乔布斯传 第233期:NeXT计算机(3)

 　　Machines and robots were painted and repainted as he compulsively revised his color scheme.

　　由于他强迫症似的不断修改配色方案，机器和机器人被喷涂了一遍又一遍。

　　The walls were museum white, as they had been at the Macintosh factory,

　　墙壁是博物馆式的纯白色，就和麦金塔工厂一样，

　　and there were $20,000 black leather chairs and a custom-made staircase,

　　工厂里还摆放着价值2万美元的黑色皮座椅，修造了一截定制的楼梯，

　　just as in the corporate¹ headquarters.

　　就和NeXT公司总部一样。

　　He insisted that the machinery² on the 165-foot assembly line be configured

　　乔布斯坚持重新配置总长165英尺的装配线上的所有机器，

　　to move the circuit boards from right to left as they got built,

　　从而在生产时，可以让电路板从右向左移动，

　　so that the process would look better to visitors who watched from the viewing gallery.

　　这样在有人来参观时，站在观景台上就会看到更漂亮的生产流程。

　　双语有声读物 乔布斯传

　　Empty circuit boards were fed in at one end and twenty minutes later,

　　原始电路板从装配线的一端进入，20分钟后，

　　untouched by humans, came out the other end as completed boards.

　　做好的电路板再从另一端出来，完全无需人工接触。

　　The process followed the Japanese principle known as kanban,

　　这种流程是学习了日本的“看板管理”，

　　in which each machine performs its task only when the next machine is ready to receive another part.

　　只有当负责下一个流程的机器能够处理另一个零件时，负责上一个流程的机器才会开始执行自己的任务。

　　Jobs had not tempered his way of dealing³ with employees.

　　乔布斯没有缓和自己对待员工的苛刻方式。

　　"He applied⁴ charm or public humiliation⁵ in a way that in most cases proved to be pretty effective," Tribble recalled.

　　“他对施展魅力和公开羞辱这两种方式的运用，在大多数情况下非常奏效。”特里布尔回忆道。

　　But sometimes it wasn't. One engineer, David Paulsen, put in ninety-hour weeks for the first ten months at NeXT.

　　但有时候也不尽然。工程师戴维·保尔森在NeXT工作的头10个月里，每周工作90个小时。

　　He quit when "Steve walked in one Friday afternoon and told us how unimpressed he was with what we were doing."

　　之后，他辞职不干了，他回忆说，“一个周五下午，乔布斯走进来，跟我们说，他对我们所正在做的东西非常之不屑一顾。”

　　When Business Week asked him why he treated employees so harshly, Jobs said it made the company better.

　　《新闻周刊》采访乔布斯，问他为什么要对员工如此严厉，乔布斯说，这样才会使公司更好。

　　"Part of my responsibility is to be a yardstick⁶ of quality.

　　“我的一部分责任就是衡量质量。

　　Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence⁷ is expected."

　　有些人不习惯那种追求卓越的环境。”

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 humiliation   

n.羞辱

参考例句：

• He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
• He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。

6 yardstick   

n.计算标准，尺度；评价标准

参考例句：

• This is a yardstick for measuring whether a person is really progressive.这是衡量一个人是否真正进步的标准。
• She was a yardstick against which I could measure my achievements.她是一个我可以用来衡量我的成就的准绳。

7 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。