乔布斯传 第151期:真正的艺术家总能完成作品(2)（在线收听） |
That put all the more pressure on the Macintosh, due out in January 1984, three months away, to save the day against IBM. 这一切都令将于3个月后（即1984年1月）发布的麦金塔电脑压力更大，它将成为扭转败局的关键。
At the sales conference Jobs decided to play the showdown to the hilt.
在销售会议上，乔布斯决定全力以赴，一决髙下。
He took the stage and chronicled all the missteps made by IBM since 1958,
他走上台，历数IBM自1958年以来的所有失误，
and then in ominous tones described how it was now trying to take over the market for personal computers:
然后他的声音里带着可怖的意味开始描述IBM正如何试图主宰整个个人电脑市场:
"Will Big Blue dominate the entire computer industry? The entire information age? Was George Orwell right about 1984?"
“我们能让IBM主宰整个电脑产业吗？我们能让IBM控制整个信息时代吗？乔治·奥威尔在《1984》中的描述会成真吗？”
At that moment a screen came down from the ceiling and showed a preview of an upcoming sixty-second television ad for the Macintosh.
话音刚落，一块屏幕徐徐落下，播放了一段专为麦金塔电脑制作的广告片，这则即将推出的60秒广告有点儿科幻电影的意味。
In a few months it was destined to make advertising history,
在数月之后，这则广告注定要名垂史册。
but in the meantime it served its purpose of rallying Apple's demoralized sales force.
但当时，它凝聚了苹果公司销售人员低落的士气。
Jobs had always been able to draw energy by imagining himself as a rebel pitted against the forces of darkness.
一直以来，乔布斯都将自己想象成一个抗击黑暗势力的反叛者，并从中获取能量。
Now he was able to energize his troops with the same vision.
现在，他也这样激发自己的团队。
双语有声读物 乔布斯传
There was one more hurdle: Hertzfeld and the other wizards had to finish writing the code for the Macintosh.
不过当时还有一个障碍。赫茨菲尔德和其他工程师必须完成麦金塔电脑的编程工作，
It was due to start shipping on Monday, January 16.
而程序已定于1月16日（周一）交付运行，
One week before that, the engineers concluded they could not make that deadline.
距离交付日只剩一周的时候，工程师们认为他们无法按时完成工作。
Jobs was at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan, preparing for the press previews,
当时，乔布斯正在曼哈顿的君悦酒店为媒体沟通会作准备，
so a Sunday morning conference call was scheduled.
因此，同工程师的电话会议就定在周日上午进行。
The software manager calmly explained the situation to Jobs,
软件经理镇定地向乔布斯说明了情况，
while Hertzfeld and the others huddled around the speakerphone holding their breath.
赫茨菲尔德和其他人都围着电话，屏息凝神。
All they needed was an extra two weeks.
他们只要求将期限延长两周，
The initial shipments to the dealers could have a version of the software labeled "demo,"
公司可以先给经销商一个“演示版”软件，
and these could be replaced as soon as the new code was finished at the end of the month.
只要新程序在这个月底完成，就能马上进行替换。
There was a pause. Jobs did not get angry; instead he spoke in cold, somber tones.
片刻沉默之后，乔布斯并没有生气。相反，而是用冷静低沉的语调
He told them they were really great. So great, in fact, that he knew they could get this done.
他告诉工程师们他们真的很棒。事实上，这些人的确非常棒，乔布斯相信他们能够搞定。
"There's no way we're slipping!" he declared. There was a collective gasp in the Bandley building work space.
“我们决不会推迟！”他郑重声明。电话另一头，班德利大楼工作间里的工程师们都倒吸了一口气。
"You guys have been working on this stuff for months now, another couple weeks isn't going to make that much of a difference.
“这个东西你们已经做了好几个月了，再多两个星期也不会有很大差别。
You may as well get it over with. I'm going to ship the code a week from Monday, with your names on it."
你们还是赶快把它做完。我会在一周后将你们的程序交付运行，上面会标有你们的名字。”
"Well, we've got to finish it," Steve Capps said. And so they did.
“好吧，我们得完成它。”史蒂夫·卡普斯说道。他们做到了。
Once again, Jobs's reality distortion field pushed them to do what they had thought impossible.
又一次，乔布斯用自己的现实扭曲力场让团队成员完成了自认为不可能完成的任务。
On Friday Randy Wigginton brought in a huge bag of chocolate-covered espresso beans for the final three all-nighters.
周五，为熬过最后三个通宵，兰迪·威金顿带来了一大包浓缩咖啡巧克力豆。
When Jobs arrived at work at 8:30 a.m. that Monday, he found Hertzfeld sprawled nearly comatose on the couch.
1月16日周一早晨8点半，乔布斯来到公司，发现赫茨菲尔德趴在沙发上，几近昏睡。
They talked for a few minutes about a remaining tiny glitch, and Jobs decreed that it wasn't a problem.
他们聊了些剩下的一些细微毛病，乔布斯认为这不成问题。
Hertzfeld dragged himself to his blue Volkswagen Rabbit (license plate: MACWIZ) and drove home to bed.
赫茨菲尔德拖着疲惫的身子钻进自己的蓝色大众髙尔夫（车牌MACWIZ)，开车回家睡觉。
A short while later Apple's Fremont factory began to roll out boxes emblazoned with the colorful line drawings of the Macintosh.
过了一会儿，苹果公司位于弗雷蒙的工厂开始生产印有彩色条纹苹果标志的盒子。
Real artists ship, Jobs had declared, and now the Macintosh team had.
乔布斯曾称，真正的艺术家总能完成作品，现在他们名副其实。 |
| 原文地址：http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/qbsz/356129.html |