乔布斯传 第227期:靠自己(6)

 　　What made the request all the more astonishing to Eisenstat was that it was Jobs who, just a year earlier,

　　更令艾森斯塔特惊讶的地方在于，就在一年前，

　　had forced frogdesign to abandon its work on Wozniak's remote control device.

　　乔布斯本人就曾强迫青蛙设计公司放弃沃兹尼亚克遥控装置的项目。

　　Jobs realized that in order to work with Esslinger (and for a variety of other reasons),

　　乔布斯意识到，为了同艾斯林格合作（以及各种其他原因），

　　it would be necessary to resolve the lawsuit¹ that Apple had filed. Fortunately Sculley was willing.

　　必须解决苹果公司的诉讼。幸运的是，斯卡利愿意考虑撤销诉讼。

　　In January 1986 they reached an out-of-court agreement involving no financial damages.

　　1986年1月，他们达成庭外和解，不涉及经济损失。

　　In return for Apple's dropping its suit, NeXT agreed to a variety of restrictions²:

　　为了回报苹果公司放弃诉讼，NeXT公司同意了种种限制条款：

　　Its product would be marketed as a high-end workstation,

　　其产品将作为高端智能终端

　　it would be sold directly to colleges and universities, and it would not ship before March 1987.

　　直接销售给髙校，而且NeXT公司不能在1987年3月之前推出产品。

　　双语有声读物 乔布斯传

　　Apple also insisted that the NeXT machine "not use an operating system compatible with the Macintosh,"

　　苹果公司还坚持，NeXT的机器“不能使用与麦金塔兼容的操作系统”。

　　though it could be argued that Apple would have been better served by insisting on just the opposite.

　　后来的情况表明，如果当时苹果公司的要求刚好相反，会对自身更为有利。

　　After the settlement Jobs continued to court Esslinger until the designer decided³ to wind down his contract with Apple.

　　诉讼解决后，乔布斯继续游说艾斯林格，直到这位设计师决定终止与苹果公司的合同。

　　That allowed frogdesign to work with NeXT at the end of 1986.

　　1986年底，青蛙设计公司终于能够同NeXT合作了。

　　Esslinger insisted on having free rein⁴, just as Paul Rand had.

　　艾斯林格坚持完全的自由，就像保罗·兰德一样。

　　"Sometimes you have to use a big stick with Steve," he said.

　　“有时候，你必须对史蒂夫采用大棒政策。”他表示。

　　Like Rand, Esslinger was an artist, so Jobs was willing to grant him indulgences he denied other mortals.

　　和兰德一样，艾斯林格是一位艺术家，所以乔布斯也愿意放任他自由设计，其他人可享受不到这种待遇。

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 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。

4 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。