不知從何時(shí)起，孩子們搖身一變，個(gè)個(gè)都成了“觸屏?xí)r代”的小神童。在大人看來(lái)，這幫小屁孩幾乎能玩轉(zhuǎn)所有的科技產(chǎn)品，自己卻只能甘拜下風(fēng)。為了不丟面子，大人們找到各種理由為自己開(kāi)脫：小孩腦子快，他們一出生就有iPad玩，他們總愛(ài)瞎鼓搗……然而，真正的原因卻并非如此。

We’re often astounded by the ability of children to pick up， use and master the latest technological innovations. You frequently hear stories from parents of how they left a tablet computer lying around and after a couple of hours they came back to find their toddler1） using it to play games， look at kittens on the internet or open an offshore bank account2）.

The idea that the younger generation is somehow inherently more adept at using technology is slowly taking hold3）. In a recent survey by John Lewis4）， 71 per cent of parents admitted that they consult their children for technological advice， whether that’s help online （setting up social-media profiles） or around the home （operating the TiVo5））. In other words， while adults are busy putting food on the table， children are becoming our technological overlords6）.

But how and why is this happening and why do some parents seem resigned to it？ After all， modern user interfaces7） are getting simpler and， at least in theory， are designed for us all to operate. They’re not geared8） specifically towards children and， while it’s often stated that kids find technology easy because they “grew up with it，” their 30-something parents probably grew up with it， too.

“It’s certainly an illusion to assume that kids can do these things intuitively，” says Nigel Houghton， managing director of Simplicity Computers. “It’s more the case that they’re not fearful of looking around， and so they eventually work things out.” Dr Mark Brosnan， senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Bath and author of the book Technophobia， says that children’s apparent expertise has little to do with youth. “If they swipe a tablet screen with three fingers， it looks like an intuitive gesture，” he says， “but it’s because they’ve seen someone do it before. They just have a great immediate experience9） of potential solutions.”

There’s a world of difference between the Windows 95 PCs that many adults cut their teeth on10） and sleek11）， 21st-century touch-screen devices； the latter are far more geared towards entertainment and communication， so it’s unsurprising that children spend far more time getting to grips with12） them than time-starved13） parents.

“It becomes about inclination，” says Matt Leeser， head of buying for telecoms and technology at John Lewis. “Whether you’re talking about Windows 8 or a smart TV， it’s a question of whether one can be bothered to learn how to use it.” But it’s also to do with the learning process itself. “When kids get a device， they talk to their mates， and they go through a process of swapping14） information，” says Houghton， whose company specializes in producing simpler， more straightforward computing interfaces. “But when older people see younger people using devices so easily， it provides a sort of deterrent： ‘Oh god，’ they think， ‘I can’t do that. I must be stupid.’”

It’s a conveniently lazy mindset to develop， but it’s one that’s easily conquerable. “I’ve looked at issues related to anxiety and technology，” says Brosnan， “and some of the most confident， happy， least anxious users are silver surfers15） over the age of 65—largely due to the fact that they’re retired， they have some time to spare， and there’s no pressure—no one is watching them and evaluating how they’re using it.”

In other words， a solid relationship with technology seems to be a function16） of leisure time， something that parents can be woefully17） short of. The resulting technological consultation of children by their parents could just be seen as an amusing reversal of authority within the family unit， but it does throw up a number of questions， both financial and moral. “We’re seeing kids leading a lot of technology purchase decisions for the family based upon the trends that they’re following，” says Leeser.

“They’re not really worrying about internet security， for example， or interoperability18）. So our role is to offer impartial advice.

“Someone said to me recently that it’s like giving the prisoner the key if you let your kids make your technology purchases.”

The same analogy could be used back at home， post-sale， where it’s the parents’ duty to be clued up19） enough to supervise their children’s use of technology， but kids end up knowing far more than they’re given credit for20）. “If I were a child and my parents asked me which websites I shouldn’t be looking at，” says Leeser， “I certainly wouldn’t have told them—and if they’d asked me how to block those websites， I wouldn’t have told them that either.”

Ahad Surooprajally， 45， has a nine-year old son， Habeeb， who’s already running rings around him21）. “He has to go to bed at a certain time，” he says， “but then he’ll log into my Apple TV remotely while I’m watching a film and shut it down … Similarly， I had a friend of mine set up controls on the computer so Habeeb has 30 minutes online time a day—but he made himself an administrator and gave himself two hours a day instead.” Habeeb himself finds this screamingly funny， but is coy22） when asked how he came by the knowledge. “Oh， the internet，” he giggles. And do you ever get tips from friends？ “To be honest， I don’t really need to，” he replies.

