2014年10月30日 星期四

The Pioneering Women Forgotten by High Tech/高科技業遺忘的先驅女性


【跟我學日語—高級報】每週文章介紹日本相關資訊,讓你不僅可認識日本,更可藉由閱讀文章來加深日文程度。 厭倦一成不變的旅遊方式?想更深度了解、認識這個世界?【旅遊玩樂報】擷取旅行精華,讓你輕鬆玩遍世界!
無法正常瀏覽圖片,請按這裡看說明   無法正常瀏覽內容,請按這裡線上閱讀
新聞  專題  理財  追星  社群  Blog  哇新聞  電子書  
讀紐時學英文
2014/10/31 第45期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 The Pioneering Women Forgotten by High Tech/高科技業遺忘的先驅女性
Shoes Made With Recycling in Mind/為了回收再生而做的鞋子
紐時周報精選
 
The Pioneering Women Forgotten by High Tech/高科技業遺忘的先驅女性
By NICK BILTON╱王麗娟譯
While spending the summer of 2007 in Aspen, Colo rado, Walter Isaacson and his wife, Cathy, hound ed their daughter to finish her compulsory college essay. Finally, after hearing enough nagging , Betsy Isaacson locked herself in her bedroom until she emerged with a completed twopage essay.

2007年夏天待在科羅拉多州艾斯班時,華特.艾薩克森和妻子凱蒂不斷催促女兒完成大學作文作業。最後,受夠了嘮叨,貝琪.艾薩克森將自己關進臥室,出來時完成了兩頁的短文。

"Congratulations, Betsy," Mr. Isaacson recalls saying . "What did you write it about?"

艾薩克森回憶說:「恭喜你,貝琪。你寫了誰?」

"Ada Lovelace," she replied. This was followed by a long, awkward silence. Mr. Isaacson, who was just beginning work on a biography of Steve Jobs, could not recall who Ms. Lovelace was.

她答道:「艾達.洛夫萊斯。」接著是尷尬的一長段緘默。剛動筆撰寫史蒂夫.賈伯斯傳的艾薩克森想不起洛夫萊斯是何許人。

"She's one of the women who has been written out of the history of computing," his daughter replied. Though some in tech know of her, Ms. Lovelace, who lived from 1815 to 1852, is an unknown.

他女兒答道:「她是電算史遺漏的一位女性。」雖然科技界有人聽過這名字,1815年出生,1852年去世的洛夫萊斯,卻是個沒沒無聞的人物。

It's no secret that people are often erased from the history of bigtech companies. It's so prevalent in Silicon Valley that it is known as "The Creation Myth." But what may come as a surprise is the number of women who played a pivotal role but who are now forgotten.

大科技公司的歷史經常將人們一筆勾消,這不是什麼祕密。這是矽谷司空見慣的事,廣被稱為「創世神話」。令人訝異的是,在其中扮演關鍵角色,如今卻遭人遺忘的女性,竟然如此之多。

That is a central theme in Mr. Isaacson's new book, "The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution ."

這是艾薩克森新書《創新者:一群駭客、天才和怪才如何創建數位革命》的中心主題。

Each chapter reinforces the core premise that Mr. Isaacson made after 15 years of research: That every technology innovation, whether programming code, transistors, personal computers or the Internet, was built by groups of people (usually by borrowing from past ideas). But while a number of the men have become celebrities, most of the women are lost .

新書的每一章節都在強調艾薩克森歷15年研究後歸結出的同一核心前提:每一個技術創新,無論是程式代碼、電晶體、個人電腦或網際網路,都是一群人的心血結晶(通常是借用前人的點子)。儘管一些男性最後成為名人,多數的女性卻從此不為人知。

Ms. Lovelace's role in tech is so paramount that her story is the opening and closing chapter. An English mathematician and writer, she wrote the first-ever computer algorithm, put forth the idea that humanities and technology should coexist and dreamed up the concept of artificial intelligence.

洛夫萊斯在科技上的角色如此之高,因此新書第一章和最後一章都是寫她。她是位英國數學家、作家,寫了第一個電算演算法,提出人文科學應與科技共存的概念,且想像出人工智慧的概念。

"Ada Lovelace defined the digital age," Mr. Isaacson said in a recent interview about the book . "Yet she, along with all these other women, was ignored or forgotten."

艾薩克森最近就此書接受訪問時說:「艾達.洛夫萊斯為數位年代下了定義,然而她和所有這些女性卻都遭到忽略或遺忘。」

In her day, she was all but ignored, too. In 1843, when Ms. Lovelace's seminal computing notes were presented to Scientific Memoirs, an English scientific journal , the editors told her colleague Charles Babbage he should "manfully" sign his name in lieu of hers.

