汪翔
隨便想想
電子書革命將改變你的命運
對於我們這代人，童年最遺憾的記憶，恐怕就是想讀書而沒有書可讀了。在那個年代，除了毛選等為數不多的紅色書籍，幾乎是沒有什麽東西可讀、可買的。即使有，很多時候也買不起。記得在讀初中的時候，我用母親給我的買文具的錢，買了一本關於巴黎公社起義的圖畫書，好像是花了0.2元。那一次在公社的商店櫃台，小小年紀的我，看了好久，琢磨和惦量了好半天，才心滿意足地買下了生平第一本自己在店裏麵買下的自己喜歡的書籍。那個店，當時應該是鄉裏最大的一家商店。幾十年之後，每一次去那裏，我還依依不舍地問人們，當年那個商店的地址，並且還很好奇地想知道，它今天的命運。
再此後，我們就隻能以讀手抄本為主要閱讀手段了。那時候，名著也讀過，很多時候是部分閱讀，因為，不少的書缺頁少章。《少女之心》之類的“黃色小說”，記得也看過，隻是內容已經完全不記得了。那都是經過不知道是多少人多少次的抄寫之後，才能有的享受。也真難為了這些“地下工作者”，為了文化和文明的傳播，算是費盡了心思。不過也好，不少人，可能就是因為這種機會，才讓自己有了識字和練習寫字的機會的。
到高中的時候，為了參加高考，到處找複習資料。一本化學複習資料，錯誤連篇，也隻在自己手裏呆了三個月，就被人偷走了。這又給自己的高考帶來了不可低估的損失，自己也因此而與化學相關專業無緣。一本數學複習資料，證明題，沒有幾個是真的能夠成立的。缺三少四，很多時候，同學們時不時需要有人為他們反推，搞明白到底是那裏印刷錯了。查錯的工作量實在是太大了，但是，也是由於這種差錯的需要，可能也還有自己潛意識裏，想在漂亮女生麵前炫耀本事的內在衝動，給了自己無窮無盡的勤奮動力。現在想想，還真的得感謝那些粗製爛造的家夥，不然的話，自己可能也沒有機會發現自己的數學潛力。
大學時，選擇了數學作為自己的專業，因為，在那個“科學的春天”， 數理化才是“人才”應該聚集的地方。對知識的渴望，和獲得知識的那份滿足感，至今還讓我深感甜蜜和幸福。據說，目前中國的大學校園，已經沒有這樣的“傻子”存在了。這或許也在預示著，一個表麵看上去很繁榮的中國，未來將會是一個什麽樣子的。
那時候，我很羨慕那些學文科的人，讀小說和文學雜誌居然還是學習專業的一部分。而對於自己，則是標準的不務正業了。在大學的時候，大學圖書館的藏書，對我而言，確實是太豐富了。由於那些書籍的吸引力，我不得不擠壓自己的學習時間，來搞點“自留地”，好讓自己享受一番“不務正業”的快感。作為當時被重點栽培的專業對象，這種奢侈可是難以讓人容忍的。
在大學，我讀到的第一本“童話”，應該就是《魯濱遜漂流記》，讀後的感覺，好像是“發現”了一個完全不同於數學邏輯的新世界。隨後就一發而不可收。校辦工廠印刷的供批判用的《戰爭與和平》，《查特萊夫人的情人》等世界名著，就成為我們這些業餘“批評家”的最愛了。那清香的油墨味，給予我的滿足，甚至比我家現在每天飄香的那顆茉莉花的香味，還要強烈得多。
愛書，愛讀書，對於我們這代人，可能相當於現在年輕人對於網絡遊戲的鍾情了。在國內的時候，很多錢都被貢獻給了新華書店。當年大學時代，為了買一本大部頭的書籍，甚至可以從每個月13元的夥食費中打主意。第一次向人借款，也是為了買書。結果，就是一次次的書本累積，和隨後又一次次的將它們遺棄。由於沒有自己穩定的住所，每轉移一座城市，就不得不處理掉好幾箱子的書籍。即使是自己想用心保存的，寄存在親人家中的寶貝，幾年之後再見到時，那濃濃的黴味和變色的紙張，也還是讓自己沒有翻幾頁的興趣。很可能，在美國看多了印刷漂亮的書籍，無形之中，自己已經成為“陳世美”，早已經墮落，而又自不可知。記得在人民大學教書的那幾年，每一次會湖北度暑假，第一件事，就是將自家的藏書搬出來曬太陽。湖北潮濕的空氣，帶給書籍的就是一層層的綠黴。
最近十多年，舊習難改，不經意之間，家中一個個巨大的書櫃也整整齊齊地放滿了各種各樣的書籍。很多過去在國內時非常想得到的“原文書”，在這裏能夠很容易，有時候甚至還是很低廉的成本獲得。過去很多聽起來“如雷貫耳”的大作，很多也順理成章地收歸到這些悠閑的隊伍中去了。不過，遺憾的是，其中多數的，也隻是呆在那裏，就像古代後宮的妃子，難得有人關顧的。原因，並不是我不再喜歡閱讀，而是閱讀更多，但卻是從不同的渠道而已。
有了孩子之後，給孩子找書，為孩子讀書，就成為新的工作、樂趣和享受了。好在，美國的書商和作者非常專業，針對不同年齡層次的孩子，設計和出版了不同檔次的書籍。讓你容易找，也讓孩子容易喜歡上。當她們再大一點的時候，當自己想給她們教點中文時，才發現了不少難以想象到的麻煩：中文書沒有美國的“年紀”分類係統。要想針對不同年齡，提供不同檔次的中文閱讀物，簡直就是一件不可能做到的事情，除非你自己動手寫。
一旦時間，曾經自作聰明，以國內的教材來代替這種“尋找”的工作，結果發現了另一個“驚喜”：想不到，今天中國的小學和中學的課文，還依然帶有很濃重的意識形態色彩。那課本中的許多故事和課文，是不適合於拿來教導在美國長大的孩子的。除非你想將他們訓練成你自己都不想成為的那種人。
一晃幾年過去了，在自己對書本還愛戀不舍的時候，“一覺”醒來，才發現是一廂情願的單相思：人們已經開始不玩“那玩意”了。現在開始時興電子書，連大名鼎鼎的那兩家美國的“新華書店”，也開始麵臨破產的命運了。新的革命，就這樣開始了，悄無聲息。
在這場悄悄來臨的革命麵前，你看到什麽機會了嗎？如果沒有，如果你還在懷舊，那麽，現在應該是你醒過來的時刻。這場革命，很可能也能在一定程度上改變你的命運。就看你怎麽個玩法了。
聽明白了嗎？如果沒有，那就好好看看下麵附錄裏的這篇文章吧。
附錄：The bookstore massacre is coming
8/17/10 | Marketwatch
BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Are we about to see bookstores closing across the country? I suspect so.Look at the depressing proxy battle for what remains of Barnes & Noble Inc. (BKS), the world's largest chain of bookstores. You could hardly dominate an industry more than B&N has dominated the landscape of traditional bookstores. Yet its fortunes have fallen so far that management has hoisted the white flag and put it up for sale.
Barnes & Noble stock, which was flying high above $45 five years ago, has plummeted below $15. Wall Street's view of its prospects is so dim that not even the news of a bid battle has set it alight. The only bright spot: The company's e-book sales, which rocketed 51% last quarter.
(A vignette of a company in decline: Barnes & Noble's annual filing shows that management and staff owns 5.5 million stock options, granted to them in previous years to give them an incentive to work harder and smarter. The options have an average exercise price of $20.19 -- meaning most of them, if not all, are now seemingly worthless.)
