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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
On Mondays, the Business Report focuses on technology and that is appropriate because this Monday is the birthday of iPod. The digital music player debuted2 five years ago today. Here's NPR's Laura Sydell.
The singer Madonna has never been one to miss out on a trend. The iPod is no exception. When Madonna finally let the online iTune store carry her music, she made an appearance via videophone at the 2005 Macworld Conference in San Francisco. Apple CEO Steve Jobs asked her if she had an iPod.
Of course I do.
Which one?
That's so dumb (thanks to google).
The iPod has become a symbol of the fusion3 of music and technology. But it wasn't the first MP3 player on the market. There were others, says industrial designer Mark Dirsk.
There were a lot of MP3 players that were (like) overly styled Ferraris with multiple buttons and nobody could figure out how to do.
Five years ago today when Steve Jobs introduced the iPod he dwelled on its beautiful design and simplicity4.
It's stainless5 steel. It's really, really durable6. It's beautiful. Boom, that's iPod. I happen to have one right here in my pocket, my friend.
67 million of the digital music players have been sold to date according to Apple. Industry analysts7 say the iPod has cornered 75% of the MP3 market.
But a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University says with the iPod, Apple made the experience of downloading music to a portable player easy.
They have managed to take the technology out of the experience itself. The experience really has everything to do with the music, and anything beyond that falls to the side. You are really about getting your music, accessing your music and the culture that surrounds that.
It wasn't hard to learn to use the iPod. Connect it to your computer, buy some songs at the iTunes store, or rip them from CDs you own. The wheel on the front of the digital screen made it easy to find songs. With the first iPod, users could hold 1,000 songs in their pocket and listen without recharging the battery for 6 or more hours, although there had been complaints that the batteries don't last as long as advertised. Rubber Briner, an industrial designer who once worked at Apple says there is a reason the company was able to succeed while others had failed. Steve Jobs, notorious perfectionism, and his emphasis on the consumer experience.
If you cannot open the box up and take it out and look at a few things on the" how to get started" card and be up and running. I feel like somebody hasn't done their job, and that's why I think Apple has always been really great.
Apple has also done a remarkable8 marketing9 job, says Briner. With hip10 colorful iPod commercials where the iconic white earbuds hang down from the heads of dancing figures. Even prominent pop musicians like Bob Dylan have performed in ads.
But what goes up can indeed go down.
The iPod has its vulnerabilities. Since it created the iPod five years ago, Apple has just streamlined the original design and come out with variations on the theme. Video capabilities12, the Nano, the Shuffle13, industrial designer Mark Dirsk says sometimes success can stifle14 creativity even at an innovative15 company like Apple.
They are the grand-daddy out there right now. They're gonna have some trouble staying fresh with that unless they take the same kind of risks that they did before.
Dirsk and others say Apple will also have to see if the design lendss itself to new technologies. Microsoft will be coming out with a competing player in November that will allow users to exchange songs wirelessly16. While competing companies are looking for a design that will be the next hit, pictures of the most touted18 competition, the anticipated Microsoft Zune, show it looks an awful lot like the iPod.
Laura Sydell, NPR News, San Francisco.
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Vocabulary
appropriate: suitable, acceptable or correct for the particular circumstances.
debut1 : v. to perform or be performed in public for the first time:
He debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1994.
miss out: to lose an opportunity to do or have something:We will be repeating the questions later. So you won’t miss out.
fusion noun. the process or result of joining two or more things together to form one:the fusion or copper19 and zinc20 to produce brass21. The movie displayed a perfect fusion of image and sound.
dwell on/upon sth: to think or talk a lot about sth, especially sth it would be better to forget: So you made a mistake, but there’s no need to dwell on it.
corner the market (in sth): to get control of the trade in a particular type of goods: They’ve cornered the market in silver.
iconic adj. acting22 as a sign or symbol of sth.
streamline11 v: to make a system, an organization etc. work better.The production process is to be streamlined.
stifle v. to prevent sth from happening; to prevent a feeling from being expressed: She managed to stifle a yawn. / They hope the new rules will not stifle creativity.
lend sth (to sb/sth)|lend (sb/sth) sth: to give a particular quality to a person or a situation: The setting sun lent an air of melancholy23 to the scene./ Her presence lent the occasion a certain dignity.
tout17 v. to try to persuade people to buy something by telling them about it, especially loudly and inpublic.
dumb often offensive1. lacking the power of speech 2:SILENT 3: STUPID - dumbly adv.
The singer Madonna has never been one to miss out on a trend. The iPod is no exception. When Madonna finally let the online iTune store carry her music, she made an appearance via videophone at the 2005 Macworld Conference in San Francisco. Apple CEO Steve Jobs asked her if she had an iPod.
