乔布斯传 第171期:春风得意

 Flying High

春风得意

The launch of the Macintosh in January 1984 propelled Jobs into an even higher orbit of celebrity¹,

1984年1月麦金塔电脑的发布使得乔布斯的名气如日中天，

as was evident during a trip to Manhattan he took at the time.

他的一次曼哈顿之行便是佐证。

He went to a party that Yoko Ono threw for her son, Sean Lennon,

当时，他应邀参加小野洋子为儿子肖恩·列侬举办的派对，

and gave the nine-year-old a Macintosh. The boy loved it.

并送给9岁的肖恩一台麦金塔电脑；肖恩很喜欢。

The artists Andy Warhol and Keith Haring were there,

艺术家安迪·沃霍尔和基斯·哈林当时也在，

and they were so enthralled² by what they could create with the machine

他们如此着迷于自己通过麦金塔做出来的东西，

that the contemporary art world almost took an ominous³ turn.

以致当代艺术几乎发生了天翻地覆的转折。

"I drew a circle," Warhol exclaimed proudly after using QuickDraw.

在用过QuickDraw软件之后，沃霍尔自豪地惊呼：“我画了个圈。”

Warhol insisted that Jobs take a computer to Mick Jagger.

沃霍尔坚持要乔布斯也给摇滚明星米克·贾格尔送一台麦金塔。

When Jobs arrived at the rock star's townhouse, Jagger seemed baffled.

当乔布斯和比尔·阿特金森一同来到贾格尔的联排别墅时，贾格尔有些疑惑。

He didn't quite know who Jobs was.

他并不太知道乔布斯是谁。

Later Jobs told his team, "I think he was on drugs. Either that or he's brain-damaged."

后来，乔布斯告诉自己的团队：“我觉得他一定是嗑了药，要么就是脑残了。”

Jagger's daughter Jade⁴, however, took to the computer immediately and started drawing with MacPaint,

不过，贾格尔的女儿杰德立刻喜欢上了这台电脑，并开始用MacPaint软件画画，

so Jobs gave it to her instead.

于是乔布斯把电脑送给了她。

He bought the top-floor duplex apartment that he'd shown Sculley in the San Remo on Manhattan's Central Park West

乔布斯买下了曼哈顿中央公园西街圣雷莫公寓顶楼的复式住宅，他曾带斯卡利看过这处房产，

and hired James Freed of I. M. Pei's firm to renovate⁵ it, but he never moved in.

又聘请了贝聿铭公司的詹姆斯·弗里德对其进行翻修，但是由于对细节一贯挑剔，他从未搬进去过。

He would later sell it to Bono for $15 million.

后来，他把这处公寓以1500万美元的价格卖给了波诺。

He also bought an old Spanish colonial–style fourteen-bedroom mansion⁶ in Woodside, in the hills above Palo Alto,

他还在伍德赛德购置了一幢老式西班牙殖民地风格的豪宅，有14间卧室，可以俯瞰帕洛奥图。

that had been built by a copper⁷ baron⁸, which he moved into but never got around to furnishing.

这幢豪宅最初由美国铜矿大亨建造，乔布斯搬了进去，但从未着手进行装修。

At Apple his status revived.

在苹果公司，他的地位也开始恢复。

Instead of seeking ways to curtail⁹ Jobs's authority, Sculley gave him more:

斯卡利并未设法削弱乔布斯的权力，相反给了他更多控制权。

The Lisa and Macintosh divisions were folded together, with Jobs in charge.

负责丽萨电脑和麦金塔电脑的部门合并了，由乔布斯管理。

He was flying high, but this did not serve to make him more mellow¹⁰.

他正一路高升，春风得意，却没有因此变得更加成熟。

Indeed there was a memorable¹¹ display of his brutal¹² honesty

事实上，他展示出了冷酷而坦诚的一面，

when he stood in front of the combined Lisa and Macintosh teams to describe how they would be merged¹³.

当乔布斯站在丽萨团队和麦金塔团队成员面前，告诉大家将如何进行合并时，让人难以忘怀。

His Macintosh group leaders would get all of the top positions, he said,

乔布斯表示，所有高层职位都将由他所率领的麦金塔部门中的领导者担任，

and a quarter of the Lisa staff would be laid off.

而丽萨电脑部门1/4的员工都会被裁员。

"You guys failed," he said, looking directly at those who had worked on the Lisa.

“你们失败了，”他直视着丽萨团队的人说道，

"You're a B team. B players. Too many people here are B or C players,

“你们是二等团队，二等队员。这里许多人都是二等或三等员工，

so today we are releasing some of you to have the opportunity to work at our sister companies here in the valley."

因此今天，我们遣散你们其中一部分人，让你们有机会在硅谷的兄弟公司工作。”

Bill Atkinson, who had worked on both teams, thought it was not only callous¹⁴, but unfair.

比尔·阿特金森同时供职于丽萨团队和麦金塔团队，他觉得这种合并方式不仅冷酷无情，而且不公平。

"These people had worked really hard and were brilliant engineers," he said.

“这些人工作非常努力，他们是杰出的工程师。”他说道。

But Jobs had latched¹⁵ onto what he believed was a key management lesson from his Macintosh experience:

但是，乔布斯从麦金塔团队中总结出的重要管理经验让他坚持认为，

You have to be ruthless if you want to build a team of A players.

如果你想建设一个由一流队员组成的团队，就必须要狠。

"It's too easy, as a team grows, to put up with a few B players,

“这个道理很简单，团队扩张时，如果吸收了几名二流队员，

and they then attract a few more B players, and soon you will even have some C players," he recalled.

他们就会招来更多二流队员，很快，你的团队里甚至还会出现三流队员，”他回忆道，

"The Macintosh experience taught me that A players like to work only with other A players,

“麦金塔的经验告诉我，一流队员只喜欢同一流队员合作，

which means you can't indulge B players."

这就意味着你不能容忍二流队员。”

1 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

2 enthralled   

迷住，吸引住( enthrall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使感到非常愉快

参考例句：

• The child watched, enthralled by the bright moving images. 这孩子看着那明亮的移动的影像，被迷住了。
• The children listened enthralled as the storyteller unfolded her tale. 讲故事的人一步步展开故事情节，孩子们都听得入迷了。

3 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

4 jade   

n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠

参考例句：

• The statue was carved out of jade.这座塑像是玉雕的。
• He presented us with a couple of jade lions.他送给我们一对玉狮子。

5 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。

6 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

7 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

8 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。

9 curtail   

vt.截短，缩短；削减

参考例句：

• The government hopes to curtail public spending.政府希望缩减公共事业开支。
• The minister had to curtail his visit.部长不得不缩短访问日期。

10 mellow   

adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟

参考例句：

• These apples are mellow at this time of year.每年这时节，苹果就熟透了。
• The colours become mellow as the sun went down.当太阳落山时，色彩变得柔和了。

11 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。

12 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

13 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

14 callous   

adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的

参考例句：

• He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
• She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。

15 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》