As for the other giant of traditional bookstores: Borders Group Inc. (BGP) stock has plummeted by as much as 95% from its peak. Indeed, Borders stock, at around $1.20, is now a fraction of the cost of a book.
Meanwhile, e-books have now reached that tedious clich the tipping point. Amazon.com Inc.'s latest Kindle e-book reader has sold out -- weeks before it even started shipping. The new device is smaller, cheaper, and has a better screen.
Amazon (AMZN) says it's now selling more e-books than paper-based books -- about 43 % more in the last quarter, including about 80% more in the final month.
It doesn't end there.
Expect prices for e-book readers to start collapsing. How can Barnes & Noble still charge $149 for its Nook, or Borders $149 for the Kobo reader, when Amazon's newer, better product sells for $139?
And, of course, it's not just about e-book readers. People are also downloading electronic books onto their Apple (AAPL) iPads, laptops, tablet computers, and cell phones. But e book readers are the key for serious readers. Their screens, unlike those on regular devices, emit no light into your eyes. So they are much better suited for reading.
While prices collapse, screens are getting better. The latest Kindles have the newest, improved version of "eInk" screens. (I've used one of these screens, and it's a noticeable improvement.)
We already know how this story is going to end. We saw it with the cell phone and with the iPod. The devices and services get better and better until suddenly they go mainstream.
Three years ago, an e-book reader cost $400, offered a limited choice of books, and had a dark gray screen that wasn't so easy on the eyes. Today they're just over $100, offer almost unlimited choices of books, and the screens are excellent. And, naturally, you can download books over the air.
When these things happen, they happen quickly.
When I was growing up, record stores were a place you could hang out. In a really great store -- one of those big city leviathans spread over several stories -- you could spend the best part of a day flipping through the racks looking for hard-to-find records, obscure titles, things you'd never even heard of.
Teenagers today probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Who goes to a record store? Why don't you just download your music onto your iPod?
As recently as 2001 there were music stores everywhere. As many as 80,000 people worked in them, according to the Labor Department. And that was a number that had been steady for years.
In 2002 the iPod took off. Today the number working in music stores is 20,000 -- a 75% collapse.
As for the book industry: About 125,000 people still work in book stores and news dealers, according to Labor. How many of them will still have jobs in two years? Another 75,000 work in book publishing. When writers self-publish in electronic format, how many publishers will still be left?
I will be sorry to see the bookstore go. I love browsing for books. You'll find titles you weren't expecting or didn't know existed. I love discovering an out of print gem in a second hand bookstore.
Even today, if you make the full use of money-off deals and coupons at places like Borders you can often get paper books for less than e-books. And there's a limit to how much you can carry, so there's a limit to how much you can buy. I'll admit I'm getting fed up with technology. I dislike computers. I've even taken to reading an old-fashioned newspaper again.
But it's "progress." We'll have to deal with it.
