菲尔·爱德华兹

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.

有声电影：“有声对白不属于电影”

1928年，艺术家联合会的主席约瑟夫·申克似乎对一件事情把握十足：有声电影只会风光一时。

他对《纽约时报》说：“有声对白不属于电影。”虽然他也承认音效颇有用处，但他觉得对白被高估了。他说：“我觉得人们不会喜欢有声电影太久。”这种想法在当时并不罕见。

1967年，女演员玛丽·阿斯特回忆了默片时代落幕之际的大众看法。她写道：“《爵士歌王》被视为一部卖座怪片”，有声电影被看作是“票房噱头”。在早期的一部有声电影上映时，她和同事们都认为“噪音肯定会把观众从剧院吓跑……这是一种完全不同的表达方式”。

然而，事实最终证明，有声电影比旧的媒介更引人入胜。观众适应了有声对白，音频录制技术取得了进步，新一代的好莱坞大亨们也纷纷接受了有声电影。

奶酪汉堡：“典型的加利福尼亚怪味”

虽然争议不断，大多数资料都将1934年奶酪汉堡的发明归功于莱昂内尔·斯滕伯格。不论是谁想到了这个主意，刚开始的时候，人们都认为把牛肉和奶酪搭在一起是疯狂的加利福尼亚新吃法，而非别出心裁的美食。

1938年，《纽约时报》首次报道了奶酪汉堡，它被评定为一种加利福尼亚怪食，与坚果汉堡、猪肉汉堡、火鸡汉堡一起上榜，位列第三。1947年，尽管疑惑，《纽约时报》的一位作者还是亲自尝了尝奶酪汉堡并写道：

如今，牛肉、奶酪、番茄不时被搭在一起，乍看可能有些不同寻常。但仔细想想，就会发现它们其实不失为一种搭配合理的美食。

后来许多人也持相同的看法。而一旦像麦当劳这样的快餐连锁把奶酪汉堡印上了菜单，它就在美国人的餐盘上牢牢占据了一席之地。

答录机：“起初不过是雅皮士的玩意儿”

虽然答录机的实用价值很快就为人们所认知，但它在问世之初，似乎遭到了电话公司的打压，因为这些公司更想推行自己的设备和服务。

1973年，一则关于语言信箱正蓬勃发展的报道指出，在大多数家庭里，是禁止安装答录机的。罗伯特·霍华德是纽约电话公司的一名发言人，他声称，非法安装答录机会给电话线维修人员造成安全隐患。其实自20世纪40年代以来，大多数公司都禁用答录机。美国电话电报公司曾说“这种设备没有市场”。

多亏了美国联邦通信委员会的一项决议，答录机于1975年摆脱了此前种种近乎合法的刁难，但它仍然被视为少数雅皮士的玩意儿，不受待见。也许正因如此，一直等到1991年，《纽约时报》才不情愿地接受了答录机，刊出了醒目的頭条：“雅皮士爱之，普通人亦然。”

答录机的崛起源于技术、法律以及通信文化的变革。随着答录机技术变得更易操控，代接电话服务便逐渐消亡了。

便携电脑：“便携电脑只是虚空一梦？”

1985年，《纽约时报》报道说，曾经前景大好、而今悲剧谢幕的新潮产品——便携电脑正在走向穷途末路。从此以后，飞机上的小桌板将不会放置电脑，取而代之的是啤酒和鸡尾酒。

《纽约时报》质疑便携电脑的潜能，也算是有理有据：它们体型笨重、价格昂贵、电池不耐用。这些缺陷使得人们很难想象便携电脑可以成为主流。

以下这份抱怨虽合理，但缺乏远见：

种种局限源于人们实际使用电脑所做的事情，而非营销者期待它们能做的事情。总体而言，为了消遣起见，人们并不想拖着电脑去海滩或上火车，反倒更愿意阅读报纸上的体育或商业版面。然而，微电脑行业却料定每个人都会乐于拥有一个键盘，仿佛嫁接在他们的手指上，使其延长。可事实并不如愿。

虽然便携式电脑过了好几年才臻于实用，但技术的突飞猛进使它们不仅更加轻便，也更持久易用。