Xiaoshaning's Hearsay

REMEMBER the paperless office, that dream of perfect organization that was peddled by tech companies years ago as a way to sell computers?
还记得几年前高科技公司向追求完美的无纸化办公室兜售电脑吗?

The dream may still be elusive, but tech marketers knew what they were doing when they decided that paperlessness would appeal to customers. Whether at home or at the office, physical documents are a pain to keep straight. They take time to organize, they take up space, they can’t be searched and they’re easily lost or destroyed.
梦想可能仍然是难以捉摸的,但技术行销者知道当无纸化办公对人们产生吸引力的时候他们在做什么。无论是在家还是在办公室，完好保存物理文件是一件痛苦的事情。它们需要时间去整理、占用空间、查找困难,而且容易丢失或损坏。

And it’s not just paper documents: everything created before digital media can add to the problem. The average American household has about 3,000 non-digital photographs and slides squirreled away in closets, according to ScanCafe, a photo-scanning service. And then there are all those books, cassettes and videotapes.
这个问题并不只存在于纸质文档：在数字媒体应用之前的所有事情都存在这一问题。据照片扫描服务机构ScanCafe称，一般的美国家庭有大约3000张非数码照片和幻灯片存放在衣柜中。还有那些书籍,磁带和录像带。

The last time my wife and I moved, we spent at least half our time packing and lifting books. E-readers may be revolutionizing the publishing industry, but their ramifications for the moving business, not to mention chiropractors, will probably be just as significant.
上次我和太太搬家的时候,我们花了至少一半的时间打包装运图书。电子阅读器或许彻底改革了出版业,但他们作为移动业务的分支,更不用按摩师，也可能会一样重要。

Because hardly anyone wants to throw away that old stuff, the solution is to convert all those snapshots, videos, music, books and documents to more portable, compact and durable digital versions.
因为几乎没有人想扔掉旧的东西,因此解决方案是把所有这些照片、视频、音乐、书籍和文件变换成具有更强便携性、简洁而耐用的数字版本。

Recently, I’ve been testing conversion devices and services, and results have been mixed. I found that a few conversion systems work marvelously, but that transforming one’s old stuff into new stuff can be a painful process.
最近,我一直在测试转换设备与服务,其结果喜忧参半。我发现一些转换系统的工作状态极佳,但是从旧事物向新事物的转换过程是很艰难的。

Of all the media that clogs your house, old paperwork may be the easiest to tackle. All you need is a scanner to turn the documents into digital files.
堆满你房子的媒体、老文件可能是最容易处理的。你只需要一个扫描仪就可以将这些纸质文档转换成数字文件。

One economical option is the flatbed scanner, which usually costs less than $80, but beware of the low price. A flatbed requires laying each sheet of paper face down on the scanning eye and waiting 10 to 20 seconds while it is transferred to your computer. Unless longevity runs in your family, don’t bother.
一种经济的选择是平板扫描仪,通常成本不到80美元,但是要小心降价。一个平板扫描仪需要将每张文件面朝下放在扫描眼处并等待10到20秒,以便它传输到你的电脑。除非你不想延长它的寿命,否则不要打断它。

A better option is a sheet-feeding scanner, which allows you to insert a stack of paper. The best of these is the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500, which I found to be a dream to use. It is about as big as a shoebox and can hold 50 sheets of paper in its scanning tray; press the button and the machine will scan up to 20 pages a minute on both sides.
一个更好的选择是馈纸式扫描仪,它可以让您插入一叠纸。这种扫描仪最好的是富士通ScanSnap S1500,用它扫描就像做梦一样美好。它有一个鞋盒大小,可容纳50张纸在托盘里;一按电钮,扫描仪可以在一分钟之内完成20页纸的双面扫描了。