You may think of Habeeb as a whizz kid23） who’s streets ahead of24） his peers， but it’s likely that his peers are just as clued up， because they’ve got the time， the inclination and the access to technology. If there’s a message to come out of this， it’s probably a nudge to technophobic25） parents to devote some time towards getting good advice and to familiarize themselves with new technology—not just to maintain technological order at home， but also because society increasingly demands it.

“The government wants us to be able to do so much online，” says Nigel Houghton. “There are 650 services provided by various departments which are moving online—and there are all the incredibly useful things that internet connectivity can help with， such as getting cheaper utility bills.”

And， seeing as our offspring probably wouldn’t have the patience to help us seek out a new electricity provider， maybe that’s a good place as any to begin striking out26） on our own.

孩子們領(lǐng)會(huì)、使用和掌握最新技術(shù)產(chǎn)品的能力常常讓我們目瞪口呆。你經(jīng)常會(huì)從一些父母那里聽(tīng)到這樣的故事：他們隨手將平板電腦擱在了一邊，等過(guò)了幾個(gè)小時(shí)回來(lái)則發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們那還在蹣跚學(xué)步的孩子竟然正在用平板電腦玩游戲、上網(wǎng)看小貓或是開(kāi)設(shè)離岸賬戶(hù)。

年輕一代不知怎么地天生就更擅長(zhǎng)使用新科技產(chǎn)品——這種觀念正深入人心。約翰·路易斯百貨公司最近的一項(xiàng)調(diào)查顯示，有71%的父母承認(rèn)，無(wú)論是在上網(wǎng)方面（設(shè)置社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)的個(gè)人賬戶(hù)），還是在家中使用高科技產(chǎn)品（操作TiVo數(shù)字錄影機(jī)）時(shí)，他們都會(huì)向自己的孩子尋求技術(shù)方面的建議。也就是說(shuō)，當(dāng)成年人忙著養(yǎng)家糊口時(shí)，孩子們正漸漸成為我們的技術(shù)霸主。

可是，這種情況是怎么出現(xiàn)的？為什么會(huì)出現(xiàn)這樣的情況？為什么有的父母似乎也聽(tīng)任這樣的情況發(fā)生呢？畢竟，現(xiàn)代用戶(hù)界面變得越來(lái)越簡(jiǎn)單，至少?gòu)睦碚撋险f(shuō)是為了讓我們所有人都能操作而設(shè)計(jì)的，而非專(zhuān)門(mén)面向孩子的。盡管人們常說(shuō)，孩子們覺(jué)得新技術(shù)很簡(jiǎn)單是因?yàn)樗麄兪恰鞍橹录夹g(shù)長(zhǎng)大的”，但他們?nèi)鄽q的父母很可能也是伴著新技術(shù)長(zhǎng)大的。

“如果你想當(dāng)然地認(rèn)為孩子們能靠直覺(jué)去做這些事情，那一定是種錯(cuò)覺(jué)，”簡(jiǎn)單電腦公司的總裁奈杰爾·霍頓說(shuō)，“更多的情況是，孩子們不怕東瞧西瞧找辦法，因而最終能把事情弄明白?！卑退勾髮W(xué)心理學(xué)高級(jí)講師、《技術(shù)恐懼》一書(shū)的作者馬克·布魯斯南博士說(shuō)，孩子們表面上對(duì)技術(shù)的熟練掌握與其年幼沒(méi)什么關(guān)系?！叭绻麄冇萌种富^(guò)平板電腦的屏幕，這看上去像是一種本能的手勢(shì)，”他說(shuō)，“但這是因?yàn)樗麄円郧耙?jiàn)過(guò)有人這么做。他們不過(guò)是對(duì)潛在的解決方案有著極佳的直接經(jīng)驗(yàn)而已?！?/p>

很多成年人早年使用的Windows 95電腦與21世紀(jì)造型精巧的觸屏設(shè)備之間有著天壤之別，后者更適合娛樂(lè)和交流。所以，孩子們會(huì)比時(shí)間緊迫的父母?jìng)兓ǜ嗟臅r(shí)間去仔細(xì)研究觸屏設(shè)備，這沒(méi)什么值得驚奇的。

