Nicholas Negroponte: 5 predictions, in 1984

譯者: Kevin Hung 審譯者: Diwen Mueller

In this rather long sort of marathon presentation,

在這個相當長的，馬拉松似得演講中

I've tried to break it up into three parts:

我試著將它分為三個部份

the first being a whole lot of examples on how it can be

第一部份是大量關於

a little bit more pleasurable to deal with a computer

怎樣更開心的使用電腦的例子

and really address the qualities of the human interface.

而且真正解決人機界面的品質。

And these will be some simple design qualities

這些會是一些簡單的設計

and they will also be some qualities of, if you will,

如果你願意，他們也可以是一些

the intelligence of interaction.

聰明的互動

Then the second part will really just be examples of new technologies --

第二部分是一些關於新技術的例子

new media falling very much into that mold.

新媒體就像那個一樣

Again, I will go through them as fast as possible.

同樣，我會儘快的講完這些內容

And then the last one will be some examples

最後的部份會是一些我能夠收集到的例子

I've been able to collect, which I think

我認為-

illustrate this at least as best I can, in the world of entertainment.

在娛樂界裡，我盡量用這些例子闡述清楚。

People have this belief -- and I share most of it --

人們相信會這樣，我也分享給大家

that we will be using the TV screens or their equivalents

在未來，我們會借助電視螢幕或者其他類似的東西

for electronic books of the future. But then you think,

來使用電子書籍。但是，當你認為

"My God! What a terrible image you get when you look at still pictures on TV."

"天哪，用電視來看圖片，是多麼糟糕啊"

Well, it doesn't have to be terrible.

恩，這並不一定是可怕的

And that is a slide taken from a TV set

這只是從電視裡放了一張幻燈片

and it was pre-processed to be very sympathetic to the TV medium,

它是經過預先處理而柔和的在電視上，

and it absolutely looks beautiful.

它看起來非常美

Well, what's happened? How did people get into this mess?

好，發生了什麽事呢？人們是怎麼弄到一團糟呢？

Where you are now, all of a sudden,

你現在在的地方，突然

sitting in front of personal computers

坐在一台個人電腦

and video text -- teletext systems,

和視頻文本，圖文電視系統前面

and somewhat horrified by what you see on the screen?

你被螢幕上看到的東西嚇到？

Well, you have to remember that TV was designed

好，你必須想到當初電視是被設計成

to be looked at eight times the distance of the diagonal.

八倍對角線的距離

So you get a 13-inch, 19-inch, whatever, TV,

所以你有13英寸，19英寸的電視，等等

and then you should multiply that by eight

然後你應該把它乘以八

and that's the distance you should sit away from the TV set.

這就是你應該離電視的距離

Now we've put people 18 inches in front of a TV,

現在，我們讓人們坐在電視前18英寸的地方

and all the artifacts that none of the original designers expected to be seen,

還有原來設計者沒有想到的所有工件，

all of a sudden, are staring you in the face:

突然全都盯著你看

the shadow mask, the scan lines, all of that.

那個陰影遮罩，掃描線，所有的。

And they can be treated very easily;

他們可以很簡單的使用

there are actually ways of getting rid of them,

實際上有可以擺脫他們的方法

there are actually ways of just making absolutely beautiful pictures.

製作絕對漂亮圖片的方法是存在的

I'm talking here a little bit about display technologies.

我在這稍微講一下顯示技術

Let me talk about how you might input information.

讓我講一下你可以輸入資料的方式。

And my favorite example is always fingers.

我最偏愛的例子是手指

I'm very interested in touch-sensitive displays.

我對觸控螢幕情有獨鍾

High-tech, high-touch. Isn't that what some of you said?

高科技，高觸碰，這不是你所說的嗎？

It's certainly a very important medium for input,

這確實是一個非常重要的輸入媒介

and a lot of people think that fingers are a very low-resolution

並且很多人都認為手指擁有很低的解析度

sort of stylus for inputting to a display.

類似手寫筆的輸入到螢幕

In fact, they're not: it's really a very, very high-resolution input medium --

實際上，並不是這樣的。這是一個非常，非常高解析度的輸入媒介

you have to just do it twice, you have to touch the screen

你必須操作兩次。你必須觸碰到螢幕

and then rotate your finger slightly --

然後輕輕的旋轉你的手指

and you can move a cursor with great accuracy.

