乔布斯传 第398期:微软契约(1)

 　　The Microsoft Pact¹ 微软契约

　　The climax² of Jobs's August 1997 Macworld appearance was a bombshell announcement, 1997年8月，乔布斯在Macworld大会上演讲的高潮部分，是一个出人意料的公告，

　　one that made the cover of both Time and Newsweek. 并同时登上了《时代》和《新闻周刊》的封面。

　　Near the end of his speech, he paused for a sip³ of water and began to talk in more subdued⁴ tones. 在演讲即将结束时，他停顿了一下，喝了口水，用平缓些的语气说：

　　"Apple lives in an ecosystem," he said. "It needs help from other partners. “苹果生存在一个生态系统里。它需要其他伙伴的帮助。

　　Relationships that are destructive don't help anybody in this industry." 在这个行业里，破坏性的关系对谁都没有好处。”

　　For dramatic effect, he paused again, and then explained: 为了渲染效果，他又停顿了一下，然后解释道：

　　"I'd like to announce one of our first new partnerships⁵ today, a very meaningful one, and that is one with Microsoft." “我要宣布我们今天新的合作伙伴之一，是一个意义重大的合作伙伴，它就是微软。”

　　The Microsoft and Apple logos appeared together on the screen as people gasped⁶. 微软和苹果的标志同时出现在屏幕上，观众惊呆了。

　　Apple and Microsoft had been at war for a decade over a variety of copyright and patent issues, 苹果和微软已经在各种版杈和专利问题上争斗了10年，

　　most notably⁷ whether Microsoft had stolen the look and feel of Apple's graphical user interface⁸. 最令人瞩目的就是微软是否剽窃了苹果图形用户界面的外观和感觉。

　　Just as Jobs was being eased out of Apple in 1985, John Sculley had struck a surrender deal: 1985年乔布斯刚被苹果解职，约翰·斯卡利就签订了一个投降条约：

　　Microsoft could license⁹ the Apple GUI for Windows 1.0, and in return it would make Excel exclusive to the Mac for up to two years. 微软可以在Windows1.0上使用苹果的图形用户界面，作为回报，微软保证两年内Excel只用于Mac。

　　In 1988, after Microsoft came out with Windows 2.0, Apple sued. 1988年，微软推出Windows2.0之后，苹果提起诉讼。

　　Sculley contended that the 1985 deal did not apply to Windows 2.0 and that further refinements¹⁰ to Windows 斯卡利主张1985年的合约不适用于Windows2.0，而且后来微软对Windows所作的改进

　　such as copying Bill Atkinson's trick of "clipping" overlapping¹¹ windows -- had made the infringement¹² more blatant¹³. 例如抄袭比尔·阿特金森发明的把重叠的窗口“别起来”的方法--更是赤裸裸的侵权。

　　By 1997 Apple had lost the case and various appeals, but remnants of the litigation and threats of new suits lingered. 到1997年，苹果已经输掉了那场官司及若干上诉，但是旧诉讼的余波和新诉讼的威胁一直存在。

　　In addition, President Clinton's Justice Department was preparing a massive antitrust case against Microsoft. 另外，克林顿总统的司法部也正准备对微软发起大规模的反垄断诉讼。

　　Jobs invited the lead prosecutor¹⁴, Joel Klein, to Palo Alto. 乔布斯把首席检察官乔尔·克莱因请到帕洛奥图。

　　Don't worry about extracting a huge remedy against Microsoft, Jobs told him over coffee. 喝咖啡的时候，乔布斯告诉他，不要急着从微软收取巨额罚款。

　　Instead simply keep them tied up in litigation. 只要让他们陷在官司里就行。

　　That would allow Apple the opportunity, Jobs explained, to "make an end run" around Microsoft and start offering competing products. 那样就会给苹果一个机会绕过微软“迂回进攻”，开始提供有竞争力的产品，乔布斯解释说。

1 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

2 climax   

n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点

参考例句：

• The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
• His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。

3 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

4 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

5 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

6 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

9 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

10 refinements   

n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作

参考例句：

• The new model has electric windows and other refinements. 新型号有电动窗和其他改良装置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is possible to add a few useful refinements to the basic system. 对基本系统进行一些有益的改良是可能的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

12 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯

13 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

14 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。