ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Maeda - Artist
John Maeda, the former president of the Rhode Island School of Design, is dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity.

Why you should listen

When John Maeda became president of the legendary Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2008, he told the Wall Street Journal, "Everyone asks me, 'Are you bringing technology to RISD?' I tell them, no, I'm bringing RISD to technology."

In his fascinating career as a programmer and an artist, he's always been committed to blurring the lines between the two disciplines. As a student at MIT, studying computer programming, the legendary Muriel Cooper persuaded him to follow his parallel passion for fine art and design. And when computer-aided design began to explode in the mid-1990s, Maeda was in a perfect position at the MIT Media Lab to influence and shape the form, helping typographers and page designers explore the freedom of the web.

Maeda is leading the "STEAM" movement--adding an "A" for Art to the education acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)--and experiencing firsthand the transformation brought by social media. After leaving his post as RISD's president, Maeda is turning his attention to Silicon Valley, where is is working as a Design Partner for Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers. He is also consulting for eBay, where he is the chair of the Design Advisory Board.

More profile about the speaker
John Maeda | Speaker | TED.com
Serious Play 2008

John Maeda: My journey in design

约翰·梅达的设计之路

Filmed:
294,185 views

设计师约翰·梅达讲述他从一家西雅图豆腐厂到罗德岛设计学院的成长历程。2008年,他成为了那里的校长。梅达,一位不辞辛劳的实验家和机智诙谐的观察家,为我们探索设计与计算机结合时的美妙瞬间。
- Artist
John Maeda, the former president of the Rhode Island School of Design, is dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
I'm kind of tired of talking about simplicity简单, actually其实,
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我今天不太想谈论简约主义
00:19
so I thought I'd make my life more complex复杂, as a serious严重 play.
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那就把我的生活变得复杂些 让它严肃一点
00:22
So, I'm going to, like, go through通过 some slides幻灯片
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接下来 我会播放一些幻灯片
00:24
from way back when,
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先回到从前
00:26
and walk步行 through通过 them to give you a sense of how I end结束 up here.
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然后向你们展示我是如何一步一步走到这里
00:29
So, basically基本上 it all began开始 with
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其实一切都源于
00:31
this whole整个 idea理念 of a computer电脑.
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这一个概念 - 计算机.
00:33
Who has a computer电脑? Yeah.
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那谁有计算机呢? 嗯.
00:36
O.K., so, everyone大家 has a computer电脑.
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好吧, 每个人都有自己的计算机
00:38
Even a mobile移动 phone电话, it's a computer电脑.
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甚至一部手机也算是台计算机
00:40
And -- anyone任何人 remember记得 this workbook工作簿,
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那.. 谁还记得这本操作手册
00:43
"Instant瞬间 Activities活动 for Your Apple苹果" --
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"充分利用你的苹果电脑" --
00:45
free自由 poster海报 in each book?
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每本书都附一张免费海报?
00:47
This was how computing计算 began开始.
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然后计算就开始了
00:49
Don't forget忘记: a computer电脑 came来了 out; it had no software软件.
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别忘了:计算机刚诞生时,里面并没有软件.
00:53
You'd buy购买 that thing, you'd bring带来 it home, you'd plug插头 it in,
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你买来它, 带它回家, 给它插上电源,
00:56
and it would do absolutely绝对 nothing at all.
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结果它什么事情也做不了.
00:58
So, you had to program程序 it,
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因此, 你还得为它写点程序,
01:00
and there were great programming程序设计, like, tutorials教程, like this.
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要编程的话是有一些很棒的 教程 比如这个
01:02
I mean, this was great.
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我想说它真的很棒
01:04
It's, like, you know, Herbie赫比 the Apple苹果 IIII.
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这好象是 你知道的 ‘’Herbie教你学苹果二代‘’
01:06
It's such这样 a great way to --
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这种书真的很棒—
01:08
I mean, they should make JavaJava的 books图书 like this,
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我说 他们真应该把Java书也写成这样
01:11
and we've我们已经 have no problem问题 learning学习 a program程序.
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那学编程简直就易如反掌了
01:13
But this was a great, grand盛大 time of the computer电脑,
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当时对计算机来说可真是个好时候
01:15
when it was just a raw生的, raw生的, what is it? kind of an era时代.
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很原始 很初级 就像是 黄金时代
01:19
And, you see,
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然后 大家看
01:22
this era时代 coincided恰逢 with my own拥有 childhood童年.
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这一时代恰好和我的童年互相重合
01:24
I grew成长 up in a tofu豆腐 factory in Seattle西雅图.
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我在西雅图的一家豆腐厂里长大
01:27
Who of you grew成长 up in a family家庭 business商业,
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在座的有谁是在家庭作坊中长大的?
01:30
suffered遭遇 the torture拷打? Yes, yes.
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吃了不少苦? 是的, 是的.
01:32
The torture拷打 was good. Wasn't it good torture拷打?
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逆境出人才 受点磨难不好么?
01:35
It was just life-changing改变生活, you know. And so, in my life, you know, I was in the tofu豆腐;
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磨难能改变你一生 我这一生 你知道的 我在豆腐厂长大
01:38
it was a family家庭 business商业.
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那是一个家庭作坊
01:40
And my mother母亲 was a kind of a designer设计师, also.
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我母亲从某种意义上来说也是设计师
01:43
She'd make this kind of, like, wall of tofu豆腐 cooking烹饪,
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她做了这种 豆腐料理墙
01:46
and it would confuse迷惑 the customers顾客,
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然后顾客们都很疑惑,
01:48
because they all thought it was a restaurant餐厅.
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因为他们都觉得这是一家餐馆
01:50