The S1500 comes in two similar models, one for Windows PCs and one for Macs, and each will convert your documents into searchable PDFs. After a few weekends with this scanner, you can throw away your file cabinet. The only downside is the price: at about $400, the S1500 is much more expensive than more pedestrian scanners. But if you’re drowning in paper, you may find it is a lifeline worth the price.
S1500有两个相似的款式,一款适用于Windows系统，另一款适用于苹果系统,无论哪款都可以将你的文档转换成便于查找的PDF格式文件。在使用该扫描仪几周之后，你就可以扔掉你的文件柜了。该扫描仪唯一的缺点是：价格大约在400美元,比之前呆板的扫描仪贵多了。但如果你陷入了纸质文档的海洋里，你就会发现它物有所值了。

I had a much harder time turning my movies and music into digital files. There are several gadgets that promise to do this, but I lost many hours of my life wrestling with them. To convert my cassette tapes, I tried the Tape 2 PC, made by Ion Audio, and theTape 2 USB II, made by Grace Digital Audio, each of which sells for $120. Then there isIon Audio’s Quick Play Flash, a $70 unit that converts vinyl records to digital files. And I tested the VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe, an $80 device by Honestech that connects your VCR to your computer, allowing you to turn videotapes into DVDs. All of these were easy to set up and operate. The Quick Play Flash, in particular, was a breeze because it transforms vinyl albums into digital files without connecting to a computer: you plug in a USB thumb drive to save your music. All the devices also delivered conversions that were relatively faithful to the original; there was some degradation in the conversion process, but the resulting sounds and pictures were not bad.
我曾有一段令人头疼的时间把我的电影和音乐转为数字文件。有几个小工具可以处理这些事情，但我浪费了很多时间去处理它们。为了转换磁带,我试过了Ion Audio公司的Tape 2 PC软件, 和Grace Digital Audio 公司的Tape 2 USB II软件,这两个软件售价都为120美元。接着是Ion Audio公司的 Quick Play Flash软件，一款70美元的将黑胶唱片转换为数字文件的软件。我也用过VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe,一个Honestech公司的80美元的设备，它可以把你的录像机连接到您的电脑,并且让你把录像带转换成dvd。所有的这些很容易连接并进行操作。特别是Quick Play Flash，用起来非常简单，因为它可以不用连接电脑就可以将黑胶唱片转换成数字文件：你可以插入一个USB拇指碟来保存你的音乐。所有的设备,相对来说比较保真；在转换过程中，也有一些失真，但转换出来的音乐和图片效果并不差。

Yet every video- and music-conversion machine I tested suffered from one major, nearly fatal flaw: they took forever to work. That’s because they operate in real time. To convert a 60-minute cassette tape, you must play the tape for a full 60 minutes while your computer records the music. The same is true of the conversion processes for vinyl and videotapes.
然而,我测试过的每一个视频音乐转换机都存在一个重要的甚至是致命的缺陷：它们要花很长的时间完成工作。那是因为他们是实时操作。转换一个60分钟的盒式磁带,在你的电脑录音的同时，你必须从头到尾播放它。转换黑胶影片也是一样。

For most people, real-time conversion is not realistic. My wife has a collection of about 150 cassette tapes that she saved from her high school years. If I spent 10 hours every weekend trying to turn her collection of old R.E.M., U2 and Tori Amos tapes into MP3s, it would take me nearly four months to finish. If your music collection runs into the thousands and you want to do real-time conversion, you had better quit reading this and get started right now.
对大多数人来说,实时转换是不现实的。我的妻子从她高中时候起收藏了大约150盒磁带。如果我每周末花十个小时把她收藏的R.E.M.、U2和Tori Amos的磁带都转换成mp3格式的话,那么我将花费近四个月的时间才能完成。如果你收藏的音乐有上千首，而且你想实时转换的话，那你最好赶快停止阅读这篇文章并马上开始转换。

A more sensible alternative is to send it away and have the professionals do it. Many such services are available for photographs, videos and music. I tried two that specialize in photographs and movies, and found both delightful.
一个比较明智的选择是把它交给专业人士去做。许多这样的服务也适用于照片、视频和音乐。我试过两家照片和电影转换专营店,结果都很令人满意。