Of course I do.
Which one?
That's so dumb (thanks to google).
The iPod has become a symbol of the fusion3 of music and technology. But it wasn't the first MP3 player on the market. There were others, says industrial designer Mark Dirsk.
There were a lot of MP3 players that were (like) overly styled Ferraris with multiple buttons and nobody could figure out how to do.
Five years ago today when Steve Jobs introduced the iPod he dwelled on its beautiful design and simplicity4.
It's stainless5 steel. It's really, really durable6. It's beautiful. Boom, that's iPod. I happen to have one right here in my pocket, my friend.
67 million of the digital music players have been sold to date according to Apple. Industry analysts7 say the iPod has cornered 75% of the MP3 market.
But a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University says with the iPod, Apple made the experience of downloading music to a portable player easy.
They have managed to take the technology out of the experience itself. The experience really has everything to do with the music, and anything beyond that falls to the side. You are really about getting your music, accessing your music and the culture that surrounds that.
It wasn't hard to learn to use the iPod. Connect it to your computer, buy some songs at the iTunes store, or rip them from CDs you own. The wheel on the front of the digital screen made it easy to find songs. With the first iPod, users could hold 1,000 songs in their pocket and listen without recharging the battery for 6 or more hours, although there had been complaints that the batteries don't last as long as advertised. Rubber Briner, an industrial designer who once worked at Apple says there is a reason the company was able to succeed while others had failed. Steve Jobs, notorious perfectionism, and his emphasis on the consumer experience.
If you cannot open the box up and take it out and look at a few things on the" how to get started" card and be up and running. I feel like somebody hasn't done their job, and that's why I think Apple has always been really great.
Apple has also done a remarkable8 marketing9 job, says Briner. With hip10 colorful iPod commercials where the iconic white earbuds hang down from the heads of dancing figures. Even prominent pop musicians like Bob Dylan have performed in ads.
But what goes up can indeed go down.
The iPod has its vulnerabilities. Since it created the iPod five years ago, Apple has just streamlined the original design and come out with variations on the theme. Video capabilities12, the Nano, the Shuffle13, industrial designer Mark Dirsk says sometimes success can stifle14 creativity even at an innovative15 company like Apple.
They are the grand-daddy out there right now. They're gonna have some trouble staying fresh with that unless they take the same kind of risks that they did before.
Dirsk and others say Apple will also have to see if the design lendss itself to new technologies. Microsoft will be coming out with a competing player in November that will allow users to exchange songs wirelessly16. While competing companies are looking for a design that will be the next hit, pictures of the most touted18 competition, the anticipated Microsoft Zune, show it looks an awful lot like the iPod.
Laura Sydell, NPR News, San Francisco.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vocabulary
appropriate: suitable, acceptable or correct for the particular circumstances.
debut1 : v. to perform or be performed in public for the first time:
He debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1994.
miss out: to lose an opportunity to do or have something:We will be repeating the questions later. So you won’t miss out.
fusion noun. the process or result of joining two or more things together to form one:the fusion or copper19 and zinc20 to produce brass21. The movie displayed a perfect fusion of image and sound.
dwell on/upon sth: to think or talk a lot about sth, especially sth it would be better to forget: So you made a mistake, but there’s no need to dwell on it.
corner the market (in sth): to get control of the trade in a particular type of goods: They’ve cornered the market in silver.
iconic adj. acting22 as a sign or symbol of sth.
streamline11 v: to make a system, an organization etc. work better.The production process is to be streamlined.
stifle v. to prevent sth from happening; to prevent a feeling from being expressed: She managed to stifle a yawn. / They hope the new rules will not stifle creativity.
lend sth (to sb/sth)|lend (sb/sth) sth: to give a particular quality to a person or a situation: The setting sun lent an air of melancholy23 to the scene./ Her presence lent the occasion a certain dignity.
tout17 v. to try to persuade people to buy something by telling them about it, especially loudly and inpublic.
dumb often offensive1. lacking the power of speech 2:SILENT 3: STUPID - dumbly adv.
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1
debut
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| n.首次演出，初次露面 | |
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2
debuted
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| 初次表演，初次登台（debut的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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3
fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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stainless
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| adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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analysts
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| 分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 ) | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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marketing
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| n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西 | |
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10
hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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11
streamline
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| vt.使成流线型；使简化；使现代化 | |
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12
capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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13
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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14
stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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innovative
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| adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的 | |
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16
wirelessly
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| 不用电线的，用无线电波传送的 | |
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17
tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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18
touted
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| v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报 | |
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19
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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zinc
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| n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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22
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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23
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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