A bad sort分类 of branding品牌 thing, or whatever随你.
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品牌形象没弄对 是吧
01:52
But, anyway无论如何, that's where I grew成长 up,
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但是, 不管怎样, 我就在这儿长大
01:54
in this little tofu豆腐 factory in Seattle西雅图,
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这家西雅图的小豆腐作坊
01:56
and it was kind of like this:
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当时大概就这样:
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a small room房间 where I kind of grew成长 up. I'm big there in that picture图片.
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小房间 我在这儿长大 照片里显得我很大
02:02
That's my dad. My dad was kind of like MacGyver马盖先, really:
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这是我爸爸. 我爸有点像MacGyver, 说真的
02:05
he would invent发明, like, ways方法 to make things heavy.
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他会发明些把东西变重的方法
02:08
Like back here, there's like, concrete具体 block technology技术 here,
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比如这后面 有一个水泥块
02:11
and he would need the concrete具体 blocks to press the tofu豆腐,
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他需要用这些水泥块来挤压豆腐
02:14
because tofu豆腐 is actually其实 kind of a liquidyliquidy type类型 of thing,
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因为豆腐其实是有点像液体的东西,
02:17
and so you have to have heavy stuff东东
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所以你得用沉的东西
02:19
to push out the liquid液体 and make it hard.
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把水分挤出来 把它弄结实
02:21
Tofu豆腐 comes out in these big batches批次,
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豆腐出来时很大一块
02:24
and my father父亲 would sort分类 of cut them by hand.
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然后我爸就会用手把它们切开.
02:27
I can't tell you -- family家庭 business商业 story故事: you'd understand理解 this --
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这个不能说 家族机密了 大家都理解的
02:30
my father父亲 was the most sincere真诚 man possible可能.
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我的父亲是世上最实在的人了
02:33
He walked into a Safeway西夫韦 once一旦 on a rainy多雨的 day,
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一次下雨天他走进一家喜互惠超市
02:36
slipped下滑, broke打破 his arm, rushed out:
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滑倒 手骨折了 马上跑出来
02:38
he didn't want to inconvenience不方便 Safeway西夫韦.
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他不想给喜互惠添麻烦
02:41
So, instead代替, you know, my father's父亲的, like, arm's武器 broken破碎
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结果 我把的手就断了
02:43
for two weeks in the store商店, and that week --
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两个星期 整整两星期
02:46
now, those two weeks were when my older旧的 brother哥哥 and I
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我和我哥哥就不得不在店里
02:48
had to do everything.
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帮忙做所有事
02:50
And that was torture拷打, real真实 torture拷打.
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这可真是苦 真苦啊
02:53
Because, you see, we'd星期三 seen看到 my father父亲
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再来说 我爸
02:55
taking服用 the big block of tofu豆腐 and cutting切割 it,
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把那么一大块豆腐切开
02:57
like, knife in, zapZAP, zapZAP, zapZAP. We thought, wow.
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像刀切一样 嚓 嚓 嚓 “哇哦~”
03:00
So, the first time I did that, I went, like, whoa! Like this.
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而我第一次切的时候就像这样 “唔哦..”
03:03
Bad blocks. But anyways无论如何,
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报废了 不过不管咋说
03:06
the tofu豆腐 to me was kind of my origin起源, basically基本上.
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豆腐就像我的根 基本上
03:10
And because working加工 in a store商店 was so hard,
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在店里工作实在太苦
03:13
I liked喜欢 going to school学校; it was like heaven天堂.
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我就很喜欢上学 学校简直就是天堂
03:16
And I was really good at school学校.
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在学校我表现也很好
03:18
So, when I got to MITMIT, you know,
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然后 我考上了麻省理工 大家知道的
03:20
as most of you who are creatives创意,
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和在座大部分创意人士一样
03:22
your parents父母 all told you not to be creative创作的, right?
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你们的父母都阻断过您的创意之路 是吧?
03:25
So, same相同 way, you know,
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所以 都一样的
03:27
I was good at art艺术 and good at math数学, and my father父亲 says, he's --
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我美术很好 数学也好 我爸就说
03:29
John's约翰 good at math数学.
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约翰的数学最好了
03:31
I went to MITMIT, did my math数学,
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那我去了麻省理工 学数学
03:33
but I had this wonderful精彩 opportunity机会,
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直到我遇到这个绝佳机会
03:35
because computers电脑 had just become成为 visual视觉.
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计算机开始变得视觉化
03:38
The Apple苹果 -- Macintosh苹果 just came来了 out;
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苹果电脑正好问世了
03:40
I had a Mac苹果电脑 in hand when I went to MITMIT.
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我去MIT时就拥有一台苹果电脑
03:42
And it was a time when a guy who, kind of,
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那当时对于一个可以
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could cross交叉 the two sides双方 --
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横跨两个领域的人来说
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it was a good time.
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是很好的机遇
03:48
And so, I remember记得 that my first major重大的 piece of software软件
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结果 我记得我第一个重要的软件
03:51
was on a direct直接 copy复制 of then-Aldus然后,奥尔德斯 PageMakerPageMaker中.
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是直接模仿当时的 Aldus PageMaker
03:54
I made制作 a desktop桌面 publishing出版 system系统 way back when,
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我做了一个在桌面出版系统
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and that was, kind of, my first step into figuring盘算 out how to --
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由此我在第一次了解到
04:00
oh, these two sides双方 are kind of fun开玩笑 to mix混合.