並且你可以非常精確的移動你的游標

And so when you see on the market these systems

並且當你在銷售市場上看到這些系統的時候

that have just a few light emitting diodes on the side and are very low resolution,

他們僅僅在側邊有一些發光的二極管，并且是非常低的解析度

it's nice that they exist because it still is better than nothing.

他們存在是很好，因為總比沒有強

But it, in some sense, misses the point:

但是在某種程度上缺失了重要的一點

namely, that fingers are a very, very high-resolution input medium.

那就是，手指是一個非常非常高解析度的輸入媒介

Now, what are some of the other advantages?

那其他的優勢有什麽呢？

Well, the one advantage is that you don't have to pick them up,

顯然，其中一個優點就是你不需要拿起他們

and people don't realize how important that is --

然而人們卻並沒有意識到這是多麼的重要

not having to pick up your fingers to use them. (Laughter)

不用撿起你的手指來使用他們

When you think for a second of the mouse on Macintosh --

當你在麥金塔電腦的滑鼠前短暫思考時

and I will not criticize the mouse too much --

我不會批評滑鼠太多

when you're typing -- what you have -- you want to now put something --

當你正準備打字並且你想輸入些東西

first of all, you've got to find the mouse.

首先你得找到滑鼠游標

You have to probably stop. Maybe not come to a grinding halt,

你可能必須停止，也可能不需要突然停止

but you've got to sort of find that mouse. Then you find the mouse,

但是你必須找到滑鼠。然後你找到它

and you're going to have to wiggle it a little bit

接著你要稍微的移動它一下

to see where the cursor is on the screen.

以便找到游標的位置

And then when you finally see where it is,

然後當你終於看到它了

then you've got to move it to get the cursor over there,

你還必須移動它來使游標到達指定地點

and then -- "Bang" -- you've got to hit a button or do whatever.

然後“呯”，你必須點擊按鈕然後做你的事

That's four separate steps versus typing and then touching

這四個獨立的步驟和打字然後觸摸

and typing and just doing it all in one motion --

然後打字，這全部只是做一個動作

or one-and-a-half, depending on how you want to count.

或者是一個半，取決於你是怎麼計算的

Again, what I'm trying to do is just illustrate

再次強調的是，我現在所做的僅僅只是解釋

the kinds of problems that I think face the designers

設計者們遇到的

of new computer systems and entertainment systems

關於新電腦系統和娛樂系統

and educational systems

還有教育系統的問題，

from the perspective of the quality of that interface.

從介面的品質方面考量

And another advantage, of course, of using fingers is you have 10 of them.

當然，另外一個優點是你使用手指，是因為你有十個手指

And we have never known how to do this technically,

而且我們從不知道怎麼樣 "技術的" 使用它

so this slide is a fake slide.

所以這個幻燈片是假的

We never succeeded in using ten fingers,

我們從沒成功的使用十根手指

but there are certain things you can do, obviously,

但是顯然的你可以做一些特定的事

with more than one-finger input, which is rather fascinating.

用超過一個手指輸入，是非常迷人的

What we did stumble across was something ...

我們偶然的發現了一些事

Again, which is typical of the computer field,

又是典型的電腦領域裡

is when you have a bug that you can't get rid of you turn it into a feature.

就是當你犯了一個錯誤的時候，你不能解決掉它，所以把它轉換成一個功能

And maybe ... (Laughter)

而且可能（笑聲）

maybe a mouse is a new kind of bug.

可能滑鼠就是這樣的一種錯誤

But the bug in our case was in touch-sensitive displays:

但是那個錯誤在我們的案例中是在靈敏的觸控螢幕中

we wanted to be able to draw -- you know, rub your finger

我們希望能夠畫，用你的手摩擦

across the screen to input continuous points --

螢幕來輸入連續的點

and there was just too much friction

並且會有很多的摩擦

created between your finger and the glass --

產生在你的手指和玻璃之間

if glass was the substrate, which it usually is.

如果玻璃是基板，它通常都是的。

So we found that that actually was a feature

我們發現它實際上是一個優點

in the sense you could build a pressure-sensitive display.

