乔布斯传 第58期:苹果一代的诞生(3)(在线收听

 Wayne then got cold feet.

之后韦恩就退缩了。
As Jobs started planning to borrow and spend more money, he recalled the failure of his own company.
乔布斯开始计划借入并花掉更多的钱,韦恩便想起了以前自己公司失败的教训,
He didn't want to go through that again.
他不想再经历一次那样的过程。
Jobs and Wozniak had no personal assets,
乔布斯和沃兹都没有个人资产,
but Wayne (who worried about a global financial Armageddon) kept gold coins hidden in his mattress.
但韦恩在他的床垫里藏了金币(他担心世界经济崩溃)。
Because they had structured Apple as a simple partnership rather than a corporation,
因为构成苹果公司的是非常简单的合伙人关系,而不是公司体系,
the partners would be personally liable for the debts, and Wayne was afraid potential creditors would go after him.
所以合伙人个人需要对债务负责任,因此韦恩担心潜在的债权人会向自己追债。
So he returned to the Santa Clara County office just eleven days later with a "statement of withdrawal" and an amendment to the partnership agreement.
所以11天之后,他就回到了圣克拉拉的办公室里,带着一份“退出声明”和一份合作协议修正案。
"By virtue of a re-assessment of understandings by and between all parties," it began,
“经过协议各方的重新评估,”修正案开头说,
"Wayne shall hereinafter cease to function in the status of 'Partner.'"
“韦恩将不再以'合伙人'身份参与公司运作。”
It noted that in payment for his 10% of the company, he received $800, and shortly afterward $1,500 more.
文件中提到,作为对他持有的10%公司股份的回购,他得到了800美元,此后不久又得到了1500美元。
Had he stayed on and kept his 10% stake, at the end of 2010 it would have been worth approximately $2.6 billion.
如果当初他留在了苹果公司并继续持有这10%的股份,那么到2010年底这些股票的价值是大约26亿美元。
Instead he was then living alone in a small home in Pahrump, Nevada,
然而,现在他住在内华达州帕朗市的一座小房子里,
where he played the penny slot machines and lived off his social security check.
玩玩老虎机,靠社会保险金度日。
He later claimed he had no regrets.
他宣称自己毫不后悔。
"I made the best decision for me at the time.
“我作了当时对我最有利的选择,”
Both of them were real whirlwinds, and I knew my stomach and it wasn't ready for such a ride."
他说,“他们两个都是疯狂的家伙,我知道自己的承受能力,我不准备冒那样的险。”
Jobs and Wozniak took the stage together for a presentation to the Homebrew Computer Club shortly after they signed Apple into existence.
苹果公司正式成立之后不久,乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克就共同登台,在家酿计算机俱乐部进行了一次演示。
Wozniak held up one of their newly produced circuit boards and described the microprocessor,
沃兹展示了他们最新生产出来的一块电路板,描述了上面使用的微处理器、
the eight kilobytes of memory, and the version of BASIC he had written.
8Kb的内存,以及他编写的BASIC语言的程序版本。
He also emphasized what he called the main thing:
他还强调了 “关键部件 ”是人性化的键盘,
"a human-typable keyboard instead of a stupid, cryptic front panel with a bunch of lights and switches."
而不再是笨重的、让人困惑的由大堆灯泡和开关组成的面板。
Then it was Jobs's turn.
然后轮到乔布斯讲话。
He pointed out that the Apple, unlike the Altair, had all the essential components built in.
他指出苹果的产品与阿尔泰不同,所有的关键元部件都已经内置在机器中了。
Then he challenged them with a question: How much would people be willing to pay for such a wonderful machine?
然后他问了大家一个问题:人们愿意花多少钱来购买这么一台完美的机器?
He was trying to get them to see the amazing value of the Apple.
他是在努力让大家看到苹果电脑的惊人价值。
It was a rhetorical flourish he would use at product presentations over the ensuing decades.
这是他在后来几十年的产品发布会上一直沿用的华丽辞藻。
The audience was not very impressed.
然而观众并不是很感兴趣。
The Apple had a cut-rate microprocessor, not the Intel 8080.
苹果电脑使用的是二流的微处理器,而不是英特尔8080 。
But one important person stayed behind to hear more.
但是有一个重要人物留了下来,想要获得更多信息。
His name was Paul Terrell, and in 1975 he had opened a computer store,
他的名字叫保罗·特雷尔, 1975年他开了一家电脑商店 Byte Shop ,
which he dubbed the Byte Shop, on Camino Real in Menlo Park.
就在门洛帕克的国王大道上。
Now, a year later, he had three stores and visions of building a national chain.
而一年之后的现在,他已经有了三家店,并且计划将其发展为全国连锁。
重点讲解:
1.get cold feet 临阵退缩
例句:Soldiers must be fearless ; they cannot get cold feet in the midst of battle .
军人一定要无畏,他们不可以在战争中临阵退缩。
2.be liable for 对…应负责任的;对…负责
例句:Otherwise, the Bank accepts no liability and will not be liable for any compensation.
否则,本行恕不承担有关责任,也不会作任何赔偿。
3.live off 靠…生活;靠……供养;依赖…生活
例句:Thousands of waterfowl breed round the lake and live off the fish.
数以千计的水鸟在湖边繁殖,靠鱼为食来生活。
4.a bunch of 一群;一堆;一串
例句:She lends out money, steals cars, and has a bunch of other thugs working for her to do her dirty work.
她放贷、偷车,并指挥一群小太保帮她干那些肮脏的勾当。
  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/qbsz/353768.html