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嗯 融合这两方面挺有趣的
04:02
And the problem问题 when you're younger更年轻 --
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而对于年轻人来说有个问题
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for all you students学生们 out there --
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在做的各位学生记好了 --
04:06
is, your head gets得到 kind of big really easy简单.
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就是 你非常容易自我膨胀
04:09
And when I was making制造 icons图标, I was, like,
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当我设计图标的时候 我就像是
04:11
the icon图标 master,
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图标之王
04:13
and I was, like, yeah, I'm really good at this, you know.
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然后我就说 是啊 我真的很在行
04:15
And then luckily, you know,
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然后很幸运地
04:17
I had the fortune幸运 of going to something called a library图书馆,
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我有幸去了某个地方——图书馆
04:20
and in the library图书馆 I came来了 upon this very book.
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在图书馆里我遇到了这本书
04:23
I found发现 this book. It's called,
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我找到了这本书 它叫做
04:25
"Thoughts思考 on Design设计," by a man named命名 Paul保罗 Rand兰德.
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"设计的思考" 是一个叫做保罗·兰德的人写的
04:28
It's a little slim volume; I'm not sure if you've seen看到 this.
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它的出版量有点小; 不知你们见过没有
04:30
It's a very nice不错 little book. It's about this guy, Paul保罗 Rand兰德,
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很好的一本小书 关于这个人的 保罗·兰德
04:33
who was one of the greatest最大 graphic图像 designers设计师,
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当时最杰出的平面设计师之一
04:35
and also a great writer作家 as well.
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书也写得及很不错
04:37
And when I saw this man's男人的 work,
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当我看到此人作品时
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I realized实现 how bad I was at design设计,
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我才意识到我自己在设计上多么糟糕
04:42
or whatever随你 I called it back then,
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不管当时我怎么说的吧
04:44
and I suddenly突然 had a kind of career事业 goal目标,
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突然我就有了某种职业目标
04:46
kind of in hot pursuit追求.
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追求的欲望还很强烈
04:50
So I kind of switched交换的. I went to MITMIT, finished.
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这是个比较重要的转变 我去了MIT 念完了
04:54
I got my masters主人,
and then went to art艺术 school学校 after that.
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拿到硕士学位 又去了艺术学校
04:58
And just began开始 to design设计 stuff东东,
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开始设计些东西
05:00
like chopstick筷子 wrappers包装, napkins餐巾, menus菜单 -- whatever随你 I could get a handle处理 on:
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比如筷子包装 餐巾 菜单 -- 任何我可以得到的机会
05:02
sort分类 of wheel-and-deal车轮和交易, move移动 up in the design设计 world世界, whatever随你.
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有点横冲直撞 呆头呆脑地在设计路上前进 随便了
05:05
And isn't it that strange奇怪 moment时刻 when you publish发布 your design设计?
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发表设计作品的时候你们有没有觉得奇怪过?
05:08
Remember记得 that moment时刻 -- publishing出版 your designs设计?
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还记得那个时刻吗 -- 发表自己的设计?
05:10
Remember记得 that moment时刻? It felt so good, didn't it?
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记得那一刻吗? 感觉特好, 是不是?
05:13
So, I was published发表, you know,
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是的 我的设计出版了
05:14
so, wow, my design's设计的 in a book, you know?
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哇哦 我的设计被发表在一本书中了耶
05:16
After that, things kind of got strange奇怪,
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之后 事情就有点怪怪的了
05:18
and I got thinking思维 about the computer电脑,
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我开始思考计算机这个东西
05:20
because the computer电脑 to me always, kind of, bothered困扰 me.
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因为计算机总是会让我犯糊涂
05:23
I didn't quite相当 get it. And Paul保罗 Rand兰德
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我并不十分理解它 而Paul Rand
05:25
was a kind of crusty硬皮 designer设计师,
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是个有些暴躁的设计师
05:28
you know, a crusty硬皮 designer设计师, like a good -- kind of like a good French法国 bread面包?
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懂么 暴躁的设计师 就像是一块.. 好的法国面包?
05:31
You know, he wrote in one of his books图书:
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他的一本书中写道:
05:33
"A Yale耶鲁 student学生 once一旦 said,
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"一名耶鲁的学生曾说
05:35
'I came来了 here to learn学习 how to design设计, not how to use a computer电脑.'
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'我来到这儿是学设计的 不是学怎么使用计算机的'
05:38
Design设计 schools学校 take heed注意."
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设计学校当心了。"
05:40
This is in the '80s,
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当时是80年代
05:42
in the great clash冲突 of computer电脑/non-computer非计算机 people.
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支持和反对计算机的人讨论得正激烈
05:45
A very difficult time, actually其实.
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那段时间其实很难熬
05:47
And this to me was an important重要 message信息 from Rand兰德.
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对我来说这是Rand给我的重要信息
05:51
And so I began开始 to sort分类 of mess食堂 with the computer电脑 at the time.
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于是我开始捣鼓计算机
05:54
This is the first sort分类 of play thing I did, my own拥有 serious严重 play.
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这是我的第一次玩儿的东西, 我自己的严肃玩意儿
05:57
I built内置 a working加工 version of an Adobe土砖 Illustrator-ish插画十岁上下 thing.
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我做了一个类似Adobe Illustrator的实用程序
06:01
It looks容貌 like Illustrator插画; it can, like, draw.
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它看起来很像Illustrator 它可以 比如 画图
06:03
It was very hard to make this, actually其实.
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做这个其实挺难的
06:05
It took a month to make this part部分.
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做这部分花了一个月时间
06:07
And then I thought, what if I added添加 this feature特征,