The services, ScanCafe of Burlingame, Calif., and DigMyPics of Gilbert, Ariz., have many things in common. They accept almost any photograph or video format you can throw at them: slides, negatives, snapshots, videotapes and even Super 8 movie film. And they not only scan your images, but also employ technicians to correct flaws by balancing colors, removing scratches and undoing red eye.
加利福尼亚州的伯林格姆ScanCafe服务机构,以及亚利桑那州的吉尔伯特DigMyPics服务机构，有许多共同之处。他们接受几乎所有格式的照片或视频:幻灯片、底片、照片、录像带，甚至类似于Super 8的影片。他们不仅扫描你的图片,还会请技术人员修正缺陷，比如平衡色彩、去除划痕和消除红眼。

The turnaround for each is roughly similar. DigMyPics estimates that it takes about two weeks to scan a typical order of 1,000 snapshots; ScanCafe requires about three weeks. And both services offer a nice bonus that saves you the trouble of reviewing your snapshots one by one before you send them in: after they’ve scanned your pictures, you can check your images quickly by scrolling through them online and deciding which ones you do not want. Neither firm will charge for scanning the discarded images, unless you discard more than 20 percent of the total pictures. The major difference between the two services is cost. DigMyPics conducts all its operations in the United States, while ScanCafe outsources part of its scanning and editing to Bangalore, India. Because it saves on labor costs, ScanCafe is significantly cheaper than DigMyPics and other services, charging 29 cents an image for standard snapshots. At DigMyPics, the price is 39 cents, so if you are scanning 1,000 pictures, ScanCafe will save you $100.
每个转变大致相似。DigMyPics估计需要大约两周的时间来完成一个1000张照片的标准订单的扫描；ScanCafe需要大约三个星期。这两个服务都可以使你省去之前一张一张去找照片的麻烦：在他们扫描完成你的照片之后，你就可以在滚动页面的同时快速挑选你的照片并决定哪些不想要。两家公司都不会对你舍弃的照片收费，除非你舍弃总额20%以上的照片。这两家公司的主要区别是费用问题。DigMyPics所有的操作在美国进行, 而ScanCafe将一部分扫描和编辑的业务外包给印度的班加罗尔。因为可以节省劳动力成本,ScanCafe在很大程度上比DigMyPics和其他服务机构便宜很多,一张标准的照片收费29美分。但DigMyPics的价格是39美分,所以如果你扫描1000照片的话,ScanCafe将会帮你节省100美元。

Is it safe to ship your photographs and movies to a scanning service? In 2008, a laptop at the DigMyPics plant exploded, sparking a fire that destroyed the building and many customers’ images. Annette Crossen, who owns the business with her husband, Scott, said that the company has since rebuilt its operations, and among other precautions, the plant is now under constant surveillance and has more-advanced fire-protection systems. If customer pictures are damaged or lost, DigMyPics offers restitution up to $100. Naren Dubey, the chief executive of ScanCafe, said that his firm ships customers’ pictures to India in durable containers that are resistant to damage and monitored against theft. And ScanCafe offers up to $1,000 in restitution in case of damage or loss. “We’ve never had to pay out that guarantee,” Mr. Dubey said.

把你的照片和电影发给扫描服务公司安全吗？在2008年,一个笔记本在DigMyPics工厂发生爆炸,引发一场大火烧毁了建筑和许多用户的照片。安妮特克洛森,和他的丈夫斯科特共同经营这家公司，他们说,公司业务已经重建,在防护措施方面,工厂现处于24小时监控状态,并且有了更先进的防火系统。如果顾客的照片损坏或遗失了,DigMyPics提供赔偿多达100美元。ScanCafe的首席执行官Naren Dubey说,他的公司用坚固耐用的集装箱把顾客的照片寄给印度，这样可以防止损坏和偷窃。另外ScanCafe还提供高达1000美元的损坏或丢失的赔偿。“我们还没有为此保证付出过赔偿费,” Dubey先生说。