乔布斯传 第632期:50岁的雄狮(4)

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There was, for example, the case of the screws that held the handles on the Power Mac G4.

有一次，苹果需要为Power Mac G4制作用来固定提手的螺丝。

Ive decided¹ that they should have a certain polish and shape.

艾弗认为这些螺丝也应该进行抛光和塑形。

But Rubinstein thought that would be "astronomically²" costly³ and delay the project for weeks, so he vetoed the idea.

但鲁宾斯坦认为，这样做的成本将是“天文数字”，而且会将项目推延数周，于是否决了这个想法。

His job was to deliver products, which meant making trade-offs.

他的工作是提供产品，也就意味着有权衡决策的权力。

Ive viewed that approach as inimical to innovation,

艾弗认为这种做法不利于创新，

so he would go both above him to Jobs and also around him to the midlevel engineers.

于是直接越过鲁宾斯坦找到乔布斯，同时还绕过他联系中级工程师。

"Ruby⁴ would say, 'You can't do this, it will delay,' and I would say, 'I think we can,'" Ive recalled.

“鲁比会说，不能这么做，会拖延工期。我就说，我觉得可以。”艾弗回忆道。

"And I would know, because I had worked behind his back with the product teams."

“我也确实知道可以，因为我已经背着他找过产品团队。”

In this and other cases, Jobs came down on Ive's side.

在这次和其他事件中，乔布斯都站在艾弗这边。

At times Ive and Rubinstein got into arguments that almost led to blows.

有时，艾弗和鲁宾斯坦互不相让，几乎大打出手。

Finally Ive told Jobs, "It's him or me." Jobs chose Ive.

最后，艾弗跟乔布斯说：“选我还是他。”乔布斯选择了艾弗。

By that point Rubinstein was ready to leave.

至此，鲁宾斯坦已经准备离开。

He and his wife had bought property in Mexico, and he wanted time off to build a home there.

他和妻子在墨西哥购置了一处地产，他想休息一段时间，在那儿建造一个家。

He eventually went to work for Palm, which was trying to match Apple's iPhone.

后来，他进入奔迈公司工作，该公司想要与苹果公司的iPhone竞争。

Jobs was so furious that Palm was hiring some of his former employees that he complained to Bono,

对于奔迈公司聘请自己的前员工，乔布斯十分愤怒，开始向波诺抱怨，

who was a cofounder of a private equity⁵ group, led by the former Apple CFO Fred Anderson,

波诺是一家私人股本集团的联合创始人，该集团由苹果公司前首席财务官弗雷德·安德森掌管，

that had bought a controlling stake in Palm.

并持有奔迈公司的控股权。

Bono sent Jobs a note back saying, "You should chill out about this.

波诺给乔布斯回信道：“你应该淡定点儿。

This is like the Beatles ringing up because Herman and the Hermits⁶ have taken one of their road crew."

你这样就好像披头士因为赫尔曼的隐士乐队带走了自己的巡演工作人员而发毛一样。”

Jobs later admitted that he had overreacted.

乔布斯后来承认自己反应过度。

"The fact that they completely failed salves that wound," he said.

“他们的彻底失败减轻了这件事造成的伤害。”他说。

1 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。

2 astronomically   

天文学上

参考例句：

• The bill was astronomically high. 账单上的金额高得没谱儿。
• They have only been read as the multitude read the stars, at most astrologically, not astronomically. 它们之被群众阅读，有如群众之阅览繁星，至多是从星象学而不是从天文学的角度阅览的。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 hermits   

（尤指早期基督教的）隐居修道士，隐士，遁世者( hermit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In the ancient China,hermits usually lived in hamlets. 在古代中国，隐士们通常都住在小村子里。
• Some Buddhist monks live in solitude as hermits. 有些和尚在僻静处隐居。