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然后我想, 要是加这样一个功能会怎样呢
06:09
where I can say, this point,
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比如我可以说 这个点
06:11
you can fly like a bird. You're free自由, kind of thing.
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你可以像鸟一样飞 你自由了 那意思
06:14
So I could, sort分类 of, change更改 the kind of stability稳定性
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所以我可以 好像 改变稳定性
06:18
with a little control控制 there on the dial拨号,
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利用一个控制盘上的小控件
06:20
and I can sort分类 of watch it flip翻动 around.
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我就可以看它翻来翻去.
06:22
And this is in 1993.
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当是是1993年
06:25
And when my professors教授 saw this, they were very upset烦乱 at me.
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我的教授们看到这个时 都生气极了
06:29
They were saying, Why's为什么是 it moving移动?
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他们说 为什么它要动?
06:32
They were saying, Make it stop now.
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他们说 马上让它停下来
06:35
Now, I was saying, Well, that's the whole整个 point: it's moving移动.
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我就说 嗯 这才是一切的重点:让它动。
06:37
And he says, Well, when's的时 it going to stop?
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然后他说 那么 它什么时候停下来?
06:39
And I said, Never.
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我说 永远不
06:40
And he said, Even worse更差. Stop it now.
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然后他说 这更糟 现在就停下来
06:43
I started开始 studying研究 this whole整个 idea理念,
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我开始研究这整个概念
06:45
of like, what is this computer电脑? It's a strange奇怪 medium.
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这个叫计算机的东西是什么? 它是一个很奇怪的媒介
06:48
It's not like print打印. It's not like video视频.
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它不像印刷 也不像视频
06:51
It lasts持续 forever永远. It's a very strange奇怪 medium.
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它持续永久 一种很奇怪的媒介
06:54
So, I went off with this,
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所以 我从这个开始
06:56
and began开始 to look for things even more.
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并且开始开始寻找更多的东西
06:58
And so in Japan日本, I began开始 to experiment实验 with people.
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所以 在日本 我开始做与人相关的试验
07:01
This is actually其实 bad: human人的 experiments实验.
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其实这不太好: 人类试验
07:04
I would do these things where I'd have students学生们 become成为 pens:
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我会做这样的事情, 让学生当笔:
07:07
there's blue蓝色 pen钢笔, red pen钢笔, green绿色 pen钢笔, black黑色 pen钢笔.
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这是蓝笔, 红笔, 绿笔, 黑笔.
07:10
And someone有人 sits坐镇 down and draws a picture图片.
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然后一个人坐下来 画一副画
07:18
They're laughing because he said,
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他们在笑 因为他说
07:20
draw from the middle-right右中 to the middle中间, and he kind of messed搞砸 up.
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从中间靠右画到中间 然后他搞错了
07:23
See, humans人类 don't know how to take orders命令;
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看 人类不知道如何接收命令
07:25
the computer's电脑 so good at it.
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计算机却很在行
07:27
This guy figured想通 out how to get the computer电脑 to draw with two pens at once一旦:
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这个人解决出了怎么让这个计算机用两支笔同时画:
07:30
you know, you, pen钢笔, do this, and you, pen钢笔, do this.
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你知道 你, 笔, 做这个; 然后 你, 笔, 做这个.
07:33
And so began开始 to have multiple pens on the page --
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所以开始在纸上有了多支笔 --
07:36
again, hard to do with our hands.
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仍然, 用我们的手很难做.
07:39
And then someone有人 discovered发现 this "a-ha一公顷 moment时刻"
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然后一个人发现这个"啊哈时刻"
07:41
where you could use coordinate坐标 systems系统.
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就是你可以利用坐标系统.
07:44
We thought, ah, this is when it's going to happen发生.
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我们想, 哈, 这样问题就迎刃而解了.
07:46
In the end结束, he drew德鲁 a house. It was the most boring无聊 thing.
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到最后, 他画了一座房子. 这事最无聊了
07:49
It became成为 computerishcomputerish; we began开始 to think computerishcomputerish --
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太计算机化了 我们开始像计算机一样思考 --
07:52
the X, Y system系统 -- and so that was kind of a revelation启示.
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X, Y系统 -- 有点革命性
07:55
And after this I wanted to build建立 a computer电脑 out of people,
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在这之后我又想用人建造一台计算机,
07:58
called a human-powered人力驱动 computer电脑.
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叫做人力计算机.
08:00
So, this happened发生 in 1993.
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这是在1993年.
08:04
Sound声音 down, please.
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请调低声音.
08:05
It's a computer电脑 where the people are the parts部分.
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这是一台计算机, 人就是计算机部件.
08:09
I have behind背后 this wall a disk磁盘 drive驾驶, a CPU中央处理器,
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在这面墙后面是一个存储器 一个CPU
08:13
a graphics图像 card, a memory记忆 system系统.
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一个图形卡 一个存储系统
08:15
They're picking选择 up a giant巨人 floppy软盘 disk磁盘 made制作 of cardboard纸板.
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他们正在搬起一张巨大的用纸板做的软盘
08:18
It's put inside the computer电脑.
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它被放到计算机中
08:21
And that little program's程式 on that cardboard纸板 disk磁盘.
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那个小程序被输入到那张纸板盘中
08:24
So, she wears穿 the disk磁盘,
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然后 她穿着盘
08:27
and reads the data数据 off the sectors行业 of the disk磁盘,
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从盘上的分段中读出数据
08:31
and the computer电脑 starts启动 up; it sort分类 of boots靴子 up, really.
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然后计算机开始运行 启动起来
08:34
And it's a sort分类 of a working加工 computer电脑. And when I built内置 this computer电脑,
