Spring is here again & this is the First Spring of our Second Spring, 人生第二春的第一個春天. I look around & find that this is a fresh new world quite different from the one we used to have not long ago. The world changes so fast that we are overwhelmed physically & emotionally most of the time playing catch up games. Are these changes for the better or the worse? It depends on what & how you look at the world. For me, most of them are for the better although there are many bad side effects go along with them. The following is something that changes our life one way or the other.
Emails: Replace postal mails & stamps.
Google Search: Dramatically reduces the time in fetching information.
iTune/iPod: Changes the way we listen to music & the music distribution.
YouTube: Makes audio/video media available & shares among people.
Wikipedia/Online Dictionary: Replace encyclopedia & dictionary of book form.
Google Chrome: Makes multitasking run smoothly & effectively.
Amazon: Replaces department stores & book stores.
Skype: Reduces the cost of long distance call enormously.
Netflix: Changes the way we watch movie.
Fidelity/Vanguard: Changes the way we invest & manage money.
Internet: Replaces libraries as Internet behaves like a giant library.
Electronic News: Causes the decline of conventional newspapers.
GPS: Changes the way we drive & reduces the need of paper maps.
Google Map: Changes the way we see the world.
Expedia: Change the way we book airline tickets.
Several springs ago, I mentioned Schubert's "FruhlingsGlaube" (Faith in Spring). Let's listen to it again & hear the message:
Now, poor heart, be not afraid!
Now all, all must change.
Now, poor heart, forget thy pain!
Now all, all must change.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_WMgEu63FA
Spring is beautiful, spring is brilliant & spring is full of changes. Let's embrace & engage the spring as the poem from 徐志摩:
春,這勝利的睛空彷彿在你的耳邊私語,
春,你那快活的靈魂也彷彿在那裏迴響.
2 comments:
In 1931, Aldous Huxley wrote his famous book "Brave New World". Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance, too much information. In 1949, George Orwell wrote his famous book "1984". Orwell feared that the restriction of information from our big brothers will ruin us. Well, this is 2012 in the midst of Information Revolution (IR). Orwell's 1984 seems fading to the irrelevance. Should we renew our worries like Aldous Huxley? Is IR a boon or bane? In a free society, the free exchange of information is a necessity, ie a necessary condition. We don't need a Brave New World, we do need a Fresh New World, a world Internet gives us. History never tells lies when time goes by. The Industrial Revolution occurred since 1768 did give human beings a lot of hardship & misfortune. But in the whole, it is a blessing to our civilization. Information Revolution will follow the similar path & reach the similar conclusion.
"FruhlingsGlaube" in this video clip was performed by Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) and Moore (piano). Dieskau just passed away on May 18, 2012. He was one of the most famous lyric baritone of our time. In memory of him, let's listen to his unique voice on Lindenbaum, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyxMMg6bxrg
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