《名人传记》之乔布斯亿万富豪嬉皮士74:商业史上的神话

 　　A computer expert will show you the system that's right for you.

　　电脑专家将会为你展示真正适合你的系统

　　It was the opening shot of a battle that would rage for 15 years.

　　这为其后IBM跟苹果之间长达15年的激烈竞争拉开了序幕

　　Apple went from the leading personal computer company

　　苹果在个人电脑公司的排名

　　to the second-place company

　　掉到了第二位

　　and actually, was in a very precarious¹ position in that

　　而且 形势还很危险

　　because the IBM system could be used in companies other than IBM

　　由于IBM的系统可以与其他公司兼容

　　and you could see where Apple would've just got to fall further and further back.

　　可以预见苹果的市场份额只会不断下降

　　Apple needed a seasoned Chief Executive to pilot the company

　　苹果急需一位经验丰富的首席执行官

　　through increasingly tough times.

　　在日益艰难的时局里 为其指明方向

　　Steve Jobs' search took him to New York

　　乔布斯一路搜寻到了纽约

　　and to John Sculley, President of the soft drinks company, Pepsi.

　　找到了百事公司的首席执行官John Sculley

　　The two men began poles apart.

　　这两个人的背景有着天壤之别

　　The world I came from was hierarchical.

　　我所熟悉的世界充满了残酷的商业规则

　　It was big business. It was very competitive

　　大企业里都是等级森严 竞争激烈的

　　and the idea of building a company that was going to change the world

　　而这个通过建立公司去改变世界的想法

　　was completely foreign from anything that I'd ever been exposed to.

　　对我来说更是闻所未闻

　　How Jobs persuaded Sculley to take the job

　　乔布斯说服Sculley跳槽到苹果公司的过程

　　is the stuff of business legend.

　　是一个商业史上的神话

　　Steve had these deep penetrating², brown eyes

　　乔布斯有一双犀利的棕色眼睛

　　and he just stared right at me, probably, you know, 15 inches away.

　　他就这么从三四十公分外 直直地看入了我的眼睛

　　He said, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life,

　　他说 "你真的想要一辈子都卖糖水吗?

　　or do you want to come with me and change the world?"

　　还是要来跟我一起改变这个世界?"

　　Kind of knocked the wind out of me,

　　这句话真的打动了我

　　because no-one had ever said anything like that to me before.

　　因为之前从来没有人这么跟我说过

　　Sculley was a pragmatic operator,

　　Sculley是个务实派

　　a marketing³ expert who knew exactly what Apple should do.

　　作为一个市场营销专家 他深知此时的苹果应该做些什么

　　What they needed was someone who could keep the Apple II

　　他们需要继续苹果机二代的宣传

　　commercially alive and generating cash for about another three years.

　　保证它在三年之内能维持盈利

1 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

2 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

3 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。