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这有点像一台工作着的计算机 我建造这个计算机时
08:37
I had a moment时刻 of -- what is it called? --
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在某一个刻突然 -- 怎么说? --
08:39
the epiphany顿悟 where I realized实现 that the computer's电脑 just so fast快速.
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顿悟了 我意识到计算机真是太快了
08:43
This computer电脑 appears出现 to be fast快速 - she's working加工 pretty漂亮 hard,
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这台计算机看起来挺快 - 她干得很卖力
08:47
and people are running赛跑 around, and we think, wow, this is happening事件 at a fast快速 rate.
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大家都跑来跑去 我们想 哇 它正在很快地运行
08:51
And this computer's电脑 programmed程序 to do only one thing, which哪一个 is,
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这台计算机只被编程做一件事 就是
08:54
if you move移动 your mouse老鼠, the mouse老鼠 changes变化 on the screen屏幕.
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当你移动鼠标的时候 屏幕上的鼠标就发生改变
08:57
On the computer电脑, when you move移动 your mouse老鼠, that arrow箭头 moves移动 around.
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在计算机上 你挪动鼠标时 那小箭头跟着动
09:01
On this computer电脑, if you move移动 the mouse老鼠, it takes half an hour小时
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在这台计算机上 如果你挪动鼠标 它会花半小时的时间
09:03
for the mouse老鼠 cursor光标 to change更改.
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来让鼠标箭头改变位置
09:05
To give you a sense of the speed速度, the scale规模:
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让你体会一下速度的量级
09:07
the computer电脑 is just so amazingly令人惊讶 fast快速, O.K.?
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计算机真是惊人的快 对吧?
09:10
And so, after this I began开始 to do experiments实验 for different不同 companies公司.
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在这之后我开始为不同公司做试验
09:13
This is something I did for Sony索尼 in 1996.
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这是我在1996年为索尼做的
09:16
It was three Sony索尼 "H" devices设备
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这是三个索尼的H系列的设备
09:18
that responded回应 to sound声音.
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响应声音
09:20
So, if you talk into the mike麦克风,
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如果你对着话筒讲话
09:22
you'll你会 hear some music音乐 in your headphones头戴耳机;
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你会从耳机中听到一些音乐
09:24
if you talk in the phone电话, then video视频 would happen发生.
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如果你对着电话讲话 会显示视频
09:26
So, I began开始 to experiment实验 with industry行业 in different不同 ways方法
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我开始以不同的方式与工业界进行试验
09:28
with this kind of mixture混合物 of skills技能.
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用这种混合的技能
09:31
I did this ad广告. I don't believe in this kind of alcohol, but I do drink sometimes有时.
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我做了这广告 我不相信这种酒 但有时会喝
09:35
And Chanel香奈儿. So, getting得到 to do different不同 projects项目.
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还有香奈尔 是的 我开始做不同的项目
09:37
And also, one thing I realized实现 is that
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而且 我意识到一件事
09:39
I like to make things.
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我喜欢创造
09:41
We like to make things. It's fun开玩笑 to make things.
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我们都喜欢创造东西 做东西的过程很有趣.
09:44
And so I never developed发达 the ability能力 to have a staff员工.
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因此我从不尝试去招募员工
09:46
I have no staff员工; it's all kind of made制作 by hand --
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我没有员工 所有东西都是我亲手所做 --
09:48
these sort分类 of broken破碎 hands.
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这些有点受伤的手
09:50
And these hands were influenced影响
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而影响这双手的
09:53
by this man, Mr先生. Inami伊奈美 Naomi娜奥米.
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是这个叫Inami Neomi的先生.
09:56
This guy was my kind of like mentor导师.
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这个人算是我的指导老师
09:58
He was the first digital数字 media媒体 producer制片人 in Tokyo东京.
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他是东京第一位数字媒体制作人
10:01
He's the guy that kind of discovered发现 me,
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可以说是他发现了我
10:03
and kind of got me going in digital数字 media媒体.
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把我带入数字媒体领域
10:05
He was such这样 an inspirational励志 guy.
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他是个特别鼓舞人心的人
10:08
I remember记得, like, we'd星期三 be in his studio工作室, like, at 2 a.m.,
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我记得 我们在他的工作室里 大概早上2点
10:11
and then he'd他会 show显示 up from some client客户 meeting会议.
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然后他出现了 刚忙完某个客户会议
10:14
He'd他会 come in and say, you know,
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他会进来说
10:16
If I am here, everything is okay.
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有我在这 一切都没问题.
10:19
And you'd feel so much better, you know.
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然后你就会感觉好很多
10:21
And I'll never forget忘记 how, like, but -- I'll never forget忘记 how, like,
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我永远不会忘记.. 不会忘记...
10:25
he had a sudden突然 situation情况 with his -- he had an aneurysm动脉瘤.
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他惨遭横祸 -- 会上了动脉瘤.
10:28
He went into a coma昏迷.
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后来就不省人事
10:30
And so, for three years年份 he was out, and he could only blink,
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在他去世前的三年里 他就只能眨眼睛
10:33
and so I realized实现 at this moment时刻, I thought, wow --
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这一刻我突然意识到 哇啊
10:35
how fragile脆弱 is this thing we're wearing穿着,
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我们的躯壳多么的脆弱
10:37
this body身体 and mind心神 we're wearing穿着,
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我们外在的躯壳与思想多脆弱
10:39
and so I thought, How do you go for it more?
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我就在想 我要怎么更多地利用它?
10:41
How do you take that time you have left and go after it?
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你应该如何好好利用剩余的时间?
10:44
So, Naomi娜奥米 was pivotal关键的 in that.
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Naomi让我想到了这一点
10:46
And so, I began开始 to think more carefully小心 about the computer电脑.
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后来 我开始更认真地思考计算机