在洛夫萊斯的年代,她也完全遭到漠視。1843年,洛夫萊斯的研討會電算筆記被人送到英國科學期刊《科學回憶錄》時,雜誌編輯告訴洛夫萊斯的同事巴貝奇,「像個男子漢般」簽署自己的名字,取代她的。

The exclusion of women has not only reinforced stereotypes about women and technology, but has arguably had a self-fulfilling effect in America. In 1985, 37 percent of computer science undergraduate degrees were earned by women. By 2010, that number had fallen by half to 18 percent. Now just 0.4 percent of all female college freshmen say they plan to major in computer science.

女性被排除在外,不僅強化了人們對婦女和科技界的刻板印象,似乎在美國還產生了自我實現效應。1985年,37%的電算學大學學位由女性取得。但到2010年少了一半,只剩18%。現在大學女性新生僅0.4%表示想主修電算學。

This is visible at major tech companies. At Google, men make up 83 percent of engineers. Of Google's 36 t o p - r a n k i n g executives and managers, only three are women. At Apple, male tech employees account for 80 percent of the work force. And at Facebook, 85 percent of the company's tech workers are men.

這點在大科技公司明顯可見。在谷歌,男性占工程師的83%。谷歌36位最上層主管與經理,僅3位是女性。在蘋果,男性技術員工占總人力的80%。在臉書,技術員工85%是男性。

"Stereotypes are very reinforcing because as human beings we expect what is familiar," said Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook . Ms. Sandberg said that it is imperative to debunk the myth that women are uninterested in technology .

臉書營運長雪柔.桑德伯格說:「刻板印象的力量非常強大,因為身為人類,我們會習以為常。」桑德伯格說,我們一定要揭穿女性對科技不感興趣這個迷思。

Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code, which aims to close the gender gap in computer science and technology, agrees.

非營利組織「代碼女孩」」以消除電算與科技界兩性差距為成立宗旨,該組織的雷希瑪.索亞尼同意這項看法。

"If women had been more prominently talked about in computing, both in the history books and schools, we literally would not have the lack of women programmers that we do today," Ms. Saujani said. "It's about role models. You can't be what you cannot see."

索亞尼說:「如果我們以顯著地位多談一些電算界的女性,無論是歷史書裡或在學校,應該就不會像今天這樣,女程式設計師這麼少。這與角色模範有關,看不見前人,就不會有後繼者。」

Part of the problem, Mr. Isaacson writes in "The Innovators," is how the creation myth seeks to make heroes out of individuals, rather than the group.

艾薩克森在《創新者》中寫道,部分問題出在,創世神話只讓個人變成英雄,而不是整個團體。

He said, "Most of the great advances of the digital age were done collaboratively ."

他說:「但數位年代的大躍進,多數都是協力達成的。」

 
Shoes Made With Recycling in Mind/為了回收再生而做的鞋子
By CLAIRE MARTIN╱田思怡譯
When people first pick up a pair of sneakers designed by Steven Weinreb, they are typically perplexed.

當人們第一次拿起史蒂芬.溫瑞布設計的運動鞋,通常都會感到有些困惑。

"They'll say, 'Oh my God, these are extremely lightweight and they're so cool-looking,' " Mr. Weinreb says. " 'But they're made out of paper.' " The shoes are actually made from Tyvek, a material that is light but also water-resistant and relatively sturdy . Mr. Weinreb sells the shoes online and in boutique shoe stores through his company Civic Duty, based in New Jersey.

溫瑞布說:「他們會說,『哦,我的上帝,它們真輕,外型好酷。但它們是紙做的。」這些鞋子實際上是泰維克紙做的,一種很輕,但也防水和相當堅固的材質。溫瑞布透過他設在新澤西州的公司「公民責任」,在網路上和精品鞋店賣這些鞋。

If you've sent a package, you've probably used Tyvek. Created by DuPont in 1955, it is made from high-density polyethylene fibers and was originally used for things like labels . It has also been used in hazmat suits, banners and packaging .

只要你寄過包裹,大概就用過泰維克紙。杜邦公司1955年開發出這種材質,是以高密度的聚乙烯纖維製成,最早用於做標籤之類的東西,也用於製造防護衣、旗幟和包裝。

"I call it techno-fashion with a sustainability sensibility," Shawn Grain Carter, associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, says of the new designs. "You've now got this consciousness of not just fashion for fashion's sake, but fashion to protect the environment," she says. "Tyvek is a nonwoven material that meets both those qualities. It's postindustrial. It's futuristic. It's postmodern."

