《名人传记》之乔布斯亿万富豪嬉皮士80:期望与现实总会产生落差

 　　For the first time it was actually, you know, intuitive.

　　计算机的操作头一次变得直观

　　If you were bright enough to walk around unaided,

　　只要你生活能够自理

　　you could just turn it on and use it.

　　你就能按下开关开始用它

　　The Macintosh would be a hit with graphic¹ designers

　　苹果机倍受平面设计者青睐

　　and create the desktop² publishing era.

　　它也创造了桌面出版时代

　　Those of us who used Apples, who got up early

　　我们使用苹果机的人 每天都会早起

　　because we were excited about the fact

　　因为我们对生活充满了期待

　　we were in a world full of glide³ and flow and smoothness and pleasure,

　　我们的世界里 一切都是行云流水 美好细腻的

　　were told that we were pretentious⁴, posing, bohemian arty types.

　　别人却觉得 我们是自视甚高 装腔作势又放荡不羁的艺术家

　　"It's all very well for you, but I've got to do officey things",

　　"对我们嗤之以鼻 觉得我们并不脚踏实地地工作"

　　were missing the point.

　　但他们并没理解到重点

　　But however good it was, the Mac cost $2,500,

　　不过 无论它有多好 苹果机的售价是2500美元

　　over $1,000 more than an IBM PC.

　　这比IBM的个人电脑贵1000美元

　　Even so, Steve Jobs was in no doubt it would take the world by storm.

　　即使如此 乔布斯仍坚信它将会创造出销售神话

　　Like all great entrepreneurs, in Steve's mind,

　　像所有伟大的企业家一样

　　"Why wouldn't everybody on the planet immediately buy a Mac"?

　　史蒂夫眼中的Mac是完美的 他觉得每个人都应该立马买上一台

　　So he had huge expectations.

　　他满怀期望

　　Expectations that were about to collide with the real world.

　　但期望与现实总会产生落差

　　Then the sales numbers started coming in

　　销售数量统计显示

　　and, at best, they were half of what we were expecting.

　　他们至多卖出了期望销量的一半

　　One of Steve's great strengths is his strong will

　　史蒂夫最大的优点就是他坚强的意志

　　and imposing⁵ his own version of reality.

　　以及我行我素的固执

　　So in the face of depressing sales numbers he wasn't really fazed.

　　因此当他面对着差强人意的销量时 他并未消沉

　　Apple's new Macintosh factory was running at 50% of capacity.

　　苹果新建的Macintosh工厂只发挥了一半的作用

　　We did lose money and that was a huge crisis for everybody.

　　我们损失了不少钱 这对每个人来说都是一场巨大的灾难

　　Of course, that engendered⁶ a panic at Apple.

　　当然 这在苹果引起了恐慌

　　You know, "What was the problem? How can we fix it?"

　　"问题出在了哪里？我们该如何解决它?"

　　And there, there was disagreement between different people.

　　当时 不同的人对这件事有着不同的看法

1 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

2 desktop   

n.桌面管理系统程序；台式

参考例句：

• My computer is a desktop computer of excellent quality.我的计算机是品质卓越的台式计算机。
• Do you know which one is better,a laptop or a desktop?你知道哪一种更好，笔记本还是台式机？

3 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

4 pretentious   

adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的

参考例句：

• He is a talented but pretentious writer.他是一个有才华但自命不凡的作家。
• Speaking well of yourself would only make you appear conceited and pretentious.自夸只会使你显得自负和虚伪。

5 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

6 engendered   

v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The issue engendered controversy. 这个问题引起了争论。
• The meeting engendered several quarrels. 这次会议发生了几次争吵。 来自《简明英汉词典》