过时的科技产品
Old tech
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是爱丽丝。
And I'm Neil.
我是尼尔。
We’re talking about old technology today, Neil.
今天我们要谈论旧的科技产品。
Did you use to have any old tech, you know, a Walkman, back in the 1990s?
你有什么古老的科技产品吗？像20世纪90年代的随身听。
Before music went digital?
在音乐数字化之前？
No. I didn't have a Walkman… But I do have a record player.
我没有随身听。但是我有电唱机。
I know you like flared trousers, but I didn't realize you were that retro.
我知道你喜欢穿喇叭裤，但没想到你这么复古。
A record player, for those of you who don’t know, is a box with a turntable
给不知道电唱机的人解释一下，电唱机就是一个带转盘的盒子，
– or turning plate that you put your vinyl records on to play them.
你可以将黑胶唱片放在上面播放。
And retro means going back to styles and fashions from the past.
retro是指过去的风格和时尚重新流行。
Well, I love my record player.
我爱我的电唱机。
I have a large collection of vinyl records, as well as cassette tapes that I inherited from my parents…
我有很多黑胶唱片，以及从我父母那里流传下来的盒式磁带。
Vinyl is the plastic that records are made from.
乙烯基是制成唱片的一种塑料。
And cassette tapes came after records – which are these small plastic cases with audiotape on reels inside them.
盒式磁带是唱片之后流行的，是指小的塑料盒子，里面卷着录音带。
Well, I don't understand your fondness for out-dated stuff, Neil.
我不明白你为什么这么喜欢过时的东西。
Don't be so quick to dismiss old tech, Alice.
不要这么快就拒绝过时的科技产品。
There's been a resurgence – or new rise in – record sales recently – here in the UK, and in the US.
如今在英国和美国，唱片的销售量再次提高。
Some DJs have gone back to using them,
一些DJ又开始使用唱片，
and new record stores have opened to meet the demand for vinyl.
一些唱片店也陆续开张，迎合市场对黑胶唱片的需求。
Really?
真的吗？
Yes, really. In fact, I have a question for you, Alice:
真的。事实上我还有一个问题要问你，爱丽丝。
How many records were sold in the UK in 2014?
2014年在英国销售出多少唱片？
Was it…a) 10,000?
a) 10,000?
b) 100,000?
b) 100,000?
Or c) 1 million?
还是 c) 一百万?
Well, I think it’s b) 100,000.
我觉得是b) 100,000。
We'll find out if you're right or wrong later in the show.
节目的最后再看你回答的是否正确。
For myself, I just think vinyl sounds nicer than digital – has a warmer quality.
对于我来说，黑胶唱片比数字化音乐的声音好听，音质更柔和。
That sounds a bit technical, Neil!
听起来很专业啊，尼尔。
Don't you think this retro trend has more to do with nostalgia for the past?
你不觉得复古潮流更多的是对过去的一种怀旧之情吗？
Nostalgia means thinking about the past with a mixture of warm feelings and sadness.
Nostalgia 是指以悲喜交加的情绪回忆过去。
Well, yes, I think people who grew up with the old technology probably are nostalgic about it.
没错。我觉得随着旧科技产品成长起来的一代人，对其有一种怀旧之情。
Let's listen to music journalist Jacqueline Springer talking about cassette tapes and what they mean to her.
我们听听音乐记者Jacqueline Springer谈论盒式磁带，以及对她的意义。
They were audio love letters.
他们是有声情书。
They were ways in which you started to carve out your own identity
它们是你开始塑造自身身份认同的一种方式。
so you know when Dan or I have interviewed people we talk about…
所以当Dan或我采访人们时，
we talk to musicians about their impressions and, you know, and their influences, and invariably it was siblings or parents.
我们会和音乐人交流他们的感受，他们的影响，以及兄弟姐妹或父母对音乐的情怀。
And you would raid those vinyl albums and you would self-select.
你会突然想起黑胶唱片，你会进行自主选择。
Jacqueline Springer there.
上述是Jacqueline Springer 的观点。
So she calls cassette tapes audio love letters
她将盒式磁带成为有声情书。
– because people often compiled – or put together – their own collection of songs on tapes
因为人们会将收藏的歌刻在磁带里，
and gave them to the boy or girl they liked.
然后给他们喜欢的男生女生。
Jacqueline says they recorded songs from their parents' record collections onto tape.
Jacqueline说他们还从父母的收藏中刻录歌曲到磁带上。
And it seems that this process helped create their musical and social identity.
这一过程有利于帮助他们建立对音乐和社会的身份认同。
Yes. I identified with The Rolling Stones, The Clash, and The Sex Pistols when I was a teen.
