乔布斯传 第163期:盖茨与乔布斯

 The Macintosh Partnership¹

因麦金塔而合作

In astronomy, a binary² system occurs when the orbits of two stars are linked because of their gravitational interaction.

在天文学中，当两颗星体轨道交织，由于引力相互作用，就会出现双星系统。

There have been analogous³ situations in history,

在人类历史上也有类似情形，

when an era is shaped by the relationship and rivalry⁴ of two orbiting superstars:

同领域两位超级巨星之间的关系与竞争谱写出他们所属的时代之音。

Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr in twentieth-century physics,

例如，20世纪物理学界的两位巨匠阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦和尼尔斯·玻尔

for example, or Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton in early American governance.

以及美国建国初期的政治家托马斯·杰斐逊和亚历山大·汉密尔顿。

For the first thirty years of the personal computer age, beginning in the late 1970s,

20世纪70年代末，人类步入了个人电脑时代。在其发展的头30年中，

the defining binary star system was composed of two high-energy college dropouts both born in 1955.

出现了两位重量级人物，他们都生于1955年，都中途辍学，精力充沛，他们演绎了个人电脑领域的“双星系统”。

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, despite their similar ambitions at the confluence⁵ of technology and business,

这就是比尔·盖茨与史菴夫·乔布斯。尽管两人对技术和商业的融合都抱有相似的雄心，

had very different personalities⁶ and backgrounds.

但是他们背景不同，个性迥异。

乔布斯传 比尔盖茨

Gates's father was a prominent Seattle lawyer, his mother a civic⁷ leader on a variety of prestigious⁸ boards.

盖茨的父亲是西雅图一位杰出的律师，母亲是一名民众领袖，并担任众多著名机构的董事。

He became a tech geek at the area's finest private school, Lakeside High,

他就读于当地最好的私立学校湖滨中学，并从此走上技术极客的道路。

but he was never a rebel, hippie, spiritual seeker, or member of the counterculture.

但盖茨绝称不上反叛者、嬉皮士和灵性追寻者，也不是反主流文化人士。

Instead of a Blue Box to rip off the phone company, Gates created for his school a program for scheduling classes,

他没有做过“蓝盒子”去盗用电话线路，而是为学校编写排课程序，

which helped him get into ones with the right girls, and a car-counting program for local traffic engineers.

在这个程序的帮助下，他得以和自己心仪的女孩上同样的课程；他还为当地交通管理部门编写了一个车辆计数程序。

He went to Harvard, and when he decided⁹ to drop out it was not to find enlightenment with an Indian guru but to start a computer software company.

进入哈佛大学之后不久，盖茨决定綴学，但并非因为要跟随印度灵性导师寻求启蒙，而是为了创立自己的软件公司。

Gates was good at computer coding, unlike Jobs, and his mind was more practical, disciplined, and abundant in analytic¹⁰ processing power.

与乔布斯不同，盖茨懂计算机编程；他更务实、更有原则，且拥有很强的分析处理能力。

Jobs was more intuitive and romantic and had a greater instinct for making technology usable, design delightful¹¹, and interfaces¹² friendly.

乔布斯则更相信直觉，更浪漫，并且在技术实用化、设计愉悦感和界面友好方面有着更高的天分。

He had a passion for perfection, which made him fiercely demanding, and he managed by charisma¹³ and scattershot intensity¹⁴.

乔布斯狂热地追求完美，以致他为人非常苛刻，他的管理主要依靠自身的领袖魅力和四溢的激情。

Gates was more methodical; he held tightly scheduled product review meetings where he would cut to the heart of issues with lapidary¹⁵ skill.

盖茨更有条理。他会频繁召开产品评估会议，并在会上精准地切入问题核心。

Both could be rude, but with Gates--who early in his career seemed to have a typical geek's flirtation¹⁶ with the fringes of the Asperger's scale

乔布斯和盖茨都可能做出粗鲁无礼的举动，但是在职业生涯的早期，盖茨似乎就和那些典型的极客一样，有些阿斯伯格综合征的倾向。

the cutting behavior tended to be less personal, based more on intellectual incisiveness¹⁷ than emotional callousness¹⁸.

盖茨的无礼刻薄通常并不针对个人，更多的是出于对技术的深刻理解，而非情感上的麻木不仁。

Jobs would stare at people with a burning, wounding intensity;

乔布斯会用能灼伤人的眼神盯着对方，

Gates sometimes had trouble making eye contact, but he was fundamentally humane¹⁹.

而盖茨有时会无法与人进行眼神接触，但他很富有人情味儿。

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

3 analogous   

adj.相似的；类似的

参考例句：

• The two situations are roughly analogous.两种情況大致相似。
• The company is in a position closely analogous to that of its main rival.该公司与主要竞争对手的处境极为相似。

4 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

5 confluence   

n.汇合，聚集

参考例句：

• They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.他们建造了城市的汇合两条河流。
• The whole DV movements actually was a confluence of several trends.整个当时的DV运动，实际上是几股潮流的同谋。

6 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

7 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

8 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

9 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。

10 analytic   

adj.分析的，用分析方法的

参考例句：

• The boy has an analytic mind. 这男孩有分析的头脑。
• Latin is a synthetic language,while English is analytic.拉丁文是一种综合性语言，而英语是一种分析性语言。

11 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

12 interfaces   

界面( interface的名词复数 )； 接口（连接两装置的电路，可使数据从一种代码转换成另一种代码）； 交界； 联系

参考例句：

• If the class needs to be reprogrammed, new interfaces are created. 如果class需要重新程序设计，新的interfaces创建。
• Interfaces solve this problem of evolving code. Interfaces解决了代码升级的问题。

13 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

14 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

15 lapidary   

n.宝石匠；adj.宝石的；简洁优雅的

参考例句：

• The lapidary considers several features of stones before assessing their value.这位宝石专家在评估宝石的价值之前会考虑几项要点。
• He is a professional lapidary who cuts,polishes and engraves precious stones.他是一位宝石鉴定家，专门切割，磨光，及雕刻珍贵的钻石。

16 flirtation   

n.调情，调戏，挑逗

参考例句：

• a brief and unsuccessful flirtation with the property market 对房地产市场一时兴起、并不成功的介入
• At recess Tom continued his flirtation with Amy with jubilant self-satisfaction. 课间休息的时候，汤姆继续和艾美逗乐，一副得意洋洋、心满意足的样子。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

17 incisiveness   

n.敏锐，深刻

参考例句：

• He never quarreled with the directness and incisiveness of Cowperwood's action. 他对柯帕乌举动的直截了当，锋利无比，从不表示异议。 来自辞典例句
• A few candidates stood out for the incisiveness of their arguments. 几个候选人因他们犀利的观点出众。 来自互联网

18 callousness   

参考例句：

• He remembered with what callousness he had watched her. 他记得自己以何等无情的态度瞧着她。 来自辞典例句
• She also lacks the callousness required of a truly great leader. 她还缺乏一个真正伟大领袖所应具备的铁石心肠。 来自辞典例句

19 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。