你可以創造一個有壓力感度的顯示屏

And when you touch it with your finger,

當你用你的手指觸碰它的時候

you can actually, then, introduce all the forces on the face of that screen,

你實際上在屏幕上發力，

and that actually has a certain amount of value.

這樣會產生一定的數值

Let me see if I can load another disc

讓我看看是否可以載人另一張碟

and show you, quickly, an example.

快速的給你們展示一個例子

Now, imagine a screen, which is not only touch-sensitive now,

好，現在想像一個不僅是觸碰感應的顯示屏

it's pressure-sensitive.

而且它也是壓力感度的

And it's pressure-sensitive to the forces both in the plane of the screen --

它的壓力敏感分佈在所有屏幕面上

X, Y, and Z at least in one direction;

X,Y和Z，不只一個方向

we couldn't figure out how to come in the other direction.

我們無法弄清楚如何從其他方向過來

But let me get rid of the slide,

但是讓我拿掉幻燈片

and let's see if this comes on.

我們看看它是否在

OK. So there is the pressure-sensitive display in operation.

好，現在有一個操作的壓力感度顯示屏

The person's just, if you will, pushing on the screen to make a curve.

那個人只是在屏幕上按

But this is the interesting part.

但是這是一個有趣的部份

I want to stop it for a second

現在，好的，我想要停一會

because the movie is very badly made.

因為這個視頻做的非常不好

And the particular display was built about six years ago,

而且這個的視頻是六年前製作的

and when we moved from one room to another room,

當我們從一個房間移到另外一個房間的時候

a rather large person sat on it and it got destroyed.

一個相當壯的大漢坐在上面，它壞掉了

So all we have is this record. (Laughter)

所有我們有的就是這個視頻

But imagine that screen having lots of objects on it

但是想像一下那個屏幕有很多的東西在上面

and the person has touched an object --

這個人觸碰了一個

one of N -- like he did there, and then pushed on it.

N個中的一個，就像他在那兒做的。然後他按一下它

Now, imagine a program

現在，想像一個程序

where some of those objects are physically heavy and some are light:

有一些東西非常重，一些非常輕

one is an anvil on a fuzzy rug

一個是在絨毛地毯上的鐵砧

and the other one is a ping-pong ball on a sheet of glass.

另外一個是在一塊平滑玻璃上的乒乓球

And when you touch it, you have to really push very hard

當你碰它時，你必須非常用力的推

to move that anvil across the screen,

屏幕上的那個铁砧

and yet you touch the ping-pong ball very lightly

然而，你輕輕的碰那個乒乓球

and it just scoots across the screen.

它就會滑過屏幕

And what you can do -- oops, I didn't mean to do that --

那你可以做什麽，哎呀，我不是有意的

what you can do is actually feed back to the user

實際上你可以做的是反饋給使用者

the feeling of the physical properties.

物體的感覺

So again, they don't have to be weight;

另外，他們不需要重量

they could be a general trying to move troops,

他們可能試著移動部隊

and he's got to move an aircraft carrier versus a little boat.

而他是移動一個飛行器和一艘船

In fact, they funded it for that very reason.

實際上，他們因為此原因而資助它

(Laughter)

笑聲

The whole notion, then, is one that at the interface

接下來整個的概念在介面上

there are physical properties in that transducer --

有物理特性的轉感器

in this case it's pressure and touches --

在這個例子中是壓力和觸碰

that allow you to present things to the user that you could never present before.

使你在使用者面前展示你從未能展示的東西

So it's not simply looking at the quality or, if you will, the luxury of that interface,

所以，這不是簡單的強調質量，或是華麗的介面

but it's actually looking at the idea

實際上是在強調

of presenting things that previously couldn't be presented before.

“展示從前不能展示的東西”

I want to move on to another example,

我希望進入到下一個例子

which is one of a different sort, where we're trying to use computer

不同種類的例子，我們嘗試使用電腦

and video disc technology now to come up with a new kind of book.

和視頻技術產生一本新的書

Here, the idea is that you're going to take this book,

具體想法是你將使這本書

if you will, and it's going to come alive.

如果你願意，變成活生生的

You're going to sort of breathe life into it.

