Anthropologie store window, New York City. (John C Abell/Wired.com)
位於紐約市的人類學商店櫥窗
Some reasons why ebooks don't replace real books – yet
為何電子書未能取代書籍 － 時候未到
There are no two ways about it: E-books are here to stay. Unless something as remarkable as Japan's reversion to the sword occurs, digital books are the 21st century successor to print. And yet the e-book is fundamentally flawed. There are some aspects to print book culture that e-books can't replicate (at least not easily) — yet.
對電子書你別無選擇：它不只是一時風潮。除非發生像日本劍道復興那樣引人注目的事件，否則它註定將成為紙質書籍21世紀的接班人。不過，電子書有著其根本缺陷。有一些紙質書籍文化是電子書目前尚且無法（或者說至少很難）取代的。
Let's put this into some context first. Amazon sparked the e-reader revolution with the first Kindle a mere three-and-a-half years ago, and it now already sells more e-books than all print books combined. Barnes & Noble, the century-old bricks-and-mortar bookseller, is being pursued by Liberty Media not because it has stores all over the place but because its Nook e-reader is the Kindle's biggest competitor.
讓我們先來瞭解一下背景。三年半前，亞馬遜首先用Kindle點燃了電子閱讀革命的星星之火，而現在亞馬遜的電子書銷量已經超過了它全部紙質書的銷售數量。自由傳媒公司（Liberty Media）有意收購有著百年歷史的老牌實體書店巴諾書店，也並非因為巴諾的門店遍地開花，而全因它的Nook電子閱讀器是Kindle的最大勁敵。
Reasonable arguments that the iPad would kill the e-reader seem laughable now, as both thrive and many people own one of each. One thing E-books and books are equally good at: In their own ways, they're both platform agnostic.
曾經關於iPad是否會搶佔電子閱讀器市場的爭論看似很有道理，但放到如今來看則顯得有些可笑，因為兩者都在競爭中存活了下來，而很多人擁有兩者之一。有一點電子書和紙質書都做得不錯，那就它們各自都與平臺無關。
But for all of the benefit they clearly bring, e-books are still falling short of a promise to make us forget their paper analogs. For now, you still lose something by moving on.
然而，撇開電子書帶來的好處不談，它至今仍然無法做出一個承諾，能夠讓我們忘記它的紙質同胞。就目前而言，如果拋棄紙質書籍轉向電子書，我們仍然將會有所損失。
It isn't always that way with tech: We rejoice at cutting the phone cord, we don't fret that texting causes lousy penmanship and we are ecstatic that our computers, tablets and phones are replacing the TV set.
在科技領域，情況並非向來如此：我們曾因可以切斷電話線而歡欣鼓舞；打字的普及導致荒廢了書法，我們卻並未為之發愁；當電視機終於被臺式機、平板電腦和手機取代時，我們欣喜若狂。
I'm not resorting to variations on the ambiguous tactile argument (“The feel and smell of paper is an integral part of the reading experience….”) that one hears from some late-to-never adopters. And — full disclosure — I have never owned an e-book reader, because I have an ingrained opposition to single-purpose devices. But since getting an iPad on day one, I haven't purchased a print edition of anything for myself.
有些人因循守舊，遲遲不肯轉投新技術懷抱。人們經常能從他們口中聽到關於觸覺的含糊辯解（“紙張的觸感和味道是閱讀經歷的基本組成部分……”）。我並不是這樣的人。而且——讓我們敞開了說——雖然因為對於單一用途的設備一直持堅決的反對態度，我從未擁有過一台電子閱讀器，但打從有了iPad的第一天起，我自己就再也沒有買過任何印刷品。
I am hooked — completely one with the idea that books are legacy items that may never go away, but have been forever marginalized as a niche medium. With that in mind, however, here are five things about e-books that might give you pause about saying good riddance to the printed page.
事實上，我為之神魂顛倒了——我只有一個念頭，就是書本作為一種遺產永遠不會消失，但已被永遠打入小眾媒介範疇。然而即使這樣想著，還是有關於電子書的五件事，也許會讓你不那麼急著和紙質書籍說“拜拜”。如果這些問題都得到瞭解決，那麼電子書的發展才真將無可限量。
Fix these problems, and there really will be no limits to the e-book's growth.
1）An unfinished e-book isn't a constant reminder to finish reading it.
1）要記起一本沒有讀完的電子書並把它讀完不是件容易的事兒。
Two months into 2011, The New York Times tech reporter (and former Wired reporter Jenna Wortham) wrote excitedly that she had finally finished her first e-book — how is such technological tardiness possible for someone so plugged in? Wortham had an excellent explanation: She kept forgetting to pick up any e-book she had started reading. It took the solemn determination of a New Year's resolution to break that spell.
