术
                               杰克· 史密斯

    杰克· 史密斯是加利福尼亚州洛杉矶一家日报的著名撰稿人。他在他的专栏里撰写有关各种话题的文章，并收到许多想表达自己观点的读者的来信。

    在本报的最近几期中，我们报道了年轻人面对拨盘式电话等过时的技术，或有人要求他们做简单的加法时就不知所措。现在我们已经收到了一札读者来信，抗议说这样的反面报道对年轻人不公平。

    你也许记得曾在这份报纸上读到过这样的事：一个五年级小学生想从学校打电话回家，但不知道如何使用拨盘式电话。他从来没有见到过一部没有按钮的电话。或许你注意到了那篇冰淇淋店因为电脑收银机故障那天只好关门的文章。在那儿工作的人谁都不知道没有这台高级机器的帮助如何营业。

    这些报道表明年轻人几乎完全依赖于新技术。这些报道还暗示我们年纪大一些的人正随着我们那个时代的机器一起变得过时了。

    也许真正让人伤心的是后者。

    一位名叫约翰· A· 朱诺的读者来信说，从旧技术向新技术的转变是进步的自然组成部分。“文化不会丢失艺术和技术，”朱诺论述道。“文化只会丢弃它们。用计算尺运算同航行和手工编织完全属于同一类。至于有人还在做这些事情，那只是因为嗜好，或出于对历史的兴趣，而不是为了实用的目的。”

    朱诺指出，一些特定的古老技艺，如射箭术和航行术，因现代技术而得到了改进。“如今的弓是用复杂的高科技材料制成的，罗宾汉也许都不会用。”

    他还说：“你们暗示说那个不知道如何使用拨盘式电话的五年级学生在文化知识方面有点贫乏，让他学习一下不失为一个好主意。我看不出这主意好在什么地方。现在拨盘式电话很少见，而且很快将会被废弃。这不是什么灾难。它们之所以正在消失，是因为它们不能满足现代消费者的要求。比如，你无法用拨盘式电话去呼叫某人。”

    朱诺还强调要卖冰淇淋的店员们在电脑收银机故障时继续营业，用手工计算，是不现实的。“如今的收银机有各种各样我们已逐渐依赖的特征。它们计算销售税，为报帐的生意人提供发票。你是不是说在店里工作的年轻人应该在纸袋背后潦草地写些数字，然后交给顾客？没有人会接受它们的。那个经理打烊是对的。”

    那么，显然我们已经看到心算没有用了。在如今的快餐店里，电脑记录下已付的钱并显示出应找的钱。收银员甚至于不需要计算要给一张10元钞票找多少钱，顾客也不用计算，因为他们都认为电脑永远不会出错。

    这对我是可以的。不管怎么说，我的算术一向就不好，我很高兴我已经活到能看到算术的过时了。

    尽管如此，我仍很高兴收到了一位年轻一代的成员，锡米谷的芭芭拉· L· 西格门的来信。她写道：“读了你的文章，我至少得轻声抗议一下。年轻人并不都像你所暗示的那样没有头脑。我们中的一些人也读莎士比亚等大作家的作品。我们中的一些人也懂得一点历史。更令人欣慰的是，我们当中仍有不少人会拨电话，会不用电脑找开一元钱。”

    谢谢你，西格门女士。我很高兴得知并非一切都丢失了。