你將會給它注入生命

We are so used to doing monologues.

我們往往習慣於獨白

Filmmakers, for example, are the experts in monologue making:

例如，電影製作人，是獨白的專家

you make a film and it has a well-formed beginning, middle and end,

你製作一部影片，它有很好的開始，中間，和結尾。

and in some sense the art of it is that.

並且在某種程度上，它的藝術就在于此

And you then say, "There's an opportunity

然後你說，"你知道，現在有一個機會

for making conversational movies." Well, what does that mean?

用來製作對話電影。" 那，這意味著什麽呢？

And it sort of nibbles at the core of the whole profession

它類似整個專業核心的一小部份

and all the assumptions of that medium.

和此媒介的所有假設性

So, book writing is the same thing.

所以寫書是相同的事情

What I'll show you very quickly is a new kind of book

我要很快地展示的是一種新型的書

where it is mixed now with ... all sorts of things live in there,

所有的東西活生生地在裡面

but you have to keep a few things in mind.

但是你需要知道一些事

One is that this book knows about itself.

其中之一是這本書瞭解自己

Each frame of the movie has information about itself.

好的，電影的每個框架擁有自己的信息。

So it knows, or at least there is computer-readable information

所以它知道，或者至少有電腦可讀的信息

in the medium itself. It's just not a static movie frame.

在媒介裏面。這不僅僅是一個靜止的電影框架。

That's one thing. The other is that you have to realize

這是一方面。另一方面你應該知道的是

that it is a random access medium,

它是一個隨機存取媒介

and you can, in fact, branch and expand and elaborate and shrink.

實際上你可以分支，擴大，鋪陳和簡化。

And here -- again, my favorite example -- is the cookbook,

而我最喜歡的例子是食譜

the "Larousse Gastronomique."

"Larousse Gastronomique"

And I think I use the example all too often,

我發現我常使用這個例子

but it's a great one because there is a classic ending in that little

但是這是一個好的例子，因為它有一個經典的結尾在

encyclopedia-style cookbook that tells you how to do something like penguin,

這本小的百科全書式的食譜裡，它會教你如何烹煮，像是企鵝

and you get to the end of the recipe and it says, "Cook until done."

並且你看到最後，它寫到“烹飪直到完成”

Now, that would be, if you will, the top green track,

它將會是最好的示範方式

which doesn't mean too much. But you might have to elaborate for me

但沒多大的意義。你可能需要為我詳盡闡述

or for somebody who isn't an expert, and say,

對那些不是專家的人說，

"Cook at 380 degrees for 45 minutes."

"在380度上烹煮45分鐘"

And then for a real beginner, you would go down even further

對於一個新手，你會繼續下去

and elaborate more -- say, "Open the oven, preheat, wait for the light to go out,

並且解釋更多。“打開烤爐，預熱，等到燈亮

open the door, don't leave it open too long,

打開門，不要打開太久

put the penguin in and shut the door ..." (Laughter) whatever.

把企鵝放進去，然後關門“ 等等

And that's a much more elaborate one than you dribble back.

有更多的詳細解釋，在你返回下一步驟前

That's one kind of use of random access.

這是一種類似隨機存取

And the other is where you want to explain the same thing in different ways.

另一方面是你要用不同方法解釋相同的東西

If you're in a classroom situation and somebody asks a question,

如果你在一個教室內，有人問問題

the last thing you do is repeat what you just said.

最後你所做的就是重複你所說的

You try and think of a different way of saying the same thing,

你試著使用不同的方式來說相同的事情

or if you know the particular student and that student's cognitive style,

或者你知道特定學生的思維方式

then you might say it in a way that you think

你可能用你所想到的來表達

would have a good impedance match with that student.

會與那個學生產生一個良好的碰撞

There are all sorts of techniques you will use --

這裡有很多你會使用的技術

and again, this is a different kind of branching.

這是一個不同類型的分支

So, what I will show you is ... it's a rather boring book,

我給你展示的將是一本無聊的書

but I'm afraid sometimes you have to do boring books

但是我認為有時候你不得不讀一些無聊的書

because your sponsors aren't necessarily interested in fiction

因為贊助商不一定對小說和娛樂性的書感興趣

and entertainment. And this is a book on how to repair a transmission.

