World-Changing Inventions People Thought Were Dumb Fads (II)改變世界的“愚蠢”發明（下）

菲爾·愛德華茲

Talkies： “Talking doesn’t belong in pictures”

In 1928， Joseph Schenck， President of United Artists， seemed confident about one thing： talking pictures were a fad.

He told The New York Times that “talking doesn’t belong in pictures.” Though he conceded that sound effects could be useful， he felt that dialogue was overrated. “I don’t think people will want talking pictures long，” he said， and he wasn’t alone.

In 1967， actress Mary Astor recalled the mood when the silent era drew to a close. She wrote， “The Jazz Singer was considered a box-office freak，” and that talkies were “a box-office gimmick.” In an early talkie screening， she and her colleagues thought “the noise would simply drive audiences from the theaters... we were in an entirely different medium.”

In the end， however， talkies proved out to be more compelling than the old mediums. Audiences adjusted， audio-recording technology improved， and a new generation of Hollywood bigwigs embraced dialogue.

Cheeseburgers： “Typical of California”

Most sources credit Lionel Sternberger with inventing the cheeseburger in 1934， though there’s a lot of debate. Regardless of who came up with it， the notion of beef and cheese was initially regarded as a crazy California novelty rather than as a revelation.

The first time The New York Times wrote about cheeseburgers in 1938， they ranked the burgers as a Californian eccentricity， putting them third in a list along with nutburgers， porkburgers， and turkeyburgers. In 1947， a Times writer actually deigned to try a cheeseburger， albeit skeptically：

At first， the combination of beef with cheese and tomatoes， which are sometimes used， may seem bizarre. If you reflect a bit， you’ll understand that the combination is sound gastronomically.

In the end， plenty of people agreed that the cheeseburger was “sound gastronomically.” And once fast food chains—like McDonald’s—included it on their menus， it was guaranteed a place on the American plate.

Answering machines： “In the beginning， it was pure yuppie”

It didn’t take long for people to see how answering machines could be useful. But when they were first introduced， it seemed like the telephone companies would squash them in favor of their own hardware and services.

In 1973， a story about the bourgeoning voicemail phenomenon noted that answering machines weren’t even allowed in most homes. Robert Howard， a spokesman for the New York Telephone Company， claimed that illegally installed machines posed a hazard to line repairmen. Since the 1940s， most companies had banned them， and AT&T said “there is no need for the device.”

Even once answering machines moved from quasi-legal purgatory in 1975， thanks to an FCC decision， the devices were still seen as a niche yuppie annoyance. That might be why it took until 1991 for The New York Times to reluctantly accept answering machines with a telling headline： “For Yuppies， Now Plain Folks Too.”

The answering machine made it big because technology， laws， and telephone culture changed. Answering-machine technology became easier to manage and answering services faded away.

Laptops： “Was the laptop dream an illusion？”

In 1985， The New York Times report-

ed on the tragic demise of a once promising trend—laptops， the newspaper said， were on their way out. From now on， airplane tray tables would hold beers and cocktails instead of computers.

The Times doubted the potential of laptop technology， and with good reason： they were heavy， pricey， and had poor battery life， all of which made it hard to imagine them becoming mainstream.

It was a reasonable complaint， but short-sighted：

The limitations come from what people actually do with computers， as opposed to what the marketers expect them to do. On the whole， people don’t want to lug a computer with them to the beach or on a train to while away hours they would rather spend reading the sports or business section of the newspaper. Somehow， the microcomputer industry has assumed that everyone would love to have a keyboard grafted on as an extension of their fingers. It just is not so.

Laptops took a few more years to become practical， but technology improved enough that the laptop became lighter， more durable， and easier to use.

