????一個(gè)自由的、用戶可參與編輯的百科全書是否優(yōu)于一個(gè)專業(yè)的百科全書,，這個(gè)問(wèn)題有些太寬泛了,。它們是兩種截然不同的產(chǎn)品，其中的一個(gè)是否“好于”另一個(gè),，主要取決于你要拿它來(lái)干什么,。但毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)的是，從嚴(yán)格的實(shí)用主義的角度來(lái)看,，數(shù)碼百科全書要比印刷版方便得多,。它可以更方便地進(jìn)行查閱和搜索，或是跳到相關(guān)文章上去（具體到維基百科則是可迅速訪問(wèn)相關(guān)的外部來(lái)源）,。
????不過(guò)看到印刷版百科全書的終結(jié),，還是讓人不免唏噓。這些看來(lái)令人敬畏的書籍有一種特殊的美感,，排在書架上,，好像一排知識(shí)的士兵,。這種感覺(jué)是一個(gè)應(yīng)用或一個(gè)網(wǎng)頁(yè)無(wú)論如何也無(wú)法媲美的。
????當(dāng)然,，這并不能阻止新媒體大師們不合時(shí)宜地歡慶勝利,，比如一向語(yǔ)言辛辣大膽、鼓吹將一切數(shù)字化的媒體評(píng)論家杰夫?賈維斯,，他總是愛(ài)對(duì)印刷出版商的遭遇幸災(zāi)樂(lè)禍,。這次他在Tweeter上寫道：“大英百科全書總是利用人們的內(nèi)疚心理?yè)屽X。拜拜了,！”
????后來(lái)賈維斯堅(jiān)稱,，由于大英百科全書繼續(xù)向數(shù)碼方向發(fā)展，使知識(shí)“超越了界限”,，因此他在Tweeter上的歡呼完全是積極的,。但他個(gè)人的心情卻從第一條微博上一覽無(wú)余。我們不知道2000年的時(shí)候,，紐約科尼島上的云霄飛車被拆除時(shí),，他的心情是否也是那么歡欣雀躍。這座云霄飛車悄無(wú)聲息,、毫無(wú)用處地矗立了將近20年,，但它已經(jīng)成了當(dāng)?shù)厝松钪械囊粋€(gè)重要的部分，人們發(fā)自本能地覺(jué)得它和自己息息相關(guān),。它的拆除不可避免,，但真的走到這一步，人們還是覺(jué)得難過(guò),。
????譯者：樸成奎 |
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????Whether a free, editable encyclopedia is better than a professionally produced one is too wide-ranging a question. They're really two entirely different products, and whether one is "better" than the other depends on what you need it for. But there's no question that in a strictly utilitarian sense, it's far better to publish any kind of encyclopedia digitally. It's easier to look stuff up, to search for terms within articles, and to jump to related articles (and in Wikipedia's case, outside sources).
????Still, it's sad to witness the demise of the print edition. There's an aesthetic quality to all those formidable looking books, lined up along the shelf like soldiers of knowledge, that can't be matched by an app or a Web page.
????That of course hasn't stopped the new-media gurus from crowing their oddly misplaced triumphalism today. Jeff Jarvis, the combative champion of all things digital who wields buzzwords like a Ninja wields throwing stars and who regularly celebrates the suffering of print publishers, opened his long string of giddy tweets this way: "Britannica was always a rip-off sold on guilt. Buh-bye."
????He later insisted that his glee was entirely positive, based on Britannica's forging ahead into the digital future and allowing knowledge to "escape its bounds." But his underlying feelings were made clear in that first tweet. One wonders whether he similarly applauded when they finally tore down the Thunderbolt roller coaster on Coney Island in 2000. The thing was just sitting there, dormant and useless, for nearly 20 years. And yet it had been an important part of people's lives, something they felt connected to in a visceral way. It had to come down, but for those people, it was sad when it did. |
