艾可伯的開示

前陣子為了找篇社論，無意間逛到了Umberto Eco十多年前對於兩大電腦系統的看法，覺得非常有意思。那是他在1994年九月發表於義大利的Espresso雙週刊的La bustina di Minerva專欄；下面擷取的這段文字是從這裡摘來的英譯版本(我想可能沒有官定版本但網上的英文譯本基本上都是同一個)。我不是很清楚那篇專欄的標題，總之他是這麼說的(愛國同學可直接下拉到我的中文試譯本)：

"...Insufficient consideration has been given to the new underground religious war which is modifying the modern world. It's an old idea of mine, but I find that whenever I tell people about it they immediately agree with me.

The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counter-reformist and has been influenced by the 'ratio studiorum' of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach--if not the Kingdom of Heaven--the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: the essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation.

DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: a long way from the baroque community of revellers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment."

「對於這場正在對這個現代世界進行微調的地下宗教戰爭，我們似乎不太費心思考。我有個滿老的點子，但我發現我只要一提起它，人們往往立刻會同意我的看法。

事實是，這世界現在給切成了兩半，一邊是麥金塔系統的使用者，另一邊則是所有與MS-DOS系統相容的用戶。我很肯定麥金塔是屬於天主教，而DOS屬於新教。你看，麥金塔系統是反對革新的，而且至今深受耶穌會教士那一套所謂的教學規章所影響。這系統令人愉悅、友善、能撫慰人心；或許它無法指引信眾前往天國，但它會一個步驟一個步驟地告訴他們如何列印他們的文件。它具有教義問答的性格，也就是說，它啟示的本質取決於簡單的配方與華麗的圖像。而每個人都有機會得救。

DOS則屬於新教，甚至是卡爾文教派。它容許對經文自由解說，需要信徒做許多艱難的決定；它向他們灌輸一種含蓄內斂的詮釋學，並且理所當然地認為並非所有人都能得到救贖。要使這個系統能運作，你必須自己想辦法理解它的程式。DOS的使用者因此和那些豪華族類的狂歡者天差地別，他們被關在自己的內在折磨、痛楚所導致的無盡孤獨之中。」

不知對電腦有重度依賴症狀的鄉親們，對艾可伯的開示有甚麼看法？