乔布斯传 第651期:金刚玻璃(2)

The natural place to look was Asia, where the glass for the stores was being made.

很自然地，他们将眼光投入了亚洲，苹果店的玻璃就产自那里。

But Jobs's friend John Seeley Brown, who was on the board of Corning Glass in Upstate New York,

但是乔布斯的朋友，约翰·西利·布朗，他是位于纽约北部的康宁公司的董事会成员，

told him that he should talk to that company's young and dynamic¹ CEO, Wendell Weeks.

建议乔布斯先同年轻而充满活力的CEO温德尔·威克斯谈谈。

So he dialed the main Corning switchboard number and asked to be put through to Weeks.

于是，乔布斯拨通了康宁公司的总机，报上了自己的名字，说想要同威克斯通话。

He got an assistant, who offered to pass along the message.

威克斯的助理接了电话，说会把电话内容转达给威克斯。

"No, I'm Steve Jobs," he replied. "Put me through." The assistant refused.

“不，我是史蒂夫·乔布斯，”他回答说，“叫他接电话。”助理拒绝了。

Jobs called Brown and complained that he had been subjected to "typical East Coast bullshit."

乔布斯打电话给布朗，抱怨自己遭遇“典型的东海岸那一套”。

When Weeks heard that, he called the main Apple switchboard and asked to speak to Jobs.

威克斯听说此事以后，打到了苹果公司总机，表示要与乔布斯通话。

He was told to put his request in writing and send it in by fax.

结果总机要求他写下自己的请求传真过来。

When Jobs was told what happened, he took a liking² to Weeks and invited him to Cupertino.

乔布斯得知以后，喜欢上了威克斯，并邀请他来到库比蒂诺。

Jobs described the type of glass Apple wanted for the iPhone,

乔布斯向威克斯描述了自己想为iPhone寻找的玻璃类型，

and Weeks told him that Corning had developed a chemical exchange process in the 1960s that led to what they dubbed³ "gorilla⁴ glass."

威克斯告诉他，康宁公司在20世纪60年代就研发出一种化学交换过程，能够做出一种被他们称为“金刚玻璃”的材料。

It was incredibly strong, but it had never found a market, so Corning quit making it.

这种玻璃非常结实，但当时找不到市场，于是就停产了。

Jobs said he doubted it was good enough, and he started explaining to Weeks how glass was made.

乔布斯怀疑他们的玻璃不够好，开始解释玻璃是如何制成的。

This amused⁵ Weeks, who of course knew more than Jobs about that topic.

威克斯被逗乐了，因为在这个话题上，他可比乔布斯在行得多。

"Can you shut up," Weeks interjected, "and let me teach you some science?"

“你能闭嘴吗，”威克斯插话道，“让我来给你讲讲科学好吗？”

Jobs was taken aback and fell silent⁶.

乔布斯吃了一惊，陷入沉默。

Weeks went to the whiteboard and gave a tutorial on the chemistry,

威克斯走到白板前，开始讲解金刚玻璃的化学原理，

which involved an ion-exchange process that produced a compression layer on the surface of the glass.

离子交换反应在玻璃表面产生一个压缩层。

1 dynamic   

adj.有活力的，能动的；力的；动力的

参考例句：

• This is a dynamic world.这是一个不断变化的世界。
• There is a dynamic ball in the computer.在电脑里有个动态的球。

2 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

3 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gorilla   

n.大猩猩，暴徒，打手

参考例句：

• I was awed by the huge gorilla.那只大猩猩使我惊惧。
• A gorilla is just a speechless animal.猩猩只不过是一种不会说话的动物。

5 amused   

adj.被逗笑的；愉快的；顽皮的v.“amuse”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• My funny drawings amused the kids. 我的滑稽图画把孩子们逗乐了。
• There was an amused look on the President's face. 总统面带愉悦的神情。

6 silent   

adj.安静的，不吵闹的，沉默的，无言的；n.(复数)默剧

参考例句：

• Immediately on his beginning to speak,everyone was silent.他一讲话，大家顿时安静下来。
• The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder. 孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。