乔布斯传 第61期:奇迹从车库开始(2)

 After a dozen assembled boards had been approved by Wozniak,

12块组装好的主板经过沃兹尼亚克检验合格后，

Jobs drove them over to the Byte Shop.

被乔布斯送到了Byte Shop。

Terrell was a bit taken aback.

特雷尔有点儿吃惊。

There was no power supply, case, monitor, or keyboard.

没有电源，没有外壳，没有显示器也没有键盘。

He had expected something more finished.

他期待的可不是这样的产品。

But Jobs stared him down, and he agreed to take delivery and pay.

但乔布斯死死盯着他，他只好同意收货付钱。

After thirty days Apple was on the verge¹ of being profitable.

30天之后，苹果公司已经接近赢利状态了。

"We were able to build the boards more cheaply than we thought,

"这些主板的实际造价比我们预想的要低，

because I got a good deal on parts," Jobs recalled.

因为零件我买得很划算，"乔布斯回忆道，

"So the fifty we sold to the Byte Shop almost paid for all the material we needed to make a hundred boards."

"所以我们卖给Byte Shop50块主板收回的钱，足够支付100块主板的材料费。"

Now they could make a real profit by selling the remaining fifty to their friends and Homebrew compatriots.

通过把剩下的50块卖给朋友和家酿计算机俱乐部的同仁，他们可以真正实现赢利了。

Elizabeth Holmes officially became the part-time bookkeeper at $4 an hour,

伊丽莎白·霍姆斯正式成为了苹果的兼职记账员，时薪4美元，

driving down from San Francisco once a week and figuring out how to port Jobs's checkbook into a ledger².

她每周从旧金山回来一次，想办法把乔布斯支票簿上的数目移入总账。

In order to make Apple seem like a real company,

为了看上去像一家正规公司，

Jobs hired an answering service, which would relay messages to his mother.

乔布斯租用了接听电话服务，所有的留言都会被转给他母亲。

Ron Wayne drew a logo, using the ornate line-drawing style of Victorian illustrated³ fiction,

罗恩·韦恩为公司设计了商标，他使用维多利亚时代插图小说风格的华丽线描，

that featured Newton sitting under a tree framed by a quote from Wordsworth:

画的是牛顿坐在一棵树下，边框上还引用了华兹华斯的一句诗：

"A mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought, alone."

"一个灵魂，永远孤独地航行在陌生的思想海洋中。"

It was a rather odd motto, one that fit Wayne's self-image more than Apple Computer.

这是略显古怪的一句格言，其实更加符合罗恩·韦恩的自身形象，而不是苹果公司。

Perhaps a better Wordsworth line would have been the poet's description of those involved in the start of the French Revolution:

也许更加贴切的诗句来自华兹华斯对法国大革命的发起者的描述：

"Bliss⁴ was it in that dawn to be alive / But to be young was very heaven!"

"能活在黎明时光是何等幸福/但在那时是个青年更胜似天堂!"

As Wozniak later exulted⁵,

正如后来沃兹欣喜谈到的：

"We were participating in the biggest revolution that had ever happened, I thought.

"我想我们参与了历史上最伟大的革命，

I was so happy to be a part of it."

我很髙兴自己是其中的一分子。"

Woz had already begun thinking about the next version of the machine,

沃兹已经开始思考下一代机器了，

so they started calling their current model the Apple I.

所以他们把当时的机型称为AppleI(苹果I型）。

Jobs and Woz would drive up and down Camino Real trying to get the electronics stores to sell it.

乔布斯和沃兹不停地奔走于国王大道，希望电子商店能够出售自己的电脑。

In addition to the fifty sold by the Byte Shop and almost fifty sold to friends,

除了卖给Byte Shop的50台以及卖给朋友的50台，

they were building another hundred for retail⁶ outlets⁷.

他们又开始生产100台供给零售商店。

Not surprisingly, they had contradictory⁸ impulses:

果然，他们两人之间又有了矛盾：

Wozniak wanted to sell them for about what it cost to build them,

沃兹想以成本价出售，

but Jobs wanted to make a serious profit.

而乔布斯想好好赚一笔。

Jobs prevailed.

乔布斯获胜了。

He picked a retail price that was about three times what it cost to build the boards

他设定了一个零售价，差不多是成本的3倍，

and a 33% markup⁹ over the $500 wholesale¹⁰ price that Terrell and other stores paid.

在特雷尔和其他商店支付的500美元批发价的基础上又上涨了33%，

The result was $666.66.

也就是666.66美元。

重点讲解：

1.a bit taken aback 有点吃惊

例句：I am a bit taken aback. "Yes. What else would I be? " "I don't know. A spirit? "

我有点吃惊。“是的，我还能是什么呢？”“我不知道，一个幽灵？”

2.stare down 以目光压倒某人；瞪眼使某人低下头

例句：So I stare down at the pool table and pretend to study my opponent's next move.

我低头凝视着台球桌，假装在研究对手的下一步行动。

3.on the verge of 濒于；接近于；濒临于

例句：For a few days, the entire biosphere¹¹ seemed to be on the verge of destruction.

有几天，整个生物圈好像在毁灭的边缘。

4.get a good deal 买到便宜货；收获良多

例句：We have to play this salesman just right . So we can get a good deal on the new car.

我们要好好磨磨这个推销员，以便能以很好的价位买下这部车。

5.make a serious profit 大赚一笔

例句：We have to reduce the production costs , or we will not make a serious profit.

我们必须降低生产成本，否则就没法子大赚一笔。

1 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

2 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

3 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

4 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

5 exulted   

狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The people exulted at the victory. 人们因胜利而欢腾。
• The people all over the country exulted in the success in launching a new satellite. 全国人民为成功地发射了一颗新的人造卫星而欢欣鼓舞。

6 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

7 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

9 markup   

n.加价，涨价，利润

参考例句：

• This mean that international delivery will line markup from today.这意味着国际快递将从今天起全线涨价。
• Our products are expensive,and distributors and retailers always want a large markup.我们的产品很贵，经销商和零售商总是要求高额利差。

10 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

11 biosphere   

n.生命层，生物圈

参考例句：

• The entire biosphere was becoming more transparent.整个生物圈越来越透明。
• The impact of modern technology on the biosphere is evident worldwide.现代技术对生物圈的影响在全世界是明显的。