Newsletter No. 531

媒體就是推拿 The Medium is the Massage 穿梭百年香港 A Curious Time Travel to the Old Hong Kong 高速發展的資訊科技為我們帶來形形色色的媒體平台及形式，如網上報刊、新聞網站、博 客、YouTube、維基百科、公民新聞學、自媒體及數據新聞學。馬歇爾 • 麥克魯漢（1911 – 1980）的名句—「媒體就是信息」—聽來仍合時宜。 中大新聞與傳播學院 蘇鑰機 教授解釋，麥克魯漢認為各種科技（媒體）本身就是信息，而 不是媒體傳達的內容。現代媒體可看成是人類感官的延伸，每一種媒介對人類的感覺中樞 都有一定的「推拿」作用，一是令人感到舒服、享受；一是令人眩惑、麻醉。麥克魯漢後來與 平面設計師Quentin Fiore合寫一書，索性以《媒體就是推拿》為題。 各式各樣媒體已經打進我們日常生活的每個層面，仿如一張天網。科技控制了人們的工作 日程、社交節奏和如何運用私人時間。蘇教授舉例說：「很多人都有手機和智能腕錶，這些 工具監控着我們走路吃飯、把我們和他人聯繫起來、監察我們的健康狀況、提供各類資訊、 安排娛樂消遣。」 蘇教授認為互聯網是現代影響最深遠的科技。依他分野：1995年出現以電腦為主的網上媒 體是第一代；2009年左右出現的社交媒體及「數據優先」是第二代；2013年我們有了移動 媒體及「移動優先」，是為第三代；第四代則山雨欲來，而且多會靠人工智能推動。 蘇教授不諱言科技發展對人類的自主、私隱及自由都會帶來挑戰，但他同時也充滿希望：  「在一個科技主導的世界裏，不論任何年紀，都要掌握更多科技知識，積極向前，做好裝 備，迎接美麗新世界。」 Marshall McLuhan’s (1911–1980) famous dictum—‘The medium is the message’—strikes a special chord today, as rapidly developing information technology has engendered a large number of media platforms and formats such as online newspapers, news websites, blogs, YouTube, Wikipedia, citizen journalism, we media and data journalism. Prof. Clement So of CUHK’s School of Journalism and Communication explains that for McLuhan, technologies (the media) but not the content of communication are the messages themselves. Modern media are extensions of the human senses. Each communication medium has certain ‘massaging’ effect on the human sensorium. The audience may find the medium soothing and enjoyable, or deceiving and intoxicating depending on the type of media concerned. Hence the title of a later book by McLuhan co-authored with graphic designer Quentin Fiore— The Medium is the Massage (1967). The media are so pervasive in all aspects of people’s lives that there is no way to hide from them. Technology has gradually taken over people’s lives, controlling their work routines, social rhythms and even spare time. Professor So gave an example: ‘The mobile phones and smart watches have made themselves indispensable to us. These devices monitor our time and diary, keep us connected with one another, give us all sorts of information, check on our health status, guide our ways on the road, keep us company by providing entertainment, etc.’ Professor So regards the Internet as the most important technological invention in the age we live in. By his count, Web 1.0 started in 1995 and was defined by online media and ‘computer first’. Web 2.0 emerged around 2009 and was characterized by social media and ‘digital first’. Web 3.0 came to the scene in about 2013 and gave us mobile media and ‘mobile first’. Web 4.0 is now on the horizon and likely to be powered by artificial intelligence. While fully aware of the risk of surrendering our control, privacy and freedom, Professor So is equally optimistic of what the future holds for us: ‘For us to better adapt and thrive in this technology driven world, we have to become more tech savvy and forward- looking. Technology literacy has to be promoted for people of all ages, and we should be psychologically ready to embrace the brave new world.’ T.C. 