這本書旨在怎樣修復變速器

Now, I don't even know what vintage the transmission is,

現在，我甚至不知道老式變速器

but let me just show you very quickly some of it, and we'll move on.

但是請讓我很快的給你們展示一些，然後我們繼續

(Video) Narrator: And continue to get descriptions for each of these chapters.

（視頻）

Nicholas Negroponte: Now, this is his table of contents.

現在，這是他的目錄表，可以嗎？

Just a picture of the transmission, and as you rub your finger across the transmission

只是一個變速器的照片，當你輕輕用手指滑過變速器

it highlights the various parts.

它會顯示出很多部份

Narrator: When I find a chapter that I want to see,

旁白：當我找到想要看的章節

I just touch the text and the system will format pages for me to read.

只要碰一下文字，系統會產生頁面供我閱讀

The words or phrases that are lit up in red are glossary words,

紅色的字和詞組是解釋

so I can get a different definition by just touching the word,

所以只是碰一下它，我可以得到不同的定義

and the definition appears, superimposed over the illustration.

定義一出現，並疊加在圖片上

NN: This is about the oil pan, or the oil filter and all that.

尼古拉斯 尼葛洛龐帝：這個是關於油底盤或濾淨器

This is relatively important because it sets the page ...

這個相當重要因為它設定了

Narrator: This is another example of a page with glossary words

旁白：這是另外一個有註釋的頁面

highlighted in red.

用紅色顯示出來

I can get a definition of these words just by touching them,

我可以碰它們一下來獲得定義

and the definition will appear in the illustration corner.

定義會在圖片角落顯示

I can get back to the illustration, but in this case it's not a single frame,

我可以回到插圖，但是這個情況下它不是單個框架

but it's actually a movie of someone coming into the frame and doing the repair

這是有人在修復的實際畫面

that's described in the text.

那是以文字描述

The two-headed slider is a speed control that allows me to watch the movie

這個控制桿是一個可以控制速度的東西，可以讓我在觀看影片時

at various speeds, in forward or reverse.

用不同的速度，前進或後退

And the movie is displayed as a full frame movie.

影片是以全屏放映的

I can go back to the beginning ... and play the movie at full speed.

我可以返回到影片開始，以全速看電影

Here's another step-by-step procedure, only in this case --

這是另外一個程序，僅僅在這個例子中

NN: Okay, this movie is ... Everybody's heard of sound-sync movies --

NN：你看，每個人都聽到聲音同步的電影

this is text-sync movies, so as the movie plays, the text gets highlighted.

這是文本同步電影，所以當電影播放的時候，文本會同時顯示出來

We highlight the text as we go through the movie.

當播放電影的時候我們顯示文本

Repairman: ... Not too far out. Front poles, preferably.

（視頻）：不要太遠。最好前面的洞

Don't loosen them too far. If you loosen them too far, you'll have a big mess.

不要鬆開他們太多，如果鬆開太多，你會有麻煩的

NN: I suspect that some of you might not even understand that language.

我懷疑大部分的人根本不懂那種語言

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

OK. I'm at the third and last part of this,

好。現在進入第三個也是最後一個部份

which I said I would make an attempt to at least give you some examples

就像我說的我會嘗試給你們一些例子

that may be more directly related to the world of entertainment.

他們可能更接近娛樂界

And of course, good education has got to be good entertainment,

當然，好的教育一定帶來好的娛樂

so my first example will be drawn from a very recent experiment

所以我的第一個例子是來自最近的一個實驗

that we've been doing -- in this case, in Senegal --

這個是我們在塞內加爾所做的

where we have tried to use personal computers

我們一直嘗試使用個人電腦

as a pedagogical medium. But not as teaching machines at all;

來做為教學媒體，但不是用來教學的電腦

the whole notion is to use this as an instrument

我的意思是，整個概念是使用它作為設備

where there is a complete reversal of roles --

一個完全相反的角色

the child is, if you will, the teacher and the machine is the student --

孩子是老師，機器是學生

and the art of computer programming is a vehicle that sort of

電腦程式技術是一種載體

approximates thinking about thinking.

接近思考，關於思考的東西

But teaching kids programming per se is utterly irrelevant.