是的，青少年时，我喜欢滚石，冲撞乐队，性手枪乐队。
How about your musical identity, Alice?
你对音乐的认同是什么呢？
Well, I was in love with all the boy bands from the 1990s – NSync, Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Take That.
我喜欢20世纪90年代所有的男子乐团，像超级男孩、西城男孩、后街男孩、接招乐队。
Unbelievable. I can see I need to make you some decent tapes of music from the 90s, Alice.
不可思议。看来我需要给你找一些不错的磁带，刻录一些90年代的歌曲。
I didn’t say I still like boy bands, Neil.
我没说我现在还喜欢这些男子乐团。
I'm not nostalgic for my lost teenage years – unlike you.
我对逝去的青春期没有什么怀旧之情，不像你。
Old tech is everywhere.
过时的科技产品处处都是。
Did you know that the US nuclear weapons force still uses a computer system dating back to the 1970s with 8-inch floppy disks?
你知道吗？美国核武器军队仍然使用20世纪70年代的电脑系统，带有8英寸的软盘。
Floppy disks?
软盘？
You mean those flexible plastic computer disks used for storing data magnetically.
你是指通过电磁储存数据的塑料电脑磁盘吗？
Well, I can't believe the guys in The Pentagon are nostalgic about floppy disks.
不敢相信五角大楼的人居然对软盘这么怀旧。
Well, a Pentagon spokesperson said it would be extremely expensive to update the system and it still works.
五角大楼的发言人说更新系统非常昂贵，况且如今的系统仍然可以使用。
They plan to do it by 2020 and save a lot of space for sure.
他们计划在2020年前更新系统，能省下不少空间。
You would need more than 130,000 8-inch floppy disks to store 32GB of information.
要想储存32G的信息，你需要130,000个八英寸软盘。
Wow! This is the equivalent of an average memory stick!
天啊，一个记忆棒就可以储存这么多了。
Yes. But there are more people out there keen on old tech.
是的，但是越来越多的人开始喜欢过时的科技产品。
How do you think a DVD rental store survives in this era of online movie streaming?
你觉得DVD出租商店在在线电影如此发达的年代怎么存活？
Let's listen to Tara Judah, co-director of UK rental store 20th Century Flicks and find out.
我们听听英国DVD出租商店20th Century Flicks的合伙人Tara Judah的观点，从中找到答案。
We've survived because of the experience of coming into this store.
我们存活下来是因为人们走进店里的感受到的个人经历。
Um… It's a very human experience.
是一种很有人情味的经历。
It's human interaction.
是人与人之间的互动。
People come here because they want to talk to somebody who's really knowledgeable about film.
人们来这里，是因为他们想和真正了解电影的人进行交流。
They want to have a recommendation or a conversation about the films they just watch.
他们想要获得电影推荐，或者交流他们刚刚看完的电影。
You know, they really want to discuss those things.
你知道，人们真的很想交流这些东西。
So it's back to the idea of human contact
这又回到了人与人交流的问题。
– we like compiling lists of music and sharing them with our friends and loved ones.
我们汇总音乐榜单，将它们分享给自己的朋友和爱人。
Sharing a playlist through iTunes or Spotify isn't quite the same, though.
这和通过iTunes 或 Spotify分享乐单的感受不同。
We like talking people about the films we watch.
我们乐于和人们交流看过的电影。
You can always talk to me, Neil.
你可以和我交流。
Now how about giving me the answer to today's quiz question?
是时候公布今天问题的答案了吧？
I asked: How many records were sold in the UK in 2014?
我的问题是：2014年英国卖出多少唱片？
Was it… a) 10,000 b) 100,000? Or c) 1 million?
a) 10,000 b) 100,000? 还是 c) 一百万?
I said b) 100,000.
我选的是b) 100,000。
And, Alice, you were in fact totally wrong!
你回答错了！
The answer is c).
答案是c)。
Vinyl is booming – in 2014, sales passed 1million albums in the UK for the first time since 1996.
黑胶唱片在2014年非常火，在英国的销售量达到了一百万张。这是自1996年后首次达到这样的销量。
The format has been steadily increasing,
销量还在稳步增加。
thanks in part to the popularity of guitar bands, traditionally associated with records.
一部分得感谢吉他乐队的流行，他们通常使用唱片。
Now let's hear words we learned today.
我们来听听今天学到的单词。
They are:
分别有：
record player
电唱机
turntable
转盘
retro
复古的
vinyl
乙烯基
cassette tapes
盒式磁带
resurgence
再现
nostalgia
怀旧之情
compiled
汇总
floppy disk
软盘
Well, that's the end of today's 6 Minute English.
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。
Don't forget to join us again soon!
不要忘了下期再会！
Bye!
再见！