10:49
This was a moment时刻 where I was thinking思维 about,
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这时候我就在想
10:51
so, you have a computer电脑 program程序,
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好, 你有一个计算机程序,
10:53
it responds响应 to motion运动 -- X and Y --
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它响应动作 -- X 和 Y --
10:57
and I realized实现 that each computer电脑 program程序
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我意识到每一个计算机程序
10:59
has all these images图片 inside the program程序.
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在程序内部都有这些图像
11:02
So, if you can see here, you know,
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如果你能看见这里
11:04
that program程序 you're seeing眼看 in the corner,
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在这角落你正在看的程序
11:06
if you spread传播 it out, it's all these things all at once一旦.
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如果你把它展开 所有东西同一时间呈现
11:09
It's real真实 simultaneity同时性. It's nothing we're used to working加工 with.
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真正同时发生的 和我们以前接触的东西都不一样
11:13
We're so used to working加工 in one vector向量.
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我们习惯于在一个维度上工作
11:15
This is all at the same相同 time.
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而这全部同一时间发生
11:17
The computer电脑 lives生活 in so many许多 dimensions尺寸.
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计算机处于多元维度中
11:19
And also, at the same相同 time I was frustrated受挫,
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而且 在那时我还很失望
11:21
because I would go to all these art艺术 and design设计 schools学校 everywhere到处,
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因为我要到各地的这些艺术和设计学校中去
11:23
and there were these, like, "the computer电脑 lab实验室," you know,
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那儿有那些 "计算机实验室"
11:26
and this is, like, in the late晚了 1990s,
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这大概是90年代后期的事
11:29
and this is in Basel巴塞尔,
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这是在巴塞尔
11:31
a great graphic图像 design设计 school学校.
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一家很好的平面设计学校
11:33
And here's这里的 this, like, dirty, kind of, shoddy以次充好,
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这个 脏脏的 有点破旧的
11:35
kind of, dark黑暗 computer电脑 room房间.
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阴暗的计算机房里
11:38
And I began开始 to wonder奇迹, Is this the goal目标?
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我开始琢磨 这就是目标吗?
11:40
Is this what we want, you know?
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这就是我们要的吗?
11:43
And also, I began开始 to be fascinated入迷 by machines --
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同时 我开始对机器着迷 --
11:46
you know, like copy复制 machines -- and so this is actually其实 in Basel巴塞尔.
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比如说,复印机 -- 这是在巴塞尔
11:49
I noticed注意到 how we spent花费 so much time on making制造 it interactive互动 --
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我注意到我们花了很多时间才令其交互可用 --
11:52
this is, like, a touch触摸 screen屏幕 --
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这个 触摸屏 --
11:54
and I noticed注意到 how you can only touch触摸 five places地方,
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我发现怎么只能触摸五个地方
11:56
and so, "why are we wasting浪费 so much interactivity互动 everywhere到处?"
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"为什么我们浪费了那么多交互的可能呢?"
11:59
became成为 a question. And also, the sound声音:
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这是一个问题 还有 声音
12:02
I discovered发现 I can make my ThinkPadThinkPad的 pretend假装 it's a telephone电话.
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我发现我可以把我的ThinkPad当电话来用
12:07
You get it? No? O.K.
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明白吗? 没有? 好吧
12:09
And also, I discovered发现 in Logan洛根 airport飞机场,
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另外, 我在Logan机场发现,
12:12
this was, like, calling调用 out to me.
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这个好像冲我叫喊
12:20
Do you hear that? It's like cows奶牛. This is at 4 a.m. at Logan洛根.
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你听到了么? 像奶牛似的. 这是早上4点在Logan
12:23
So, I was wondering想知道, like,
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我当时想
12:25
what is this thing in front面前 of me, this computer电脑 thing?
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在我面前的到底是什么东西 这个叫计算机的东西?
12:28
It didn't make any sense.
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它让人难以理解
12:30
So, I began开始 to make things again. This is another另一个 series系列 of objects对象
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所以我又开始做东西了 这是另一个系列的物体
12:32
made制作 of old computers电脑 from my basement地下室.
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用我地下室的旧电脑做的
12:34
I made制作 -- I took my old Macintoshes麦金塔
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我做了 -- 用我的几台旧苹果电脑
12:36
and made制作 different不同 objects对象 out of them from Tokyo东京.
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做了不同的物体
12:39
I began开始 to be very disinterested无私 in computers电脑 themselves他们自己,
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我开始对计算机本身非常不感兴趣
12:42
so I began开始 to make paintings绘画 out of PalmPilotsPalmPilots.
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于是我开始用PalmPilots做成画
12:44
I made制作 this series系列 of works作品.
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我做了这一系列东西
12:46
They're paintings绘画 I made制作 and put a PalmPilot掌上电脑 in the middle中间
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这是我画的画 中间放了个PalmPilot
12:49
as a kind of display显示 that's sort分类 of thinking思维,
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算是某种展示 某种思考
12:51
I'm abstract抽象 art艺术. What am I? I'm abstract抽象.
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我是抽象的艺术. 我是什么? 我是抽象的.
12:54
And so it keeps保持 thinking思维 out loud of its own拥有 abstraction抽象化.
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它一直努力思考自身的抽象性
12:58
I began开始 to be fascinated入迷 by plastic塑料,
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我开始对塑料着迷
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so I spent花费 four months个月 making制造 eight plastic塑料 blocks
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花四个月做了八个塑料立方体
13:04
perfectly完美 optically光学 transparent透明,
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完全透明的
13:06
as a kind of release发布 of stress强调.
