Why-Fi?

Why-Fi?

by David Hopkins翻譯：寒星

有的時候，若能關閉無線網絡，只管坐下來靜靜閱讀、細細品味書中的世界，也是一種幸福。

You can fnd a Wi-Fi signal almost anywhere, at bars, coffeehouses, libraries and bookstores. Some cities make free Wi-Fi available to everyone.

However, the mere existence of Wi-Fi can change the culture of location. For people who care about digital1)over-saturation, the challenge is to determine where are the2)sacred spaces within a3)bustling city, places where we lose the signal. We need that.

For me, it begins with a bookstore.

Wild Detectives is an independent bookstore, café and bar located in a4)renovated house. I love this place, not only for what it is—a very cool hangout spot with books—but for what it tries to be: a literary center. The5)homey setting gives it the feel of a salon, the kind of place where people gather to talk about philosophy, politics and poetry.

Some coffeehouses are going without Wi-Fi and even banning6)glowing screens. It’s part of a trend, a7)pushback against those who camp out all day at the table in front of their laptops. In the process, it’s also8)fostering a greater sense of community. Business improved, and the owner reported the overall mood of his café became much friendlier. For many independent coffeehouses, the free Wi-Fi was originally offered to compete against Starbucks. But now, some people are going to coffeehouses because they don’t have Wi-Fi at home.

Wild Detectives decided to seek middle ground.

Starting last November, Wild Detectives tended to go without Wi-Fi on the weekends, creating one place with Wi-Fi and one without. It presents an ideal case study to see how a wireless signal can affect such an establishment.

To investigate, I visited Wild Detectives on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. I sat at the bar. It was quiet, peaceful. I counted seven people total: three on laptops, one student with a textbook, a couple sitting near the front windows, and me. When I turned around again, there was another person on his laptop. He asked the woman behind the bar, “Hey, what’s the Wi-Fi password?”

At a certain point, the laptops made Wild Detectives look more like a co-working space than a bookstore. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t inspiring either.

I returned on Saturday, same time as before, to a Wild Detectives without Wi-Fi. Theplace was slightly more crowded. This Wild Detectives felt different than on previous weekends, back when the Wi-Fi ruled. Friends sat in pairs drinking coffee and talking. More people were9)browsing the books. A couple sat across from each other at a small table, each reading a book.

Set the laptop aside.10)Surrender your tablet.11)Pocket the smartphone. For just an hour, maybe two, you don’t need it. You have friends and books, a light menu and heavy drinks. I even12)advocate staring13)blankly at a wall for a few minutes. Believe me, the experience is about the same as scrolling through social media. Take a deep breath and enjoy your weekend. Make it last longer by slowing down.

1) over-saturation過度飽和

2) sacred ['se?kr?d] adj. 神圣的

3) bustling ['b?sl??] adj. 熙熙攘攘的

4) renovated ['ren?ve?t?d] adj. 經修整的

5) homey ['h??m?] adj. 舒適的，自在的

6) glowing ['gl????] adj. 發白光的

7) pushback ['p??b?k] n. 后推

8) foster ['f?st?] v. 培養

9) browse [bra?z] v. 瀏覽（書刊）

10) surrender [s?'rend?] v. 舍棄，交出

11) pocket ['p?k?t] v. 把……裝進衣袋

12) advocate ['?dv?ke?t] v. 提倡，主張

13) blankly ['bl??kl?] adv. 茫然地，呆呆地

你幾乎能在任何地方搜索到無線網絡信號，在酒吧、咖啡屋、圖書館，還有書店。一些城市還設立了免費無線網絡供民眾使用。

然而，僅僅是無線網絡的存在就能改變一個場所的文化。對于那些在意數字信息過度飽和的人來說，他們所面臨的挑戰就是要找到繁忙都市中的凈土—那些接收不到信號的地方。我們需要它。

對我而言，一切都始于一家書店。

狂野偵探開在一所翻新過的房子里，是一家獨立的書店、咖啡館和酒吧。我喜愛這個地方，不僅是因為它的性質—一個有書可看又很酷的聚會地點—還因為它正努力去做的事情：成為一個文學中心。溫馨的布置讓人感覺它像個沙龍，是那種人們能聚在一起談論哲學、政治和詩歌的地方。

有些咖啡屋開始不再提供無線網絡了，它們甚至禁止攜帶電腦。這是一種趨勢，對那些在外一整天卻只是坐在桌子前看著手提電腦的人來說有著后推作用。這種趨勢的形成過程同時造就了一種更強烈的社區感。生意由此得以改善，店主稱咖啡館的總體氣氛也變得更加和睦了。許多獨立咖啡屋提供免費無線網絡的初衷是為了與星巴克咖啡館競爭。不過現在，有些人去咖啡館是因為他們家里沒有無線網絡。

狂野偵探咖啡館決定尋找出一個中間地帶。

自去年11月，狂野偵探咖啡館開始嘗試不在周末提供無線網絡，以此營造一個有無線網絡和一個沒有無線網絡的地方。這為研究無線網絡信號如何影響一個場所提供了理想的個案。

為了調查此事，我在一個晴好的周四下午來到了狂野偵探咖啡館。我在吧臺前坐下了。這里挺平和安靜的。我總共算到有七位客人：其中有三個人在使用筆記本電腦，有個學生在看課本，另外有對情侶坐在前門窗戶附近，然后還有我。后來我再次轉過身，看到還有一個人在使用筆記本電腦。他詢問吧臺后面的女士：“嘿，無線網絡的密碼是什么？”

從某種意義上說，店內的那些筆記本電腦讓狂野偵探咖啡館看起來更像是一個聯合辦公地點，而非一家書店。這并沒有讓人感到不悅，但也不太令人振奮。

周六，跟上次一樣的時間，我再次來到了狂野偵探咖啡館，而此時并沒有無線網絡。店里的顧客會稍微多一些。這時的狂野偵探咖啡館與先前周末在無線網絡統治下的感覺不太一樣。好友們成對坐著，一邊喝著咖啡一邊聊著天，而更多的人是在瀏覽書籍。一對情侶在一張小桌前相對而坐，兩人都在專心地看著書。

把筆記本電腦放在一邊吧，交出你的平板電腦，將智能手機裝進口袋。就一小時，或許兩小時，你不會用到它。你已擁有朋友和書籍，還有一份簡餐和一杯濃郁的飲品。我甚至提倡你花上幾分鐘時間盯著墻壁發呆。相信我，這種體驗幾乎跟翻看社交媒體無異。試著深呼吸，好好享受你的周末吧。放慢節奏，讓時間變得長一些。