“這成了關(guān)乎意愿的事，”約翰·路易斯百貨公司負(fù)責(zé)電信及技術(shù)采購(gòu)的主管馬特·利澤說(shuō)，“無(wú)論你是在討論Windows 8還是智能電視，問(wèn)題的關(guān)鍵都在于你是否愿意費(fèi)點(diǎn)心思去學(xué)會(huì)如何使用它?！辈贿^(guò)，這也和學(xué)習(xí)的過(guò)程本身有關(guān)。“當(dāng)孩子們拿到一款新設(shè)備時(shí)，他們會(huì)和小伙伴們互相談?wù)?，?jīng)歷一個(gè)互換信息的過(guò)程，”霍頓說(shuō)道，他的公司專(zhuān)門(mén)制作更加簡(jiǎn)便、快捷的電腦界面，“但是，當(dāng)年長(zhǎng)一些的人看到比自己年輕的人在自如地操作這些設(shè)備時(shí)，會(huì)產(chǎn)生一種畏難情緒：‘天哪，’他們會(huì)想，‘我就不會(huì)那個(gè)，我一定很笨?！?/p>

養(yǎng)成這種懶惰的心態(tài)很容易，但要克服它也不難?！拔已芯窟^(guò)與焦慮和技術(shù)相關(guān)的一些問(wèn)題，”布魯斯南說(shuō)道，“在那些最自信、最開(kāi)心、最不焦慮的網(wǎng)絡(luò)用戶(hù)中，有一些65歲以上的銀發(fā)網(wǎng)民。這很大程度上是因?yàn)樗麄兌纪诵萘耍锌臻e的時(shí)間，又沒(méi)有壓力——沒(méi)人觀察他們?cè)谧鍪裁矗矝](méi)人評(píng)價(jià)他們用得怎么樣?！?/p>

換句話(huà)說(shuō)，一個(gè)人同科技產(chǎn)品的關(guān)系有多牢固似乎取決于其有多少閑暇的時(shí)間。不幸的是，父母?jìng)內(nèi)鄙俚恼情e暇時(shí)光。所以他們得向孩子們請(qǐng)教技術(shù)方面的問(wèn)題。這可以被視為家庭單位內(nèi)的一種權(quán)威逆轉(zhuǎn)，這種逆轉(zhuǎn)很有趣，但也引發(fā)了許多問(wèn)題，有經(jīng)濟(jì)方面的，也有道德方面的?！拔覀儼l(fā)現(xiàn)，孩子們會(huì)根據(jù)自己追趕的數(shù)字潮流來(lái)主導(dǎo)家庭購(gòu)買(mǎi)科技產(chǎn)品的決定。”利澤說(shuō)。

“比如說(shuō)，他們不太擔(dān)心網(wǎng)絡(luò)安全問(wèn)題或是交互性問(wèn)題。所以，我們要做的就是提供一些客觀的建議。

“最近有人對(duì)我說(shuō)，如果你讓孩子們?nèi)ベ?gòu)買(mǎi)科技產(chǎn)品，那就像是把鑰匙交給了囚犯?！?/p>

這一比喻同樣適用于將產(chǎn)品買(mǎi)回家之后的情形。這時(shí)，父母有責(zé)任去對(duì)這些科技產(chǎn)品進(jìn)行足夠的了解，以便監(jiān)督孩子們的使用。但到頭來(lái)，孩子們知道的卻比大人們所認(rèn)為的要多得多?！叭绻沂莻€(gè)孩子，當(dāng)我的父母問(wèn)我哪些網(wǎng)站我不應(yīng)該去看時(shí)，”利澤說(shuō)，“我當(dāng)然不會(huì)告訴他們。如果他們問(wèn)我怎樣屏蔽那些網(wǎng)站，我同樣不會(huì)告訴他們?！?/p>

