乔布斯传 第58期:苹果一代的诞生(3)

 Wayne then got cold feet.

之后韦恩就退缩了。

As Jobs started planning to borrow and spend more money, he recalled the failure of his own company.

乔布斯开始计划借入并花掉更多的钱，韦恩便想起了以前自己公司失败的教训，

He didn't want to go through that again.

他不想再经历一次那样的过程。

Jobs and Wozniak had no personal assets,

乔布斯和沃兹都没有个人资产，

but Wayne (who worried about a global financial Armageddon) kept gold coins hidden in his mattress¹.

但韦恩在他的床垫里藏了金币（他担心世界经济崩溃）。

Because they had structured Apple as a simple partnership² rather than a corporation,

因为构成苹果公司的是非常简单的合伙人关系，而不是公司体系，

the partners would be personally liable for the debts, and Wayne was afraid potential creditors³ would go after him.

所以合伙人个人需要对债务负责任，因此韦恩担心潜在的债权人会向自己追债。

So he returned to the Santa Clara County office just eleven days later with a "statement of withdrawal⁴" and an amendment⁵ to the partnership agreement.

所以11天之后，他就回到了圣克拉拉的办公室里，带着一份“退出声明”和一份合作协议修正案。

"By virtue⁶ of a re-assessment of understandings by and between all parties," it began,

“经过协议各方的重新评估，”修正案开头说，

"Wayne shall hereinafter cease to function in the status of 'Partner.'"

“韦恩将不再以'合伙人'身份参与公司运作。”

It noted⁷ that in payment for his 10% of the company, he received $800, and shortly afterward⁸ $1,500 more.

文件中提到，作为对他持有的10%公司股份的回购，他得到了800美元，此后不久又得到了1500美元。

Had he stayed on and kept his 10% stake, at the end of 2010 it would have been worth approximately $2.6 billion.

如果当初他留在了苹果公司并继续持有这10%的股份，那么到2010年底这些股票的价值是大约26亿美元。

Instead he was then living alone in a small home in Pahrump, Nevada,

然而，现在他住在内华达州帕朗市的一座小房子里，

where he played the penny slot machines and lived off his social security check.

玩玩老虎机，靠社会保险金度日。

He later claimed he had no regrets.

他宣称自己毫不后悔。

"I made the best decision for me at the time.

“我作了当时对我最有利的选择，”

Both of them were real whirlwinds, and I knew my stomach and it wasn't ready for such a ride."

他说，“他们两个都是疯狂的家伙，我知道自己的承受能力，我不准备冒那样的险。”

Jobs and Wozniak took the stage together for a presentation to the Homebrew Computer Club shortly after they signed Apple into existence.

苹果公司正式成立之后不久，乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克就共同登台，在家酿计算机俱乐部进行了一次演示。

Wozniak held up one of their newly produced circuit boards and described the microprocessor⁹,

沃兹展示了他们最新生产出来的一块电路板，描述了上面使用的微处理器、

the eight kilobytes of memory, and the version of BASIC he had written.

8Kb的内存，以及他编写的BASIC语言的程序版本。

He also emphasized what he called the main thing:

他还强调了 “关键部件 ”是人性化的键盘，

"a human-typable keyboard instead of a stupid, cryptic¹⁰ front panel with a bunch of lights and switches."

而不再是笨重的、让人困惑的由大堆灯泡和开关组成的面板。

Then it was Jobs's turn.

然后轮到乔布斯讲话。

He pointed¹¹ out that the Apple, unlike the Altair, had all the essential components¹² built in.

他指出苹果的产品与阿尔泰不同，所有的关键元部件都已经内置在机器中了。

Then he challenged them with a question: How much would people be willing to pay for such a wonderful machine?

然后他问了大家一个问题：人们愿意花多少钱来购买这么一台完美的机器？

He was trying to get them to see the amazing value of the Apple.

他是在努力让大家看到苹果电脑的惊人价值。

It was a rhetorical flourish he would use at product presentations over the ensuing decades.

这是他在后来几十年的产品发布会上一直沿用的华丽辞藻。

The audience was not very impressed.

然而观众并不是很感兴趣。

The Apple had a cut-rate microprocessor, not the Intel 8080.

苹果电脑使用的是二流的微处理器，而不是英特尔8080 。

But one important person stayed behind to hear more.

但是有一个重要人物留了下来，想要获得更多信息。

His name was Paul Terrell, and in 1975 he had opened a computer store,

他的名字叫保罗·特雷尔, 1975年他开了一家电脑商店 Byte Shop ，

which he dubbed¹³ the Byte Shop, on Camino Real in Menlo Park.

就在门洛帕克的国王大道上。

Now, a year later, he had three stores and visions of building a national chain.

而一年之后的现在，他已经有了三家店，并且计划将其发展为全国连锁。

重点讲解：

1.get cold feet 临阵退缩

例句：Soldiers must be fearless ; they cannot get cold feet in the midst of battle .

军人一定要无畏，他们不可以在战争中临阵退缩。

2.be liable for 对…应负责任的；对…负责

例句：Otherwise, the Bank accepts no liability and will not be liable for any compensation.

否则，本行恕不承担有关责任，也不会作任何赔偿。

3.live off 靠…生活；靠……供养；依赖…生活

例句：Thousands of waterfowl breed round the lake and live off the fish.

数以千计的水鸟在湖边繁殖，靠鱼为食来生活。

4.a bunch of 一群；一堆；一串

例句：She lends out money, steals cars, and has a bunch of other thugs working for her to do her dirty work.

她放贷、偷车，并指挥一群小太保帮她干那些肮脏的勾当。

1 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

6 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

9 microprocessor   

n.微信息处理机

参考例句：

• I've got a typerwriter with a microprocessor.我有一台装有微处理机的打字机。
• I decided to write a program for a microprocessor.我决定为微处理机编制一套程序。

10 cryptic   

adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的

参考例句：

• She made a cryptic comment about how the film mirrored her life.她隐晦地表示说这部电影是她人生的写照。
• The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.新的保险单在编写时没有隐秘条款或秘密条款。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

13 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》