但是，教育孩子本身是完全不相干的課程

And there are just a few slides I want to go through,

這兒有一些幻燈片我想要展示

but there's a story I'd like to tell. And that was when,

有一個故事我想要講一下，那就是

before we did this in any developing countries --

我們在任何發展中國家做這個之前

we're doing it, in fact, in three developing countries right now:

實際上現在我們在三個發展中國家做

Pakistan, Colombia and Senegal --

巴基斯坦，哥倫比亞，塞內加爾

we did it in some pretty rough areas of New York City.

我們也在紐約的一些落後的社區做

And one child, whose name I've forgotten, was about seven or eight years old,

一個孩子，他的名字我忘記了，他大概有七到八歲

absolutely considered mentally handicapped --

確定被認定為弱智的

couldn't read, didn't even make it in the lowest section of the school's classes --

不能讀，甚至不能在低年級讀

and was pretty much not in school, though physically there.

虽然身在学校，心已经飞走了。

But did hang around the, quote, "computer room,"

但他經常在電腦教室旁邊出現

where there were quite a few computers,

這個教室只有很少的電腦，

and learned this particular language called Logo --

學這種叫做 "Logo" 的語言

and learned it with great ease and found it a lot of fun,

很輕鬆的學習，並且發現有很多樂趣

it was very interesting. And one day, by chance,

這非常有趣，偶然有一天

some visitors from the NIE came by in their double-breasted suits

有一些來自NIE ，穿著雙排扣西裝的參觀者

looking at this setup, and none of the children who were normally there,

觀看這些設備。沒有一個孩子在那

except for this one child, were there.

除了這個孩子

He was, and he said, "Let me show you how this works,"

他說："讓我來給你們展示這怎麼使用"

and they got an absolutely ingenuous, wonderful description of Logo.

然後他們聽到了關於 "Logo" 非常棒的描述

And the child was just zipping right through it, showing them all sorts of things

那個孩子只是展示給他們所有的東西

until they asked him how to do something which he couldn't explain

直到他們問他怎麼操作那些他不能解釋的東西

and so he flipped through the manual, found the explanation

然後他翻了翻使用手冊，找到解釋

and typed the command and got it to do what they asked.

然後輸入指令，做到了這些參觀者的要求

They were delighted, and by the time it was time to go see the principal,

他們很高興，到了要去見校長時

whom they'd actually come to see -- not the computer room --

這是他們真正應該去看的，而不是電腦室

they went upstairs and they said,

他們走上樓，並且說

"This is absolutely remarkable!

"你知道，這絕對是卓越出色的

That child was very articulate and showed us

那孩子非常清楚的展示給我們看

and even dealt with the things he couldn't do automatically

甚至他可以使用手冊來處理那些

with that manual. It was just absolutely fantastic."

他做不到的。這簡直是太棒了"

The principal said, "There's a dreadful mistake,

校長說："你知道，這可能有誤會

because that child can't read.

因為那個孩子不會讀

And you obviously have been hoodwinked

顯然你們被矇騙了

or you've talked about somebody else."

或者你是說另一個孩子"

And they all got up and they all went downstairs

然後他們都起身下樓

and the child was still there. And they did something very intelligent:

那個孩子仍然在那。然後他們做了一些很聰明的事

they asked the child, "Can you read?"

他們問那個孩子："你會讀嗎？"

And the child said, "No, I can't."

那個孩子說道："我不會"

And then they said, "But wait a minute. You

然後他們說，“但是等一下，你

just looked through that manual and you found ... "

剛剛查閱那個手冊了啊。你找到…

and he said, "Oh, but that's not reading."

他接著說："哦，但是那不是閱讀"

And so they said, "Well, what's reading then?"

他們也接著說："哦，如果那不是閱讀，那？"

He says, "Well, reading is this junk they give me in little books to read.

他說："閱讀是讀他們給我的這些一小本一小本的垃圾

It's absolutely irrelevant, (Laughter) and I get nothing for it.

完全不切實際，我學不到任何東西，好嗎?

But here, with a little bit of effort I get a lot of return."

但是這個，只要努力一下，我就會得到很多"

And it really meant something to the child.

