夏韶聲出席民建聯的國慶搖滾音樂會,引來年青網民不滿,Johnny在Facebook寫了「搖滾精神容不下奴才」,這一代令我也回想起自己十來歲時接觸Rock'n'Roll,那時真的不懂說什麼精神,但七十年代中期美國和全世界才剛走出越戰陰影,年青人以音樂表達對社會不滿,對當權者批判,我感受是很深的。今日的年青人絕對有權和義務批判夏詔聲「為五斗米折腰」,一如年青時的夏詔聲,也必定曾感受過搖滾的批判精神。 八十年代我初讀大學時,冇錢也要買來看的《滾石》雜誌("Rolling Stone"),曾經選出25大「示威歌曲」(protest songs),「反對」的最多是戰爭,反映六、七十年代的背景,也有不少是針對社會不公義,甚至直接批領導人(總統)。這些「投訴」歌曲,有些是頗「溫柔」甚至很哲學的,像Bob Dylan早期民歌風的"Blowin' in the Wind"(YouTube | 歌詞);也有像U2的激揚而詩歌(poetic)般的,以北愛戰爭和宗教為背景的"Sunday Bloody Sunday"(YouTube | 歌詞),或紀念黑人民權領袖馬丁路德金的"Pride (In the Name of Love)"(YouTube | 歌詞),都屬我的至愛。
七、八十年代英國Punk/New Wave樂隊中,The Jam和The Clash是我的「飛佛」。The Jam的"In The City"(YouTube | 歌詞),串的是警察暴力("In the city there's a thousand men in uniforms; And I've heard they now have the right to kill a man"),"Eton Rifles"(YouTube | 歌詞)主題是階級矛盾,靈感來自一次工人示威與貴族學校學生的打鬥("I'd prefer the plague to the Eton Rifles")... The Clash直接了當地唱出白人青年不滿的"White Riot"(YouTube | 歌詞)("Black man gotta lot a problems; But they don't mind throwing a brick; White people go to school; Where they teach you how to be thick"),還有好聽多的"London Calling"(YouTube with Bruce Springsteen | 歌詞),和玩到伊朗的"Rock The Casbah"(YouTube | 歌詞)...
美國音樂人中最直接地批判政府政策,令我印象最深刻的莫過於Jackson Browne,他1986年的"Lives in the Balance"(YouTube | 歌詞),代表列根年代的左派良心,("You hear one thing again and again; How the U.S.A. stands for freedom; And we come to the aid of a friend; But who are the ones that we call our friends; These governments killing their own? Or the people who finally cant take any more; And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone")。
"Lives in the Balance" (2007年反伊拉克戰爭示威版本)
就算美國搖滾教父Bruce Springsteen的經典「愛國」歌曲"Born in the U.S.A."(YouTube 東柏林版 | 歌詞),也是駡政府的("I got in a little hometown jam; And so they put a rifle in my hands; Sent me off to Vietnam; To go and kill the yellow man"),這才是自由,民主。
真的,愛國才應該駡政府,讚除了為統治者貼金有其舍用。莎翁在《無事生非》("Much Ado About Nothing")中有一句:"There is not one wise man in twenty that will praise himself"。中國和中國人,學吓吧。
始終,「係內容呀,笨!」(It's the content, stupid!)「電子課本」不能「搬字過電腦」,除了必須有足夠的內容,如何利用這新媒體傳送知識,學習過程要如何配合或受到影響,都是重要課題。當然,硬件平台與這些課題有互動關係,但軟件和平台則更直接相關。所以,發展出一個可持續的模式,讓老師們可以創作、分享、優化教育內容及教材,成為一個動態互動的發展環境,突破過往教科書時代被動式、周期性的內容更新模式。
Ten years ago I asked myself that question, when I went to his Garage.com's Bootcamp for Startups in Boston. All I remember was his pitch on the elevator pitch. Today, Guy Kawasaki is in Hong Kong and I joined a breakfast talk with him in the Boardroom of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
He talked about Twitter, using his experience with his company Alltop. It was probably a great pep talk for those who have heard of Twitter, but never used it. And there are just many of these kinds in the room -- the middle-aged business type always thinking how they can use the Internet for advertising, this and that. Guy admits that maybe different people would use Twitter in different ways, but really he was just pitching his way. Which is fine, but I really want to add, like anything else Web 2.0, please use it and experiment yourself, and that will be worth lots, lots more than you would get out of hearing or reading from gurus.
What I am more impressed with Guy is, how did he get to where he is and stays there, that is, being an "evangelist" of "new things." Honestly, Guy never impresses me as a visionary, but he tells you how to do some things in his ways. I think choosing the right audience, or target market, has a lot to do with it. Even if it only works for the novice, fine, stick with it. How much better would it be to keep talking to businesss people curious about social media but will never get around to have the guts (or, ok, time) to try it? That's what you can call recurrent business.
Guy also struck me as someone who holds a very classic Californian (not to mention U.S. centric) view of the Internet or social media. Or maybe, to be fair, he just did not have the time to go into other things today. But what I really wanted to ask him, but did not have time, was what he thinks about U.S. based social media facing the blockage of China's Great Fire Wall, and government-endorsed copycats in China. From a U.S. entrepreneur or VC's point of view, what would be his comment? Save that and other questions of the future for the next time I see Guy, maybe in another ten years, in 2019?
Update (13:00 HKT): Guy has been kind enough to reply to my direct message to him on Twitter. A nice and very open guy I am sure. I am sure he will give a great talk tonight at Web Wednesday and dive deeper into his views on Twitter and other things.
一直以來,倚賴用戶提供內容的 Web 2.0 網站公司如何賺錢,始終是一個「謎」。免費的服務,用戶習以為常,但網站公司即使要在網上接受第三方的廣告,用戶往往也非常反感,甚至認為網站「利用」他們創作的內容收取利益,也是不應該的。YouTube 曾經嘗試在其網頁上接受廣告,用戶反對聲音激烈,結果計劃不能全面實行。