乔布斯传 第169期:图形用户界面之争(2)

 Jobs was furious. He knew there was little he could do about it

乔布斯对此很愤怒。他知道自己无计可施

Microsoft's deal with Apple not to do competing graphical software was running out

微软有权这么做，因为微软答应不做图形操作软件的合同即将到期。

but he lashed¹ out nonetheless.

但是他仍然对微软进行了猛烈的抨击。

"Get Gates down here immediately," he ordered Mike Boich, who was Apple's evangelist to other software companies.

他命令迈克·贝尔奇“叫盖茨马上过来”。贝尔奇负责向其他软件公司宣传苹果。

Gates arrived, alone and willing to discuss things with Jobs.

盖茨来了，一个人，而且愿意和乔布斯讨论问题。

"He called me down to get pissed off at me," Gates recalled.

“他叫我来是想冲我发脾气，”盖茨回忆说，

"I went down to Cupertino, like a command performance.

“我来到库比蒂诺，就好像自己应该来一样。

I told him, 'We're doing Windows.' I said to him, 'We're betting our company on graphical interfaces².'"

我告诉他，‘我们在做Windows操作系统。’我对他说，‘我们把整个公司都押在了图形界面上。”’

They met in Jobs's conference room,

他们的会面地点在乔布斯的会议室。

where Gates found himself surrounded by ten Apple employees who were eager to watch their boss assail³ him.

盖茨发觉自己被十名苹果员工包围着，他们迫切想看到乔布斯和他对质。

Jobs didn't disappoint his troops. "You' re ripping us off!" he shouted.

乔布斯役有辜负围观员工的期望。“你在盗用我们的东西！”他叫喊道，

"I trusted you, and now you're stealing from us!"

“我信任你，而你却在偷我们的东西！”

Hertzfeld recalled that Gates just sat there coolly, looking Steve in the eye,

赫茨菲尔德回忆道，盖茨只是冷静地坐着，直视史蒂夫的眼睛，

before hurling⁴ back, in his squeaky voice, what became a classic zinger.

接着他用刺耳的声音反驳道：

"Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at it.

“好了，史蒂夫，我觉得我们可以换一种方式来看待这个问题。

I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox⁵

我觉得现在的情况更接近于这样--我们都有个有钱的邻居，叫施乐，

and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it."

我闯进他们家准备偷电视机的时候，发现你已经把它盗走了。”

Gates's two-day visit provoked the full range of Jobs's emotional responses and manipulation techniques.

乔布斯的情绪化反应和操控人的技巧，在盖茨为期两天的造访中都爆发了出来。

It also made clear that the Apple-Microsoft symbiosis⁶ had become a scorpion⁷ dance,

两人此次的交涉也清晰地表明，苹果和微软的共生关系就如两只蝎子跳舞，

with both sides circling warily⁸, knowing that a sting by either could cause problems for both.

双方都小心翼翼地周旋，他们知道无论谁出刺都会给双方造成问题。

After the confrontation⁹ in the conference room,

在会议室对峙后，

Gates quietly gave Jobs a private demo of what was being planned for Windows.

盖茨私下平静地向乔布斯演示了研发中的Windows操作系统。

"Steve didn't know what to say," Gates recalled.

“史蒂夫不知道该说些什么，”盖茨回忆道，

"He could either say, 'Oh, this is a violation¹⁰ of something,' but he didn't.

“他完全可以说，‘哦，它违反了某些协议。’但是他没有。

He chose to say, 'Oh, it's actually really a piece of shit.'"

他当时说的是，‘哦，它可真是一堆狗屎。’”

Gates was thrilled, because it gave him a chance to calm Jobs down for a moment.

盖茨听了很髙兴，因为这样他就有机会暂时让乔布斯平静下来。

"I said, 'Yes, it's a nice little piece of shit.'"

“我说，‘是的，它是堆可爱的狗屎。’”

So Jobs went through a gamut¹¹ of other emotions.

听盖茨这么一说，乔布斯又百感交集。

"During the course of this meeting, he's just ruder than shit," Gates said.

“在这次会面的过程中，他粗鲁无礼至极，”盖茨回忆说，

"And then there's a part where he's almost crying, like, 'Oh, just give me a chance to get this thing off.'"

“接着，有那么一会儿他几乎都快哭了，就好像在说，‘哦，就让我宣泄一下自己的痛楚吧。’”

Gates responded by becoming very calm.

盖茨则变得非常平静。

"I'm good at when people are emotional, I'm kind of less emotional."

“别人情绪激动的时候，对我更有利，因为我比较不容易激动。”

1 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 interfaces   

界面( interface的名词复数 )； 接口（连接两装置的电路，可使数据从一种代码转换成另一种代码）； 交界； 联系

参考例句：

• If the class needs to be reprogrammed, new interfaces are created. 如果class需要重新程序设计，新的interfaces创建。
• Interfaces solve this problem of evolving code. Interfaces解决了代码升级的问题。

3 assail   

v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥

参考例句：

• The opposition's newspapers assail the government each day.反对党的报纸每天都对政府进行猛烈抨击。
• We should assist parents not assail them.因此我们应该帮助父母们，而不是指责他们。

4 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 xerox   

n./v.施乐复印机，静电复印

参考例句：

• Xerox and Lucent are two more high-tech companies run by women.施乐和朗讯是另外两家由女性经营的大科技公司。
• You cannot take it home,but you can xerox it.你不能把它带回家，但可以复印。

6 symbiosis   

n.共生（关系），共栖

参考例句：

• They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing.他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。
• The symbiosis between social values and political structure has produced extraordinary achievement.社会价值观念和政治结构的共生现象带来了非凡的成就。

7 scorpion   

n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭

参考例句：

• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。
• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。

8 warily   

adv.留心地

参考例句：

• He looked warily around him,pretending to look after Carrie.他小心地看了一下四周，假装是在照顾嘉莉。
• They were heading warily to a point in the enemy line.他们正小心翼翼地向着敌人封锁线的某一处前进。

9 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

10 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

11 gamut   

n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识

参考例句：

• The exhibition runs the whole gamut of artistic styles.这次展览包括了所有艺术风格的作品。
• This poem runs the gamut of emotions from despair to joy.这首诗展现了从绝望到喜悦的感情历程。