對這個孩子而言，意義重大

The child read beautifully, it turned out,

事實證明那個孩子能閱讀的很好了

and was really very competent. So it actually meant something.

而且非常有競爭力。所以這真的非常有意義

And that story has many other anecdotes that are similar,

這個故事有很多其他類似的奇聞異事

but wow. The key to the future of computers in education is right there,

電腦教育的未來就在這兒

and it is: when does it mean something to a child?

當它對孩子是有意義的時候

There is a myth, and it truly is a myth:

有一個神話，並且是真正的神話

we believe -- and I'm sure a lot of you believe in this room --

我們相信——而且我相信這個房間內的很多人都相信——

that it is harder to read and write than it is to learn how to speak.

比起說來，讀和寫非常難

And it's not, but we think speech -- "My God, little children pick it up somehow,

但並非如此。我們認為演講——我的天，孩子們不知怎麼地開始

and by the age of two they're doing a mediocre job,

在兩歲的時候，他們在這個方面表現的一般。

and by three and four they're speaking reasonably well.

在三歲和四歲的時候，他們可以合理的講一些

And yet you've got to go to school to learn how to read,

然後你需要到學校學習怎麼讀

and you have to sit in a classroom and somebody has to teach you.

你坐在一個教室里然後有人教你

Hence, it must be harder." Well, it's not harder.

因此這一定很難。好，這並不難

What the truth is is that speaking has great value to a child;

事實是，說對孩子而言非常重要

the child can get a great deal by talking to you.

孩子在與你交流的時候可以學到很多

Reading and writing is utterly useless.

閱讀和寫作完全沒用

There is no reason for a child to read and write except blind faith,

除了盲目的信仰，根本沒理由要孩子閱讀和寫作

and that it's going to help you. (Laughter)

這會幫助你

So what happens is you go to school and people say,

會發生的事是，你到學校去，然後人們說

"Just believe me, you're going to like it.

"你知道，相信我，你會喜歡上它的

You're going to like reading," and just read and read.

你會喜歡閱讀，僅僅閱讀，閱讀"

On the other hand, you give a kid -- a three-year-old kid -- a computer

另一方面，你給一個三歲孩子一台電腦

and they type a little command and -- Poof! -- something happens.

然後他們鍵入一些指令，然後產生結果

And all of a sudden ... You may not call that reading and writing,

一下子，你可能不會叫那個做讀和寫

but a certain bit of typing and reading stuff on the screen

但是在屏幕上鍵入和讀出一些東西

has a huge payoff, and it's a lot of fun.

有巨大的回報，和很大的樂趣

And in fact, it's a powerful educational instrument.

實際上這是一個非常強大的教育設備

Well, in Senegal we found that this was the traditional classroom:

在塞內加爾一個傳統的班級

120 kids -- three per desk -- one teacher, a little bit of chalk.

120個孩子，三個孩子一桌，一個老師，一些粉筆

This student was one of our first students,

這個學生是我們早期學生之一

and it's the girl on the left leaning with her chalkboard,

在左邊斜靠在板子上的女孩

and she came ... within two days --

她到了那裡兩天

I want to show you the program she wrote,

我想給你看看她編寫的程序

and remember her hairstyle. And that is the program she made.

記住她的髮型，好嗎？這就是她編寫的程序

That's what meant something to her, is doing the hair pattern,

這對她有特殊的意義，做她的髮型

and actually did it within two days -- an hour each day --

做了兩天，每天一小時

and found it was, to her,

這對她來說

absolutely the most meaningful piece ...

完全是最有意義的一段

But rooted in that, little did she know how much knowledge

但是根本來說，她一點知識都不懂

she was acquiring about geometry

她正在學幾何

and just math and logic and all the rest.

並且僅僅是數學和邏輯，和一些其他的

And again, I could talk for three hours about this subject.

關於這個課題我可以說三個小時

I will come to my last example and then quit.

接下來是我最後一個例子

And my last example -- as some of my former colleagues,

我最後一個例子 --- 一些我之前的同事

whom I see in the room, can imagine what it will be.

他們在這裡，想像到這將會是什麽

Yes, it is. It's our work -- that was a while ago,

是的這是我們的工作，就在之前

and it still is my favorite project -- of teleconferencing.

