The Ancient and the Modern

 当算盘遇上计算机 

Ever seen an abacus ? You know , those centipedelike things with wooden beads in rows . They’re sold mostly in knickknack import shops , for wall decoration . But , in fact , an abacus is an adding machine , calculator , and computer . On second thought , that’s not quite true . The abacus is just a visual record of the computations going on in the mind of the person using it .

算盘见过没？瞧，不就是一排排木珠，像蜈蚣似的东西。这东西多半在卖进口小饰品的店里出售，用来装饰墙壁的。可实际上，这玩意儿是一种加法器，运算器和计算机。但再仔细一想，事情并非完全如此。算盘只不过是将使用者的心算过程呈现出来。

Millions of people in Asia still use the abacus daily . And it has been in use there for a couple of thousand years or more . Not only is it an effective , practical tool , but it is nice to look at . Nice to hold and touch . Wood and brass and ivory . And the older they get and the longer they are handled by a human being , the lovelier they get – smooth and dark and polished . They will last for a lifetime ; they will never need updating ; all the software needed to drive them is between your ears ; and if they break they can be fixed by an eight-year-old with household tools .

数以百万的亚洲人仍每天在使用算盘。在那里，人们使用算盘已经两千年了，甚至更久。算盘不仅是一个有效实用的工具，而且看起来美观。拿着感觉很好，摸起来手感也不错。木质，铜制，象牙制，一应俱全。这东西越旧，被人们使用的时间就越久，也就越招人喜欢——滑溜溜的，黑黝黝的，亮闪闪的。它可以长久使用，不会过时，所需的驱动软件全在的你的脑袋里。如果坏了，八岁小孩就可以用家常工具把它修好。

The presence of the abacus puts some kinds of progress in perspective. I remember a time when a Japanese-American computer conglomerate moved into the Chinese market in a big way . In order to demonstrate the value of its small pocket calculators , it arranged a contest . The great abacus-PC shootout . The guy who won – the one with the abacus , of course – was named Chan Kai Kit . Hong Kong Chinese – a senior clerk for a shipping company . It is true that the operator of the little computer did handle the pile of invoices forty-four seconds faster than Chan Kai Kit and his abacus . But the computer got the wrong answer . Seems the machine operator was in too big a hurry to prove how smart his machine was and fed it fuzzy facts . Much face was lost .

凭心而论，算盘的出现促进了文明的进步。我依然记得有那么一度，日美计算机联合企业大张旗鼓地进军中国市场。为了显示袖珍计算器的优势，人们组织了一场比赛，一场算盘与计算器的大决战。获胜者自然是使用算盘的人，名叫陈佳杰。他是一位香港华人——一船运公司的高级职员。诚然，在运算这一叠发票时，计算器的操作员比陈佳杰和他的算盘快了44秒，但计算器的结果却是错误的。计算器操作员似乎求胜心切，急于展示他的计算器运算得又快又准，结果输入了的数据错误不少。这回脸可丢大了。

Now don’t get me wrong . Pocket calculators are here to stay , and they have their place . A Luddite I am not – machines are not evil in themselves . And a careful , thoughtful man like Chan Kai Kit might do even better with his own pocket calculator instead of his abacus – who knows ? It’s just that I’m a sentimentalist about the wonders of the human hand and mind . And when I find evidence that it can still hold its own in the face of the wizardry of the electronic circuitry of little chips , I am pleased . It is comforting to know that some very old and very simple ways of getting from one place to another still work .

说到这儿，可别误会了。秀珍计算器仍然会被广泛使用，并且拥有它的市场。我不是一个反机械化的勒德分子。在我看来，计算器本生并没有过错。如果用的是计算器而不是算盘，像陈佳杰这样细腻缜密的人，结果可能会更好，这谁又说得准呢？我只不过对人类创造出来的奇迹容易动情罢了。算盘在面对集成电路构成的计算器时，还有自己的魅力，我高兴坏了。一些简单奏效的方法仍然有用，这让我可欣慰了。

And ponder the fact that an ancient and worn abacus will find its way to the walls of the twentieth century as a thing of art and wonder , made lovely by its usefulness and made useful by its beauty . I have an old wooden bowl and an elderly chopping knife I would stack up against a food processor any day . It’s the same story .  

好好动脑想想吧！古老而破旧的算盘居然能作为一件艺术品和神奇之物挂在20世纪的墙上，因实用而可爱，因可爱而实用。我有一个旧木碗和一把砍刀。不管何时，我都可以拿它们和食品加工器相匹敌。算盘能和计算机相比拼，也就是这个理儿。

http://s14/middle/7a62c610x9fd917adebbd&690Ancient and the Modern" TITLE="The Ancient and the Modern" />