時候擺脫這些軟件了

文Bella Mackie譯JeanBee 繪迷失嘟嘟

時候擺脫這些軟件了

I Need to Escape from the Plenty of the Apps

文Bella Mackie譯JeanBee 繪迷失嘟嘟

My phone buzzes①buzz 英 ［b?z］ 美 ［b?z］ vt. 使嗡嗡叫；暗中散布 vi. 作嗡嗡聲；東奔西忙 n. 嗡嗡聲a lot. It lights up and grabs my attention during meetings， when I'm falling asleep and when I'm walking the dog.

For the most part， I emphatically declined their pleas②plea英 ［pli?］ 美 ［pli］ n. 懇求，請求；辯解，辯護；借口，托辭to send me push notifications③notification 英 ［，n??t?f?'ke??n］ 美 ［'not?f?'ke??n］ n. 通知；通告；［法］ 告示， or know my location. I was smart， I wouldn't let these apps be the boss of me. And yet， the alerts come，day and night. In the past week，I received a passive-aggressive message from the language app telling me that it would no longer bother telling me I haven't been practising my Italian， since it obviously wasn't working. Then there was a mournful④mournful 英 ［'m??nf?l； -f（?）l］ 美 ［'m?rnfl］ adj. 悲哀的；令人惋惜的message that arrived during a meeting

from the running one， which genuinely said： "If you're working out with someone else， it's OK，just log it with us too"， which made me feel like I was being unfaithful， instead of just running in the gym most days.

Even the programmes already installed⑤install 美 ［?n'st?l］ vt. 安裝；任命；安頓on your phone don't let you be. If you have an iPhone，you'll have a health app. It tells you how many steps you've walked a day. I am now locked in a competitive walking ritual with myself. Under 10，000？ My muscles will atrophy⑥atrophy 英 ［'?tr?f?］ 美 ［'?tr?fi］ n. 萎縮，萎縮癥；發育停止 vi. 萎縮；虛脫!

The problem with these programs， （and， yes， I'm aware that I use the word "problem" lightly — world news is over there） is that they rarely make you feel fantastic about yourself. For every run that your fitness app gives you a virtual high five for， there will be many other occasions when you haven't worked out and you'll see that little widget⑦widget 英 ［'w?d??t］ 美 ［'w?d??t］ n. 裝飾物；小機械；小部件；未定名的主要新產品glinting at you， reminding you of your failure. You might've been ill， or depressed， or busy working on a brilliant new project — the app doesn't care.

Modern technology helps us in so many incredible ways that it would be churlish⑧churlish 英 ［'t???l??］ adj. 沒有禮貌的；脾氣暴躁的to complain too severely about apps that can enhance or simplify our lives. But perhaps the companies that design them should have a think about how they want to make us feel. Nagging guilt trips and passive-aggressive notifications are not conventional sales techniques. From now on， I'll be more cautious when I download these little widgets. My success or failure in finding true love，or finally learning how to do a handstand might well be helped along by my smartphone， but none of us should measure our progress in life by it. If I really want to feel guilty， I can always phone my mother.

我的手機經常在響。無論我是在開會，還是躺在床上，或是正在遛狗，手機只要一閃，就吸引了我的注意力。

更多時候，我斷然拒絕了應用程序“推送消息”和“獲得位置”的請求。聰明如我，我才不會讓這些應用程序對我指手畫腳呢。然而，手機消息還是沒日沒夜地飛來了。就在上周，我的語言應用發送了一條消極激進的信息，說它以后不會再費心提醒我，我還沒有練習意大利語了，反正說了也沒用。在我開會的時候，我的跑步應用也發了一條悲傷的消息，它誠摯地告訴我：“如果你找到鍛煉的伙伴了，不用擔心這會傷害到我。但是記得讓你的伙伴加入我們哦。”這條消息并沒有刺激我花時間去健身房跑步，但讓我感覺自己是個叛徒。

手機配套應用也不會放過你的。如果你買了個iphone，你就會有一個健康應用程序。這個應用會告訴你一天走了多少步。我如今在一個自我步行競賽中困住了，如果每天走路少于1萬步？我的肌肉可是會萎縮的！

這些應用的問題在于，它們很難讓你對自己產生良好評價（我意識到我很少使用“問題”這個詞，畢竟世界新聞擺在那里）。雖然每次跑步你的手機應用會給你一個虛擬的擊掌（以示慶祝），但大多數時候，你沒有在運動，這個應用讓手機閃光、提醒你：你失敗了。你可能生病了，或者情緒低落，更有可能是在忙碌于一個不錯的新計劃——然而這些都不是健康應用所關心的。

現代科技以很多出其不意的方式幫助我們。如果過多地抱怨這些可以提高或者簡化我們生活的應用程序，可就不禮貌了。不過也許設計這些應用的公司應該想想，我們對這些應用的感覺如何。擾人的、讓人感覺內疚的使用體驗，以及消極激進的提醒信息，可不是符合用戶習慣的銷售技巧。從現在開始，我會更加謹慎地下載這些小東西。我的智能手機也許會幫助我成功找到真愛、學會做倒立，不過任何人都不應該用手機來測量生活的進程。如果我確實想要內疚一下，打個電話給我媽就行了。