它仍是我最喜歡的專案，電話會議

And the reason it remains a favorite project

它是我最喜歡的原因是

is that we were asked to do a teleconferencing system

我們被要求去做一個電話會議系統

where you had the following situation:

你會有以下的情況

you had five people at five different sites -- they were known people --

五個人在五個不同的地點，他們彼此認識

and you had to have these people in teleconference,

你需要讓他們在電話會議系統上

such that each one was utterly convinced

每個人需要完全相信

that the other four were physically present.

其他的四個親臨現場

Now, that is sufficiently

現在這是可行的，你知道

zany that we would, obviously, jump to the bait, and we did.

可笑的是我們顯然跳入圈套，我們也做了

And the fact that we knew the people --

事實上我們知道那些人

we had to take a page out of the history of Walt Disney --

我們不得不採取迪士尼的經驗

we actually went so far as to build CRTs

我們真的去建立CRT顯示器

in the shapes of the people's faces.

以人們的臉為外型

So if I wanted to call my friend Peter Sprague on the phone,

所以如果我想打電話給我朋友 Peter Sprague

my secretary would get his head out and bring it and set it on the desk,

我的秘書會把他的頭取出來，把他安置在桌子上

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

and that would be the TV used for the occasion.

這是為這一場合使用的電視機

And it's uncanny: there's no way I can explain to you

它超怪的，我很難解釋給你聽

the amount of eye contact you get with that physical face

你和那個 3D 螢幕上的臉

projected on a 3D CRT of that sort.

的眼神相交時

The next thing that we had to do is to persuade them

接下來我需要做的是說服他們

that there needed to be spatial correspondence, which is straightforward,

這個需要空間的直接對應關係

but again, it's something that didn't fall naturally

但是這是不自然的

out of a telecommunications or computing style of thinking;

在電話通訊或者思考的風格上

it was a very, if you will, architectural or spatial concept.

這是一個建築或空間概念

And that was to recognize that when you sit around the table,

當你坐在桌子旁時你必須要知道

the actual location of the people becomes rather important.

人們的位置是非常重要的

And when somebody gets up, in fact, to go answer a phone

當他們站起來去接電話的時候

or use a bathroom or something, the empty seat becomes,

或者去洗手間或做別的事，空的座位會變成

if you will, that person. And you point frequently to the empty seat

那個人。然後你面向那個空的座位

and you say, "He or she wouldn't agree,"

然後你說 “他或她不同意”

and the empty chair is that person and the spatiality is crucial.

那個空椅子就是那個人。所以空間性非常重要。

So we said, "Well, these will be on round tables

所以我們說 “這會在圓桌上

and the order around the table had to be the same,

的順序必須一樣。

so that at my site, I would be, if you will, real

在我的位置上，我是真的

and then at each other's site you'd have these plastic heads.

其他的位置上就是這些塑膠頭

And the plastic heads, sometimes you want to project them.

那些塑料頭，有時候你想要向他們表達

And there are a number of schemes, which I don't want to dwell on,

很多計劃，我不想多說。

but this is the one that we finally used

但這就是我們最終會使用的

where we projected onto rear screen material

我們會投射到屏幕的後面

that was molded in the face -- literally in the face of the person.

這些會被做成人臉模型，就是那個人的臉型

And I'll show you one more slide, where this is actually made

我會展示給你們一些實際上應用的幻燈片

from something called a solid photograph and is the screen.

叫做硬照片的東西是屏幕

Now, we track, on the person's head, the head motions --

現在我們追蹤這個人的頭部活動

so we transmit with a video the head positions --

我們傳輸頭部位置的視頻

and so this head moves in about two axes.

這個頭在兩個軸上移動

So if I, all of a sudden, turn to the person to my left

當我突然轉向我左邊的人

and start talking to that person, then at the person to my right's site,

然後和他說話，那麼我右邊的那個人

he'll see these two plastic heads talking to each other.

他會看到這二個塑膠頭在互相聊天

And then if that person interrupts, then those two heads may turn.

如果那個人打斷，這兩個頭可能會轉向

And it really is reconstructing, quite accurately, teleconferencing.

這就是重建後的，比較精準的電話會議。