高尧的老婆:7件还不如当初不"改进"的东西

7件还不如当初不"改进"的东西

方便食品

人们

可口可乐

改进

科技进步

休闲

 　　当科技进步并且融入人们生活，想要跳出来就很难了。我发现人们压力越来越大，越来越疲劳，与从前相比更加精疲力尽。微博、校内、博客和电子邮件带来的干扰使得人们很少有时间可以歇下来思考。

There's no stopping advancement. Tools are becoming more sophisticated and everything seems to be getting faster, more efficient, more compact or hands-free.

      人类一直在追求进步。工具变得越来越精密，一切都变得更高速、高效、简洁，大大解放了人们的双手。

But there are some things that were just fine the way they were, in fact some things were better before we made it “better”.
      
      但是，对于有些东西，我们会希望他们保持原样就好。事实上，许多东西在“改进”前反而比“改进”后更好。

1. Coke. Coca-cola in a glass bottle. This not only looks cooler than a plastic bottle or can but there’s something about ice cold coke from a glass bottle that makes it taste better too. 

      可乐。玻璃瓶装的可口可乐不但比塑料瓶装或听装可乐酷多了，而且冰镇的玻璃瓶装可乐味道好好得多。

 
2. Organizers. I'm still fond of the trusty pen and paper. For me, tasks are better remembered when I physically write them down. There is a sense of accomplishment by being able to cross completed tasks off a list. I just don't get the same feeling ticking a box on a screen.

      编辑软件。我仍然喜欢可靠的纸和笔。对我来说，只有亲笔写下的东西才会印象深刻。从任务列表上划去已经完成的任务会有一种满足感，而在屏幕里的方框中打钩可没有这种满足感。

3. Phones. While cell phones are convenient they can be very intrusive. I don't like the idea of anyone person being accessible 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If you've ever had a cell phone/blackberry/iPhone for work then you know they come with the attached expectation that you will be available. All the time. I like the idea of a land line with a good old fashioned answering machine. If you're not around to answer the phone you're likely doing something of value to you and it's nice not to be distracted from that.

      电话。手机一方面十分便捷，而另一方面则很烦人。我并不赞同这种“可以在一年任何时间都能联系”的概念。如果我们工作时曾用过手机/黑莓/iphone的话就会知道，这些东西就是诞生的前提就是假设你一直都是有空的。 至始至终我都欣赏那种有答录机的有线电话。如果正好在做其他正事而不能接电话，那么这项功能可以让你不被打扰。

4. Food. Walk down any aisle at the grocery store and you'll see them. Convenience foods. They come in all serving sizes, a variety of flavors and are there for your convenience. I'm all for making meal prep as quick as possible but what I don't like is how these foods taste very different from the food they are intended to replace. If you were to make many of these convenience foods yourself, from scratch, you would see that they don't really taste anything alike.
    
      食物。人们走在任何一家杂货店中都会看到食物。方便食品。它们大小各异，口味众多，并且都是为了人们的便利而生。我非常赞成尽可能快的准备好食物，但我不喜欢的是，这些方便食品做出来的饭菜并没有它们本该有的好味道。如果你自己要用这些方便食品做饭菜，你会发现这些食品从一开始就什么味道都不像。

5.  Technology. As technology advances and everyone becomes plugged in it's becoming harder and harder to unplug. I find people are more stressed, tired and generally burned out than before. With all the noise out there through twitter, facebook, blogging, and email there is very little time to switch off and even think.

      科技。当科技进步并且融入人们生活，想要跳出来就很难了。我发现人们压力越来越大，越来越疲劳，与从前相比更加精疲力尽。微博、校内、博客和电子邮件带来的干扰使得人们很少有时间可以歇下来思考。

6. Cameras. Before digital cameras we were actually more careful of the pictures we took. We didn't want to waste film so we generally took time to set up a shot, compose the picture properly and really see the subject. In the digital age we are more free to take pictures at our whim. Snapping shots left, right and center not really paying attention to what we've just captured. These pictures are then dumped onto the computer, rarely looked at. The poor pictures are rarely culled and the good ones are lost amongst the masses.

      相机。在数码相机出来之前，我们照相谨慎多了。因为不想浪费胶卷，我们会尽量仔细地对焦要照的内容，细致的构图，并且会仔细看要拍摄的对象。在数码时代，我们能随心所欲的拍自己想拍的。“咔嚓”拍一下左边右边和中央就罢，并不会仔细看所拍之物。这些照片被拷贝到电脑里，之后再很少看了。垃圾照片很少被删除，而好照片也被埋没了。

7. Television. The choice of TV programs is incredible these days. The sales pitch is usually centered around a massive number of channels with stations from different time zones so if you miss a show, don't worry it'll be on again an hour later. With all this choice it's no wonder we get sucked in hour after hour. Before all this choice we used to play outside, get more done and actually connect with our family. Since we've turned off the TV we've noticed big changes in ourselves and our interactions with our family members.

      电视机。如今可供选择的节目多如牛毛。为了营销推广，节目通常会在大量来自不同时区的的不同频道播映，所以如果你错过了某个节目，别担心，一个小时后，又有重播了。正是由于此，难怪我们常常一个小时又一个小时的耗过去了。在此之前，我们通常都会去户外运动，做更多事，并且与家人真心的沟通。关掉电视，我们会发现自己与家庭成员间少了多少的交流，我们之间的关系发生了多么大的改变。

      Granted there's no escaping change, progression or advancement. Some of these improvements are actually beneficial and don't get me wrong I love my digital camera and access to information (via the Internet) whenever I need it. There are just aspects to the way things used to be that are still really appealing to me.

      鉴于改变、进步和发展是不可避免的，其中一些进步的确给我们带来了更大的便利，而且不要误解哦，我可喜欢我的数码相机以及任何需要的时候都能通过互联网查看信息的便利呢。只不过，有些东西的一些过去有的功能，仍然很吸引我罢了。

      What do you think was better before it got “better”? Or do you feel we are truly getting better all the time?
 
      你觉得那些东西，“改进”前比“改进”后要好的？或者，你是否觉得我们的不断改进真的越来越对我们有利吗？