2011年剛過去兩個月時，《紐約時報》科技版記者詹娜·沃特姆（她曾經是《連線》雜誌的記者）曾激動地寫道，她終於讀完了她第一本電子書——為什麼對於一個在科技方面如此與時俱進的人來說，還會有如此的拖延？沃特姆對此給出了一個絕妙的解釋：她老是忘記再次點開那些已經開始閱讀的電子書。最後她不得不在在新年計畫中嚴肅地下了決心，這一魔咒才得以打破。
E-books don't exist in your peripheral vision. They do not taunt you to finish what you started. They do not serve as constant, embarrassing reminders to your poor reading habits. Even 1,001 digital books are out of sight, and thus out of mind. A possible solution? Notifications that pop up to remind you that you've been on page 47 of A Shore Thing for 17 days.
因為電子書並不存在於你生活中隨處可見的地方。它們並不會在一旁嘲笑你，迫使你看完已經開始的書。對於你那糟糕的閱讀習慣，它們並不能給予持久而叫人尷尬的提醒。即使有1001本電子書，只要它們不在你眼前，你也就會想不起來。有什麼辦法可以解決嗎？你可以設置彈出提示資訊，提醒你《岸上的事情》（A Shore Thing）第47頁你已經讀了17天了。
2）You can't keep your books all in one place.
2）你無法把所有的電子書收在一個地方。
Books arranged on your bookshelves don't care what store they came from. But on tablets and smartphones, the shelves are divided by app — you can't see all the e-books you own from various vendors, all in one place. There is simply no app for that. (With e-readers, you are doubly punished, because you can't buy anything outside the company store anyway).
不管紙質書是從哪家書店買來的，你都可以把它們排列在書架上。但是在平板電腦或是智慧型手機上，“書架”根據應用程式劃分——你無法在一個地方看到自己擁有的從各家網上書店買來的所有電子書。沒有這樣的應用程式。（如果你是一名閱讀器使用者，那你還將受到雙重懲罰，因為你無法從閱讀器所屬公司的商店以外購買任何東西。）
Apple doesn't allow developers to tap into root information, which would be needed to create what would amount to a single library on an iOS device. If that restriction disappeared, there would still be the matter of individual vendors agreeing to cooperate — not a given since they are competitors and that kind of leveling could easily lead to price wars, for one thing.
蘋果公司不允許開發者接觸到程式的底層資訊，而如果想要在iOS（蘋果公司為iPhone開發的作業系統）設備上創建一個單獨的圖書館，則必須要拿到這些資訊。即使沒有了這一限制，還存在另外一個問題，就是個體電子書程式提供者是否願意合作——這是個很實際的問題，因為這些程式提供者互為競爭物件，而將他們的電子書放到同一個平臺上，首先就容易導致價格戰。
But the way we e-read is the reverse of how we read. To pick up our next physical book, we peruse bookshelves we've arranged and pick something out. In the digital equivalent, we would see everything we own, tap on a book and it would invoke the app it requires — Kindle, Nook, Borders, etc. With the current sequence — open up a reader app, pick a book — you can easily forget what you own. Trivial? Try to imagine Borders dictating the size and shape of your bookshelf, and enforcing a rule that it hold only books you bought from them, and see if that thought offends you even a little bit.
然而，在我們閱讀電子書時，常規的閱讀方式被推翻了。當我們需要閱讀下一本紙質書籍，我們會流覽早就排列好圖書的書架，然後挑出一本。那麼在電子書閱讀器上，我們也應該可以看到所有的電子書，點擊想要讀的那本，調用相應的應用程式——Kindle、Nook、Borders（美國第二大連鎖書商博多斯集團推出的電子書店）等等。可是按照現在的步驟，得先打開閱讀應用程式才能挑書，這樣你很容易忘記自己都有些什麼書可以看。這是小事嗎？想像一下，如果由Borders來決定你書架的容量和形狀，並且強制規定上面只能放從Borders書店買來的書，你是否還能對此一笑而過，沒有一絲一毫的慍怒？
3）Notes in the margins help you think.
3）紙書書頁空白處的筆記可以幫助你思考。
It's not enough to be able to highlight something. A careful reader wants to argue with the author, or amplify a point, or jot down an insight inspired by something freshly read. And it has to be proximate to the original — a separate notebook is ridiculous, even with a clever indexing system that seems inventable but is yet to be invented.
僅僅劃出一些重要句子是不夠的。一個認真的讀者會想要和作者爭論，或者放大一個觀點，又或者趕緊把由閱讀引發的新鮮感想記錄下來。而這些都得和原書緊密關聯起來——單獨做一本筆記是荒謬可笑的，即使你有一個非常智慧化的索引系統（更何況目前也還沒有人做出過這種系統，雖然看上去是可行的）。
Books don't offer much white space for readers to riff in, but e-books offer none. And what about the serendipity of sharing your thoughts, and being informed by the thoughts of others, from the messages in shared books?