紐約時尚設計學院副教授夏恩.葛瑞安.卡特談到這種新設計時說:「我稱之為具有永續意識的科技時尚。」她說:「你們現在已經有這種意識,認為時尚不該只是為時尚而時尚,而是時尚要能保護環境。泰維克紙是非紡織材質,符合這兩種特質。它是後工業社會的,它是未來主義的,它是後現代的。」

Civic Duty markets its Tyvek sneakers as easy on the environment, and suitable for those who shun clothing made from animal products. It recycles customers' shoes at centers that convert them into "a picnic table or a park bench or something else that's made from the Tyvek itself," Mr. Weinreb says. (For recycling, customers must send the shoes back to the company.)

「公民責任」公司促銷泰維克紙運動鞋的廣告詞是對環境友善,適合拒絕穿以動物產品製造的服裝的人。溫瑞布說,該公司在一些再製中心把顧客的運動鞋再製成「野餐桌或公園椅,或原本就是用泰維克紙製造的東西。(為了再製,顧客必須把鞋子送回公司。)

One of his competitors has taken a similar path, focusing its marketing on both environmental and cool factors. The three co-founders of Unstitched Utilities, also in New Jersey, met while working at Fila .

他的競爭者之一走類似路線,行銷鎖定環保和很酷這兩個元素。「不縫用品」公司同樣在新澤西州,三位創辦人是在Fila運動休閒用品公司工作時結識。

Several years ago, the group began experimenting with Tyvek . Now they sell sports shoes made from it . The shoes sell for $50 to $135 a pair on its website and in about 30 shoe stores in the United States.

幾年前,這個團隊開始用泰維克紙實驗。現在他們賣用泰維克紙做的運動鞋。鞋子在網路上和美國大約30家鞋店銷售,每雙50至135美元。

A third competitor in the Tyvek-sneaker market, Unbelievable Testing Laboratory, was started in China two years ago by Token Hu, who was working at the design firm Frog Design. He began experimenting with Tyvek sneakers when his wife couldn't find shoes she liked that fit her very small feet.

泰維克紙運動鞋市場的第三個競爭者「游其實驗室」,是兩年前胡依林在中國大陸創辦的,當時他在「青蛙」設計公司工作。他的妻子找不到適合她很小的腳,又很喜歡的鞋子,他開始實驗用泰維克紙製作運動鞋。

Unbelievable Testing Laboratory is now based in both Shanghai and Las Vegas and is marketing its products to 23- to 35-yearold men who "work in the design, technology, I.T. and engineering spaces," says Joseph Constanty, a co-founder .

共同創辦人康斯坦提說,現在「游其實驗室」在上海和拉斯維加斯都有公司,產品銷售對象鎖定23到35歲,在「設計、科技、資訊科技和工程領域工作」的男性。

But there are questions about the environmental sustainability of Tyvek. It is, after all, made of plastic fibers. The companies each estimated about a yearlong life span for their shoes .

但泰維克紙的環境永續性有疑問。它畢竟是塑膠纖維製的。這些公司都估計他們鞋子的壽命大約一年。

"It all depends on what percentage of the customers actually send them back and on how diligent the company is about recycling them properly," according to Rachel Obbard of Dartmouth University in New Hampshire, who has researched materials in sports equipment.

新罕布夏州達特茅斯大學的瑞秋.歐巴德一直在研究運動用品的材質, 她說:「這全得看顧客實際上把鞋子送回來的比率,以及公司把鞋子善加再生有多麼勤快。」

"Tyvek is equally strong in all directions, stain resistant, and has an excellent strengthto- weight ratio," she said in an email. But, she added, its breathability isn't as high as that of a typical running shoe.

她在電子郵件中說:「泰維克紙各方面都同樣強,防髒汙,而且強度重量比極佳。」不過,她接著說,它的透氣度比不上一般運動鞋。

"I could see having a pair of super light casual Tyvek shoes that you could stuff into a backpack or suitcase," she wrote. "I could not see playing sports in them."

她寫道:「我可以理解擁有一雙超輕的休閒泰維克紙鞋,你可以塞進背包或公事包裡。但我不認為應該穿著它去運動。」

 
訊息公告
 
柯南偵探物語20歲囉
外表看似小孩,智慧卻過於常人的名偵探柯南,今年邁入連載20周年。日本推出一連串的活動為這位洞悉犯罪事實的名偵探盛大慶生。

12Point!孕婦缺鈣怎麼補
孕婦常抽筋、睡不好是缺鈣造成的嗎?鈣質對孕婦和胎兒的成長都非常重要,本次告訴孕媽咪,如何檢視自己是否缺鈣,以及如何用正確的方式和飲食補充鈣質。
 
本電子報著作權均屬「聯合線上公司」或授權「聯合線上公司」使用之合法權利人所有,
禁止未經授權轉載或節錄。若對電子報內容有任何疑問或要求轉載授權,請【
聯絡我們】。
免費電子報 | 著作權聲明 | 隱私權聲明 | 聯絡我們
udnfamily : news | video | money | stars | paper | reading | mobile | data | city | blog | job

沒有留言:

張貼留言