有聲電影：“有聲對白不屬于電影”

1928年，藝術家聯合會的主席約瑟夫·申克似乎對一件事情把握十足：有聲電影只會風光一時。

他對《紐約時報》說：“有聲對白不屬于電影。”雖然他也承認音效頗有用處，但他覺得對白被高估了。他說：“我覺得人們不會喜歡有聲電影太久。”這種想法在當時并不罕見。

1967年，女演員瑪麗·阿斯特回憶了默片時代落幕之際的大眾看法。她寫道：“《爵士歌王》被視為一部賣座怪片”，有聲電影被看作是“票房噱頭”。在早期的一部有聲電影上映時，她和同事們都認為“噪音肯定會把觀眾從劇院嚇跑……這是一種完全不同的表達方式”。

然而，事實最終證明，有聲電影比舊的媒介更引人入勝。觀眾適應了有聲對白，音頻錄制技術取得了進步，新一代的好萊塢大亨們也紛紛接受了有聲電影。

奶酪漢堡：“典型的加利福尼亞怪味”

雖然爭議不斷，大多數資料都將1934年奶酪漢堡的發明歸功于萊昂內爾·斯滕伯格。不論是誰想到了這個主意，剛開始的時候，人們都認為把牛肉和奶酪搭在一起是瘋狂的加利福尼亞新吃法，而非別出心裁的美食。

1938年，《紐約時報》首次報道了奶酪漢堡，它被評定為一種加利福尼亞怪食，與堅果漢堡、豬肉漢堡、火雞漢堡一起上榜，位列第三。1947年，盡管疑惑，《紐約時報》的一位作者還是親自嘗了嘗奶酪漢堡并寫道：

如今，牛肉、奶酪、番茄不時被搭在一起，乍看可能有些不同尋常。但仔細想想，就會發現它們其實不失為一種搭配合理的美食。

后來許多人也持相同的看法。而一旦像麥當勞這樣的快餐連鎖把奶酪漢堡印上了菜單，它就在美國人的餐盤上牢牢占據了一席之地。

答錄機：“起初不過是雅皮士的玩意兒”

雖然答錄機的實用價值很快就為人們所認知，但它在問世之初，似乎遭到了電話公司的打壓，因為這些公司更想推行自己的設備和服務。

1973年，一則關于語言信箱正蓬勃發展的報道指出，在大多數家庭里，是禁止安裝答錄機的。羅伯特·霍華德是紐約電話公司的一名發言人，他聲稱，非法安裝答錄機會給電話線維修人員造成安全隱患。其實自20世紀40年代以來，大多數公司都禁用答錄機。美國電話電報公司曾說“這種設備沒有市場”。

多虧了美國聯邦通信委員會的一項決議，答錄機于1975年擺脫了此前種種近乎合法的刁難，但它仍然被視為少數雅皮士的玩意兒，不受待見。也許正因如此，一直等到1991年，《紐約時報》才不情愿地接受了答錄機，刊出了醒目的頭條：“雅皮士愛之，普通人亦然。”

答錄機的崛起源于技術、法律以及通信文化的變革。隨著答錄機技術變得更易操控，代接電話服務便逐漸消亡了。

便攜電腦：“便攜電腦只是虛空一夢？”

1985年，《紐約時報》報道說，曾經前景大好、而今悲劇謝幕的新潮產品——便攜電腦正在走向窮途末路。從此以后，飛機上的小桌板將不會放置電腦，取而代之的是啤酒和雞尾酒。

《紐約時報》質疑便攜電腦的潛能，也算是有理有據：它們體型笨重、價格昂貴、電池不耐用。這些缺陷使得人們很難想象便攜電腦可以成為主流。

以下這份抱怨雖合理，但缺乏遠見：

種種局限源于人們實際使用電腦所做的事情，而非營銷者期待它們能做的事情。總體而言，為了消遣起見，人們并不想拖著電腦去海灘或上火車，反倒更愿意閱讀報紙上的體育或商業版面。然而，微電腦行業卻料定每個人都會樂于擁有一個鍵盤，仿佛嫁接在他們的手指上，使其延長。可事實并不如愿。

雖然便攜式電腦過了好幾年才臻于實用，但技術的突飛猛進使它們不僅更加輕便，也更持久易用。