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作为一种压力的释放
13:09
Because of that, I became成为 interested有兴趣 in blue蓝色 tape胶带,
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因为它 我对蓝色胶带产生了兴趣
13:12
so in San Francisco弗朗西斯科, at C.C., I had a whole整个 exhibition展览 on blue蓝色 tape胶带.
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所以在旧金山, 在CC, 我举办了一个关于蓝色胶带的展览
13:15
I made制作 a whole整个 installation安装 out of blue蓝色 tape胶带 -- blue蓝色 painters'画家 tape胶带.
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我用蓝色胶带做了一整个装置 -- 蓝色刷子的胶带
13:17
And at this point my wife妻子 kind of got worried担心 about me,
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到这个时候我妻子有点担心我了
13:20
so I stopped停止 doing blue蓝色 tape胶带 and began开始 to think,
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于是我停下蓝色胶带 开始思考
13:22
Well, what else其他 is there in life?
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那么 生活中还有什么其他东西?
13:24
And so computers电脑, as you know,
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也思考计算机 大家知道的
13:27
these big computers电脑, there are now tiny computers电脑.
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这些巨大的计算机 现在有了微型的计算机
13:29
They're littler利特勒 computers电脑, so the one-chip单芯片 computers电脑,
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它们是更小的计算机 单芯片计算机
13:31
I began开始 to program程序 one-chip单芯片 computers电脑
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我开始给单芯片的计算机编写程序
13:33
and make objects对象 out of P.C. boards, LEDs发光二极管.
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而且用PC板和LED做些东西
13:37
I began开始 to make LED sculptures雕塑
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我开始做LED雕塑
13:39
that would live生活 inside little boxes盒子 out of MDFMDF.
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放在中纤板做的小盒子中
13:42
This is a series系列 of light boxes盒子 I made制作 for a show显示 in Italy意大利.
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这是我为意大利一个展览做的一系列的发光盒子
13:46
Very simple简单 boxes盒子: you just press one button按键 and some LED interaction相互作用 occurs发生.
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很简单的盒子: 你只按一个按钮然后一些发生一些LED交互
13:49
This is a series系列 of lamps灯具 I made制作. This is a Bento盒饭 box lamp:
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这是我做的一系列台灯 这是一个便当台灯
13:52
it's sort分类 of a plastic塑料 rice白饭 lamp;
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这是一个塑料的大米台灯
13:55
it's very friendly友善.
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它很友好
13:57
I did a show显示 in London伦敦 last year made制作 out of iPodsiPod播放器 --
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去年我用iPod做了一个展览在伦敦展出 --
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I used iPodsiPod播放器 as a material材料.
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我用iPods当作一个材料.
14:02
So I took 16 iPodiPod的 Nanos毫微
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我拿了16个iPod Nano
14:04
and made制作 a kind of a Nano纳米 fish, basically基本上.
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然后做了一种叫Nano鱼的东西
14:06
Recently最近, this is for Reebok锐步.
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最近 这是为锐步做的
14:08
I've doneDONE shoes for Reebok锐步 as well,
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我也给锐步设计过鞋,
14:10
as a kind of a hobby爱好 for apparel服饰.
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出于对时装的爱好
14:12
So anyways无论如何, there are all these things you can do,
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不管怎样, 这些都是你能做的东西,
14:15
but the thing I love the most is to
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但是我做喜欢的是
14:17
experience经验, taste味道 the world世界.
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体验 品味世界
14:19
The world世界 is just so tasty可口.
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世界太美味了
14:21
We think we'll go to a museum博物馆; that's where all the tastes口味 are.
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我们会想说去博物馆吧 那是所有味道所在的地方
14:23
No, they're all out there.
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不 美味无处不在
14:25
So, this is, like, in front面前 of the Eiffel艾菲尔 Tower, really,
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这好像是在艾菲尔铁塔跟前
14:27
actually其实, around the Louvre卢浮宫 area.
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实际是 在罗浮宫附近
14:29
This I found发现, where nature性质 had made制作 a picture图片 for me.
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我发现这自然创造的美好画面
14:31
This is a perfect完善 90-degree-度 angle角度 by nature性质.
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这是自然形成的完美直角
14:33
In this strange奇怪 moment时刻 where, like, these things kind of appeared出现.
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在某个奇怪的时刻 这些东西就那么出现了
14:36
We all are creative创作的 people.
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我们都是有创意的人
14:38
We have this gene基因 defect缺陷 in our mind心神.
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在我们的头脑中我们有这个基因瑕疵
14:41
We can't help but stop, right? This feeling's情怀 a wonderful精彩 thing.
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你我都只能停下来 对吧? 这种感觉十分美好
14:44
It's the forever-always-on永远,永远在线 museum博物馆.
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它就是永不打烊的博物馆
14:47
This is from the Cape last year.
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这是去年在好望角找到的
14:49
I discovered发现 that I had to find the equation方程 of art艺术 and design设计,
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我发觉我必须找出艺术和设计之间的等式
14:52
which哪一个 we know as circle-triangle-square圆三角形方.
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看得出是圆形三角形正方形
14:55
It's everywhere到处 on the beach海滩, I discovered发现.
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沙滩上到处都是
14:57
I began开始 to collect搜集 every一切 instance of circle-triangle-square圆三角形方.
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我开始找寻每一个圆形三角形正方式的实例
15:00
I put these all back, by the way.
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顺便说一下 我可把它们都放回去了的
15:02
And I also discovered发现 how .
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而且我也发现
15:04
some rocks岩石 are twins双胞胎 separated分离 at birth分娩.
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某些石头还是一出生即被分隔的双胞胎
15:07
This is also out there, you know.
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这也自然发生了
15:10
I'm, like, how did this happen发生, kind of thing?
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我就想 这是怎么发生的 这类东西?
15:12
I brought you guys together一起 again.
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我让你们又团聚了
15:14
