访谈录 2008-06-29&06-30 古灵精怪小发明

...the approaches, a book that would surely make America's founders¹, Founding Fathers proud, maybe laugh a little bit too.The author of Gadget² Nation explains why the freedom to go after your dreams can lead to some pretty whacky inventions.

 

Hi,I'm Steve Greenberg and I am the author of Gadget Nation.It's a book all about offbeat³ gadgets⁴ and the inventors behind them.It's kind of a fun look at a, kind of a strange,bizarre slice of Americana.So many the products that we use everyday are,are, go back to some individual inventors,sure a lot of them come from corporate⁵ inventors,and that's a different story.

 

But things like "WiteOut",the paper clip,the bobby pin,all those things are individual inventors.America is really about coming up with an idea,a little ingenuity,hard work,being an entrepreneur and making something wonderful out of it.

 

It was back in 2004, this particular night.I got up to went to get a drink of water and when I came back to get in the bed,I turned and ran into the end bedpost on our bed and glided⁶ back down the bed that night. I thought, why don't I just, you know,invent some bedroom slippers⁷ that have headlights on. Got up the next morning and that's how I got started.

 

I would hit the snooze button on the alarm clock every day for a couple hours and never be able to get myself out of bed on time.The first thing that came in, that came into my mind was to create an alarm clock that would actually run away from you.And then the idea is that you actually have to get out of bed,to look for it. And in that process, you wake up.

 

Some of them like my book profiles are kind of, you know, silly, they're not gonna save lives necessarily,but they do represent things that people want.

 

 I need to come up with a solution to an everyday problem which is bird poop.Because I enjoy having the birds out the cage with me,and Mark got tired of seeing the poop on my back and all over the floor.We knew that the solution that we thought we've come up with for our own birds,was actually gonna have a much more mass appeal,than we originally thought.

 

And if you come up with a talking toilet paper roll. To risk your 401(k) or your kid's college fund over a product like this, I guess it takes guts⁸ and they really are about America,they really are the spirit of America.

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offbeat:different from the usual; odd

 

401(k): The 401(k) plan is a type of employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement⁹ plan under section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 401(k)) in the United States, and some other countries.

 

1 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

2 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

3 offbeat   

adj.不平常的，离奇的

参考例句：

• She adores old,offbeat antiques.她非常喜欢那些稀奇古怪的老古董。
• His style is offbeat but highly creative.他的风格很不寻常但非常有创造力。

4 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

8 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。