如果說我們所處的這個(gè)數(shù)字世界也有“原住民（native）”和“移民（immigrant）”之分的話，你是native還是immigrant呢？

Digital technology has been part of everyday life for many years now, so logically there's a whole generation of individuals for whom concepts such as the Internet and wireless technology are just humdrum, because they've never lived in a world where they didn't exist. These are the so-called digital natives, generally anyone born from 1980 onwards. Digital immigrants are their antithesis, being the folks born earlier who, either reluctantly or enthusiastically, have adapted to the digital world and incorporated its tools into their lives.

數(shù)字技術(shù)成為我們?nèi)粘Ｉ畹囊徊糠忠呀?jīng)好多年了，所以從邏輯上來講，我們周圍有一代人從出生就已經(jīng)習(xí)慣有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和無線技術(shù)的陪伴，對(duì)他們來說，這些數(shù)字技術(shù)絲毫不稀奇。這一代就是我們所說的“數(shù)字原住民”，出生在上世紀(jì)80年代之后的都屬于這一代。與之相對(duì)的自然就是“數(shù)字移民”了，他們出生年代早于“數(shù)字原住民”，已經(jīng)情愿或者不情愿地適應(yīng)了這個(gè)數(shù)字世界，并且將各類數(shù)字工具運(yùn)用到生活當(dāng)中。

Predictably, the distinction between digital natives and digital immigrants is controversial, not least because the digital universe currently inhabited by digital natives was in fact conceived and created by digital immigrants. It also makes assertions that may not be consistently valid, i.e. the idea that younger adults and children are always comfortable with technology, and that correspondingly older people are more likely to find technology awkward.

其實(shí)我們可以預(yù)想到，“數(shù)字原住民”和“數(shù)字移民”的界限是頗有爭議的，主要是因?yàn)椤皵?shù)字原住民”目前所在的這個(gè)數(shù)字世界其實(shí)是由“數(shù)字移民”勾劃并創(chuàng)建的。同時(shí)，那些認(rèn)為年輕人和孩子通常都喜歡技術(shù)并且運(yùn)用自如、而年長的人總覺得技術(shù)很難搞的觀點(diǎn)說的也并不一定是事實(shí)。

相關(guān)閱讀

數(shù)字鴻溝 digital gap

數(shù)字游民 digital nomad

（中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Helen）

點(diǎn)擊查看更多英語習(xí)語和新詞