過去幾年，在流媒體音樂、智能手機和電子書的圍剿之下，黑膠唱片、模擬相機和紙質(zhì)書這些“過時的”科技，居然艱難地生存了下來。為什么？為什么在層出不窮的科技創(chuàng)新面前，“老掉牙的科技”為上面仍然能對人們產(chǎn)生著一定的吸引力？

《紐約時報》專欄作家尼克?比爾頓撰文闡述了其中的道理。

這些老技術(shù)十分笨重和不便，但它們卻得以幸存下來，甚至出現(xiàn)了一定程度的復興，這主要歸功于三種力量的推動。其中既有情感和美學上的原因，也有完全出于實用性的考慮。

比如說，一些讀者之所以仍然堅持閱讀紙質(zhì)的報刊和書籍，完全就是由于熟悉感。但是這個因素目前已經(jīng)很弱了，而且還在繼續(xù)減退，對于報紙來說尤其如此，目前仍然在堅守紙媒的人，主要是老年消費者群體。報刊發(fā)行量占總?cè)丝诘谋戎刂鹉攴€(wěn)步下跌，從1945年的35%跌至2014年的15%以下。

對于老的科技企業(yè)來說，一個更加利好的消息則是消費者的懷舊心態(tài)。有些產(chǎn)品剛走紅的時候，很多消費者甚至根本沒摸過它。為了觸摸更加真實的過去，許多千禧一代紛紛迷上了黑膠唱片，以至于就連松下這樣的大品牌也重新推出多張經(jīng)典唱片。出于同樣的原因，就連卡帶式錄音機也仍然擁有大量擁躉。此外還有不少文藝青年重新鼓搗起了膠片相機。尤其是富士Instax這樣的“拍立得”相機，也在千禧一代中相當有人氣。

比爾頓還指出，有些老式技術(shù)之所以仍然煥發(fā)著吸引力，最有趣的一個原因就是它們的安全性。比如名人一般都很害怕各種“流出”和各種不光彩的“門”事件，因此，他們有強烈的動機用線下格式來保存他們的照片。隨著美國人對網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全風險的意識越來越強，并且注意到這種安全既可能來自黑客，也可能來自他們自己的政府，因此，把照片從網(wǎng)上搬到網(wǎng)下的潮流，很可能會進一步擴大。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

審校：任文科

In the past few years, it’s become clear that old technologies like vinyl records, analog cameras, and print books are managing to hang on in the world of streaming music, smartphones, and ebooks. Writing in the New York Times, columnist Nick Bilton has unpacked some of the forces that give those standbys continuing appeal in the face of relentless innovation.

Bilton describes three forces feeding the survival, and even resurgence, of formats that can seem inconvenient or unwieldy compared to their newer competition. Some of them are emotional and aesthetic, while others are relentlessly practical.

Familiarity, for example, keeps some readers attached to things like print newspapers and books. But, particularly in the case of newspapers, that’s a weak and fading motivation, mostly confined to older consumers. Daily newspaper circulation as a percentage of population has steadily declined, from 35% in 1945 to less than 15% in 2014.

More promising for businesses is the pull of nostalgia, which can attract users who never touched a particular technology when it was new. The desire to connect with a past that’s seen as more authentic has drawn millennials to vinyl records in droves, leading, for instance, to the re-release of classic turntables by major brands like Panasonic. Even cassettes still have their adherents for similar reasons, and there’s a sizable movement back to film cameras, particularly easy-to-use instant cameraslike the Fuji Instax, which are huge with millennials.

Bilton also cites a few very practical reasons older tech can remain appealing, the most interesting of which is security. Celebrities nervous about leaks, for instance, have serious motivation to keep photos in analog, offline formats. With Americans increasingly conscious of cybersecurity risks from both hackers and their own government, that motivation seems likely to spread.