現代人習慣用智能手機拍照，輕易記錄生活點滴，很難想像一百五十年前的蘇格蘭攝影師 湯姆森（1837 – 1921）如何帶着笨重的木盒式相機、三腳架和玻璃底片遠赴香港，到處拍攝 英殖時期的人文風景。我帶着好奇心參觀中大圖書館舉辦的「百年影像：湯姆森眼中的香 港」展覽。 甫走進展覽廳，發現這些巨形舊照十分清晰，中大圖書館助理館長及特藏組主管 李麗芳 女 士說：「這是濕版攝影的獨特之處。」此名字源於攝影師要先在玻璃片上塗上液體火棉膠， 且要在拍攝和沖印過程一直保持濕潤。攝影師要趕在火棉膠揮發前完成整個程序，而塗火 棉膠時易沾灰塵，顯影過程亦會產生紋路和斑點等瑕疵，絕不輕易，但此工藝比紙本底片 沖印的相片更為清晰。 湯姆森於1868年在皇后大道中成立攝影工作室，兩年間記錄不少香港的都市風景。展覽包 括原藏於維康圖書館的十四張湯姆森攝影作品和歷史遺珍攝影基金會的十二幅彩色香港 近照，也展出中大圖書館收藏的香港舊照片和明信片，讓參觀者了解香港今昔。 我在畢打街今昔街景照片前佇立良久，歷史遺珍攝影基金會的彩色近照有熙來攘往的街道 與商店，湯姆森的黑白照卻展示出林蔭大道、鐘樓和維多利亞式建築群，還有等候生意的 華人轎夫、駐守街頭的印度侍衞。跟其他展出的今昔街景照片一樣，兩者相映成趣，映照百 多年的香港變遷。 「百年影像：湯姆森眼中的香港」展覽即日起至4月30日於大學圖書館展覽廳舉行，免費入 場。查詢：3943 7305 / spc@lib.cuhk.edu.hk。 Smartphones enable easy photographing nowadays. It’s hard to imagine the Scottish photographer John Thomson’s (1837–1921) laborious work bringing his wooden-box camera, a bulky tripod and glass negatives to photograph colonial Hong Kong 150 years ago. To pamper my curiosity, I visited the ‘Hong Kong Through the Lens of John Thomson’ exhibition held at the CUHK Library. Arriving at the exhibition area, I was struck by the sharpness of these 150-year-old images on exhibit. ‘This is the uniqueness of wet plate collodion photography,’ said Ms. Li Lai- fong , Sub-Librarian and Head of Special Collections of the Library. Before taking photos, the photographer pours collodion solution onto a glass negative, which is kept wet from image capturing to developing. The process is quite a challenge. It has only minutes to take the photo and develop it before the negative dries. And dusts may settle on the glass negative while collodion is being poured, resulting in grains and spots in the final photograph. But images produced by this process enjoy greater sharpness and clarity than paper negatives. Thomson set up a studio on Queen's Road Central in 1868 and took many urban photos in the next two years. To help the audience understand the city’s past and present, the exhibition shows Thomson’s 14 photos kept at London’s Wellcome Library alongside 12 colour photos commissioned by The Photographic Heritage Foundation (TPHF) in recent years. It also features some Hong Kong old photos and postcards in the CUHK Library collection. I stood in front of the juxtaposed distant and recent images of Pedder Street for some time. TPHF’s colour photo simmers with the hustle and bustle of the commercial district familiar to us, whereas Thomson’s photo shows an outlandish but serene boulevard with a bell tower and Victorian buildings, as well as Chinese sedan chair bearers waiting for patrons and Indian guards stationing in the area. The two photos, as indeed all the others in the exhibition, are parentheses to 150 years of Hong Kong. The ‘Hong Kong Through the Lens of John Thomson’ exhibition is now on until 30 April at the exhibition area of the University Library. Admission is free. Enquiries: 3943 7305 / spc@lib.cuhk.edu.hk . J. Lau Source: Wellcome Library, London 昔與今：德輔道往北朝向畢打街 Then and now: North of Des Voeux Road facing Pedder Street 07 # 5 3 1 | 1 9 . 0 1 . 2 0 1 9 字 裏 科 技 / T ech T alks 藝 士 匹 靈 / ARTS pirin