乔布斯传 第71期:被上帝咬过的苹果(1)

 Regis McKenna

里吉斯·麦肯纳

The first step in this process was convincing the Valley's premier¹ publicist, Regis McKenna, to take on Apple as a client.

新公司成立后的第一件事，就是要将硅谷杰出的公关人员里吉斯·麦肯纳招至麾下。

McKenna was from a large working-class Pittsburgh family, and bred into his bones was a steeliness that he cloaked with charm.

麦肯纳来自匹兹堡的一个工人阶级大家庭，外表的魅力掩盖了他骨子里的冷酷坚韧。

A college dropout², he had worked for Fairchild and National Semiconductor³ before starting his own PR and advertising⁴ firm.

大学綴学的他曾先后供职于仙童公司和国家半导体公司，后来创办了自己的公关和广告公司。

His two specialties⁵ were doling⁶ out exclusive interviews with his clients to journalists he had cultivated

他有两项专长，一是把对他的客户进行独家专访的机会留给自己熟识的记者，

and coming up with memorable⁷ ad campaigns that created brand awareness⁸ for products such as microchips.

二是策划令人难忘的广告方案，为诸如微芯片这样的产品提升品牌知名度。

One of these was a series of colorful magazine ads for Intel that featured racing⁹ cars and poker¹⁰ chips rather than the usual dull performance charts.

其中有为英特尔打造的一系列色彩绚烂的杂志广告，以疾驰 的赛车和扑克筹码为主要元素，取代了以往枯燥的性能图表。

These caught Jobs's eye. He called Intel and asked who created them.

这些引起了乔布斯的注意。他致电英特尔公司询问广告的设计方。

"Regis McKenna," he was told.

他被告知了这样一个名字：里吉斯·麦肯纳。

"I asked them what Regis McKenna was," Jobs recalled, "and they told me he was a person."

"我问他们里吉斯·麦肯纳是什么，"乔布斯回忆说，“他们告诉我是一个人的名字。

When Jobs phoned, he couldn' t get through to McKenna.

"乔布斯打去了电话，却未能直接与麦肯纳通话。

Instead he was transferred to Frank Burge, an account executive, who tried to put him off.

他的电话被转给了一个叫做弗兰克·伯奇的业务经理，此人只想把乔布斯打发走。

Jobs called back almost every day.

之后，乔布斯几乎每天都会打来电话。

Burge finally agreed to drive out to the Jobs garage.

最终伯奇同意了，驱车前往乔布斯的车库与之会面，

"Holy Christ, this guy is going to be something else," he recalled thinking.

他回忆起自己当时的想法："天哪，这个人肯定是个怪胎。

"What's the least amount of time I can spend with this clown without being rude."

我跟这个小丑待在一起的时间越短越好，但是又不能显得无礼。"

Then, when he was confronted with the unwashed and shaggy Jobs, two things hit him:

之后，当他见到邋里邋遢、不修边幅的乔布斯时，有两件事触动了他。

"First, he was an incredibly smart young man.

"第一，他是个异常聪明的年轻人；

Second, I didn't understand a fiftieth of what he was talking about."

第二，他侃侃而谈的东西我一句都听不懂。"

重点讲解：

1.take on 雇佣

例句：We decided¹¹ to take on a new clerk.

我们决定雇用一个新职员。

2.cloaked with 用...盖住

例句：The soldiers cloaked their fear with joking and bravado¹².

士兵们藉开玩笑和夸口来掩饰其恐惧。

3.doling out 布施

例句：So some companies are rewriting the rules for doling out financial incentives¹³.

因此，部分公司开始改写提供经济奖励的规则。

4.get through 打通电话

例句：Fortunately, he eventually did not let me down, half an hour later, he offered to get through the phone.

还好，最终他没有让我失望，半小时后，他主动打通了电话。

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

3 semiconductor   

n.半导体

参考例句：

• In the beginning,engineers hoped to use semiconductor lasers.在开始时，工程师们希望能够利用半导体激光器。
• The main agent of the company brand semiconductor sales.本公司主要代理各品牌半导体销售。

4 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

5 specialties   

n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约

参考例句：

• Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典，艰深难懂，而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句

6 doling   

救济物( dole的现在分词 )； 失业救济金

参考例句：

• "What are you doling?'she once demanded over the intercom. 有一次他母亲通过对讲机问他：“你在干什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• Many scrollbars are quite parsimonious in doling out information to users. 很多滚动条都很吝啬，给用户传递的信息太少。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

8 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

9 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

10 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 bravado   

n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能

参考例句：

• Their behaviour was just sheer bravado. 他们的行为完全是虚张声势。
• He flourished the weapon in an attempt at bravado. 他挥舞武器意在虚张声势。

13 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法