雖然紙質書上留給讀者的空白地方也不多，但電子書上就是完全沒有了。至於那種在公共圖書上分享自己的想法並為別人的想法所啟迪的驚喜，試想電子書可以提供嗎？
Replicating this experience will take a new standard, adopted universally, among competitors whose book tech, unlike paper, is proprietary. For a notion of what this might look like, check out OpenMargin.
想要在電子書上同樣擁有這種體驗，需要制定一個全新的標準，廣泛推廣到各家互為競爭關係的電子書商處。和紙書不同，他們都各自為營掌握著不同的電子書技術。對此可以參考OpenMargin（一個電子書筆記分享應用，有興趣者請苦練飛簷走壁工夫，到這裏觀看視頻），獲得一個直觀感受。
4）E-books are positioned as disposable, but aren't priced that way.
4）電子書的定位是一次性消費，但定價卻不是這麼回事。
This one is simple, and also easy to oversimplify since people still have to get paid. But until e-books truly add new value, the way Hollywood did with DVD extras, it's just annoying to plunk down $13 for what amounts to a rental. E-books cost virtually nothing to produce, and yet the baseline cover price, set by publishers, is only fractionally below the discount price for the print version of new releases.
這一點很簡單，但有時候也容易被看得太過簡單，因為人們畢竟還是付了錢的。然而除非電子書真的提供增值服務（就像好萊塢發行DVD時附帶花絮那樣），不然買一本電子書要砸下13美元，但是得到的東西和租借來的沒區別，著實沒法不叫人厭煩。電子書實際製作成本幾乎為零，但出版方制定的價格基線，卻只比新版紙質書的折扣價格低一點點。
E-books can't be shared, donated to your local library shelter, or re-sold. They don't take up space, and thus coax conflicted feelings when it is time to weed some of them out. But because they aren't social, even in the limited way that requires some degree of human contact in the physical world, they will also never be an extension of your personality. Which brings me to …
你沒法和別人分享電子書，沒法把它們捐贈給圖書館，也沒法轉售出去。它們不占地方，也正因如此，當你想要刪除掉一些時，內心難免有所掙紮。但由於它們並不具有社交性，一點也不需要在真實世界中與人接觸，它們也就決不能代表你的個性。
5）E-books can't be used for interior design.
5）電子書沒法幫你裝點門面。
Before you roll your eyes at the shallowness of this gripe, consider this: When in your literate life you did not garnish your environment with books as a means of wordlessly introducing yourself to people in your circle? It probably began that time you toted The Cat in the Hat, trying not to be dispatched to bed during a grown-up dinner party.
在你對這個膚淺的抱怨拋白眼之前，先這樣想一下：曾幾何時，在你精神生活中，你沒有用書籍裝飾周圍環境來作為一種無聲的自我介紹，把自己介紹給志同道合者們？也許只有當你懷揣著《帽子裏的貓》（The Cat in the Hat），但卻努力不在一個成人晚宴上被早早打發上床睡覺的時候吧。
It may be all about vanity, but books — how we arrange them, the ones we display in our public rooms, the ones we don't keep — say a lot about what we want the world to think about us. Probably more than any other object in our homes, books are our coats of arms, our ice breakers, our calling cards. Locked in the dungeon of your digital reader, nobody can hear them speak on your behalf.
也許這些都是虛榮心作怪，但我們對不同書籍有不同處置方法，把這些書陳列在客廳而那些則不保存，書籍可以充分體現出我們希望世界怎樣看待自己。也許在我們的房間裏，書籍比其他任何物品都更像是一枚標誌身份的盾徽，幫助我們打破僵局，發出邀請。
It's a truism that no new medium kills the one that it eclipses — we still have radio, which pre-dates the internet, television and movies. So it would be foolish to predict the death of books anytime soon. And we haven't seen the end of creative business models — there is no “all access pass” in book publishing, as is the trend now for magazines and the newspapers which have put up paywalls. Getting an e-book along with your print edition (or, the other way around) could be the best of both worlds, or the worst.
新的媒介不會將被其風頭蓋過的舊有媒介置於死地，這是一條真理——儘管有了電影、電視和網路，我們仍在使用收音機。所以想要預言紙質書籍的末日是一件愚蠢的事情。另一方面，我們也猜不到創意無限的商業模式會有什麼新招——對於圖書出版業來說，尚未出現雜誌和報紙面臨的網上閱讀“暢通無阻”的趨勢，而後兩者已經針對這一現象建立起了閱讀的付費系統。買紙質書送電子版（或者相反）也許對於雙方都是最好的，當然也有可能是最壞的辦法。
It would certainly solve my unexpected home decor problem.
不過可以肯定的是，這樣可以解決我始料未及的裝點門面問題。
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