So, three years年份 ago I discovered发现, the letters M-I-TMIT
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三年前我发现 字母M-I-T
15:17
occurring发生 in simplicity简单 and complexity复杂.
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在单词“简单”和“复杂”中都有出现
15:19
My alma母校 mater母校, MITMIT, and I had this moment时刻 --
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我的母校 MIT 在这一刻
15:21
a kind of M. Night ShayamalanShayamalan moment时刻 --
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我突然感觉峰回路转
15:22
where I thought, Whoa! I have to do this.
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我就想 哇! 我必须行动了
15:25
And I went after it with passion.
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当时可是十分激动
15:28
However然而, recently最近 this RISD罗德岛设计学院 opportunity机会 kind of arose出现 --
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话说回来 最近罗德岛设计学院(RISD)的机会来了
15:32
going to RISD罗德岛设计学院 -- and I couldn't不能 reconcile调和 this real真实 easy简单,
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去RISD -- 我可无法轻易接受
15:35
because the letters had told me, MITMIT forever永远.
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因为那几个字母已经告诉我 永远的MIT
15:39
But I discovered发现 in the French法国 word raison存在的 d'd”êtreTRE.
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直到我发现在法语词语raison d'être(存在的理由)里.
15:42
I was, like, aha, wait a second第二.
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当时我 啊哈 等等
15:44
And there RISD罗德岛设计学院 appeared出现.
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RISD出现了...
15:47
And so I realized实现 it was O.K. to go.
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然后我就这样觉得可以去
15:49
So, I'm going to RISD罗德岛设计学院, actually其实.
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那么 我要去RISD了
15:53
Who's谁是 a RISD罗德岛设计学院 alum明矾 out there?
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这里谁是RISD的校友?
15:55
RISD罗德岛设计学院 alums校友? Yeah, RISD罗德岛设计学院. There we go, RISD罗德岛设计学院. Woo求爱, RISD罗德岛设计学院.
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RISD校友? 没错, RISD. 我说了吧, RISD. 喔, RISD.
15:58
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Art艺术 Center中央 -- Art艺术 Center中央 is good, too.
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对不起, 对不起 -- Art Center也很好.
16:00
RISD罗德岛设计学院 is kind of my new kind of passion,
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RISD是我新的激情.
16:04
and I'll tell you a little bit about that.
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我要告诉你关于它的一点故事.
16:07
So, RISD罗德岛设计学院 is --
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所以, RISD是 --
16:09
I was outside RISD罗德岛设计学院,
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我当时在RISD外面,
16:11
and some student学生 wrote this on some block, and I thought,
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某个学生在一块砖上写下这个 我就想
16:13
Wow, RISD罗德岛设计学院 wants to know what itself本身 is.
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哇 RISD想知道它自己是什么
16:16
And I have no idea理念 what RISD罗德岛设计学院 should be, actually其实,
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实际上我不知道RISD应该是什么
16:18
or what it wants to be, but one thing I have to tell you is that
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或者它想成为什么 但是我必须告诉大家
16:21
although虽然 I'm a technologist技术专家, I don't like technology技术 very much.
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尽管我是名技术专家 但是我不太喜欢科技
16:24
It's a, kind of, the qi thing, or whatever随你.
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这好像有点玄乎 不管了
16:26
People say,
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人们问我
16:28
Are you going to bring带来 RISD罗德岛设计学院 into the future未来?
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你会把RISD带到未来吗?
16:30
And I say, well, I'm going to bring带来 the future未来 back to RISD罗德岛设计学院.
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我回到道 这个么, 我会把未来带回到RISD
16:33
There's my perspective透视. Because in reality现实,
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这是我的愿望 因为在现实中
16:36
the problem问题 isn't how to make the world世界 more technological技术性.
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问题不是如何把世界变得更高科技
16:40
It's about how to make it more humane人道 again.
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而是如何把它重新变得更人性化
16:42
And if anything, I think RISD罗德岛设计学院 has a strange奇怪 DNA脱氧核糖核酸.
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更可能的是 我觉得RISD有一个特别的DNA
16:46
It's a strange奇怪 exuberance丰富
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它异常繁茂
16:48
about materials物料, about the world世界:
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关于材料 关于这个世界
16:50
a fascination魅力 that I think the world世界 needs需求
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这正是这个世界所需要的一种魔力
16:52
quite相当 very much right now.
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现在尤为需要
16:54
So, thank you everyone大家.
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谢谢大家.
Translated by Peng Zhao
Reviewed by Jesse Young

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
John Maeda - Artist
John Maeda, the former president of the Rhode Island School of Design, is dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity.

Why you should listen

When John Maeda became president of the legendary Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2008, he told the Wall Street Journal, "Everyone asks me, 'Are you bringing technology to RISD?' I tell them, no, I'm bringing RISD to technology."

In his fascinating career as a programmer and an artist, he's always been committed to blurring the lines between the two disciplines. As a student at MIT, studying computer programming, the legendary Muriel Cooper persuaded him to follow his parallel passion for fine art and design. And when computer-aided design began to explode in the mid-1990s, Maeda was in a perfect position at the MIT Media Lab to influence and shape the form, helping typographers and page designers explore the freedom of the web.

Maeda is leading the "STEAM" movement--adding an "A" for Art to the education acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)--and experiencing firsthand the transformation brought by social media. After leaving his post as RISD's president, Maeda is turning his attention to Silicon Valley, where is is working as a Design Partner for Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield and Byers. He is also consulting for eBay, where he is the chair of the Design Advisory Board.

More profile about the speaker
John Maeda | Speaker | TED.com