45歲的阿哈德·素羅普拉賈利有個(gè)兒子，名叫哈比布，才九歲，但他在運(yùn)用科技產(chǎn)品方面已經(jīng)大大超過(guò)他老爸了?！肮炔紤?yīng)該在固定的時(shí)間上床睡覺(jué)，” 阿哈德說(shuō)，“但是，當(dāng)我在看電影時(shí)，他會(huì)遠(yuǎn)程登錄到我的蘋(píng)果電視上，然后關(guān)掉它……類(lèi)似的事情還有，一次我讓一個(gè)朋友給電腦設(shè)了限制，這樣哈比布每天只有30分鐘的上網(wǎng)時(shí)間。但他卻把自己設(shè)成了管理員，讓自己一天能上兩個(gè)小時(shí)的網(wǎng)。”哈比布自己覺(jué)得這么做超級(jí)有趣，但在被問(wèn)及他是如何獲得這些知識(shí)時(shí)，他卻閃爍其詞?！芭?，從網(wǎng)上?！彼┛┑匦χf(shuō)。那你得到過(guò)朋友們的指點(diǎn)嗎？“說(shuō)實(shí)話(huà)，我不太需要。”他回答道。

你可能會(huì)認(rèn)為哈比布是一個(gè)神童，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過(guò)了同齡的其他孩子。但與他同齡的其他孩子很可能也同樣在行，因?yàn)樗麄冇袝r(shí)間、有意愿也有機(jī)會(huì)去接觸新科技。如果說(shuō)這里想傳達(dá)出什么信息的話(huà)，那或許就是要敦促那些對(duì)新技術(shù)心懷恐懼的父母去花點(diǎn)時(shí)間獲取好的建議，讓自己熟悉新技術(shù)——不僅是為了維持家中的技術(shù)秩序，也是因?yàn)樯鐣?huì)越來(lái)越需要他們這樣做。

“政府希望我們能通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)做很多事，” 奈杰爾· 霍頓說(shuō)，“現(xiàn)在各個(gè)部門(mén)都在利用網(wǎng)絡(luò)，他們提供了650種在線服務(wù)——通過(guò)接入互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，很多極為實(shí)用的服務(wù)都能得以實(shí)現(xiàn)，比如獲取更便宜的水電費(fèi)賬單?！?/p>

鑒于我們的后代很可能沒(méi)有耐心去幫我們找到新的電力供應(yīng)商，或許，網(wǎng)絡(luò)和其他任何新領(lǐng)域一樣，是我們開(kāi)始獨(dú)自探索的好地方。

1.toddler [?t?dl?（r）] n. 學(xué)步的兒童

2.offshore bank account：離岸賬戶(hù)，也叫OSA賬戶(hù)。在金融學(xué)上指存款人在其居住國(guó)家以外開(kāi)設(shè)的銀行賬戶(hù)。

3.take hold：生根；固定下來(lái)；確立

4.John Lewis：約翰·路易斯百貨公司，英國(guó)倫敦最大的百貨公司

5.TiVo：一種硬盤(pán)數(shù)字錄像設(shè)備，能幫助人們非常方便地錄下和篩選電視上播放過(guò)的節(jié)目。

6.overlord [???v?（r）?l??（r）d] n. 最高統(tǒng)治者；霸主

7.user interface：[計(jì)]用戶(hù)界面

8.gear [ɡ??（r）] vt. 使適合

9.immediate experience：直接經(jīng)驗(yàn)

10.cut one’s teeth on：早年學(xué)習(xí)（或使用）

11.sleek [sli?k] adj. 線條明快的，造型優(yōu)美的；光滑的

12.get to grips with：〈喻〉開(kāi)始應(yīng)付（難題、挑戰(zhàn)等）

13.time-starved [?ta?mstɑ?（r）vd] adj. 時(shí)間寶貴的，時(shí)間緊迫的

14.swap [sw?p] vt. 交換

15.silver surfer：銀發(fā)（年紀(jì)大的）互聯(lián)網(wǎng)使用者

16.function [?f??k?（?）n] n. 應(yīng)變量，隨他物的變化而變化的事物

17.woefully [?w??f（?）li] adv. 可憐地；可悲地

18.interoperability [??nt?（r）??p?r??b?l?ti] n. [計(jì)]交互性（指交換信息及共同使用已交換信息的能力）

19.clue up：〈口〉對(duì)……知道的很多，對(duì)……精通

20.give credit for：認(rèn)為某人有（某種優(yōu)點(diǎn)或能力）

21.run rings around someone：顯然勝過(guò)某人；大大超過(guò)某人

22.coy [k??] adj. 含糊其辭的；不愿表態(tài)的

23.whizz kid：神童，奇才

24.streets ahead of：比……好得多；遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出

25.technophobic [?tekn???f??bik] adj. 對(duì)新技術(shù)感到恐懼的

26.strike out：獨(dú)立闖新路；開(kāi)辟（道路等）