乔布斯传 第269期:锡铁小兵(4)

 　　Kerwin took Jobs on a walk around the parking lot and begged that the employees be given at least two weeks notice.

　　克尔温拽着乔布斯在停车场周围散步，请求他至少提前两周告知员工们这一消息。

　　"Okay," he shot back, "but the notice is retroactive from two weeks ago."

　　“好吧，”乔布斯回答道，“但通知应该倒推回两周生效。”

　　Catmull was in Moscow, and Kerwin put in frantic¹ calls to him.

　　卡特穆尔当时在莫斯科，克尔温疯了似的跟他打电话。

　　When he returned, he was able to institute a meager² severance³ plan and calm things down just a bit.

　　卡特穆尔回来后，研究出一个遣散计划，给予被解雇员工微薄的补偿，稍微平息了事态。

　　At one point the members of the Pixar animation⁴ team were trying to convince Intel to let them make some of its commercials,

　　皮克斯动画团队曾一度试图说服英特尔公司，希望承接对方的部分商业广告制作业务。

　　and Jobs became impatient. During a meeting, in the midst of berating⁵ an Intel marketing⁶ director,

　　然而，乔布斯没有一点儿耐性。一次会议上，乔布斯正痛斥英特尔的营销总监，

　　he picked up the phone and called CEO Andy Grove⁷ directly.

　　说到一半又拿起电话，直接打给英特尔的CEO安迪·格鲁夫。

　　双语有声读物 乔布斯传

　　Grove, still playing mentor⁸, tried to teach Jobs a lesson: He supported his Intel manager.

　　格鲁夫在某种程度上仍然算是乔布斯的老师，他想要给乔布斯上一课，他支持英特尔公司的经理。

　　"I stuck by my employee," he recalled. "Steve doesn't like to be treated like a supplier."

　　“我支持自己的员工，”他回忆道，“史蒂夫不喜欢被当做供应商来对待。”

　　Pixar was able to create some powerful software products aimed at average consumers,

　　皮克斯针对普通消费者市场，创造出了一些强大的软件产品。

　　or at least those average consumers who shared Jobs's passion for designing things.

　　或者至少是认同乔布斯对于设计的狂热之情的消费群体。

　　Jobs still hoped that the ability to make super-realistic 3-D images at home would become part of the desktop⁹ publishing craze.

　　乔布斯仍然希望，在家中创作超级逼真的3D图像能够成为桌面排版热潮的一部分。

　　Pixar's Showplace, for example, allowed users to change the shadings on the 3-D objects they created

　　例如，皮克斯的Showplace软件，用户能够用它改变3D物体的阴影，

　　so that they could display them from various angles with appropriate shadows.

　　这样，在不同的角度下，能以适当的阴影展现出现实物体的模样。

　　Jobs thought it was incredibly compelling, but most consumers were content to live without it.

　　乔布斯觉得这个软件很酷，但是大多数消费者觉得这种功能可有可无。

　　It was a case where his passions misled him:

　　乔布斯的激情误导了自己，Showplace软件就是一个例证：

　　The software had so many amazing features that it lacked the simplicity¹⁰ Jobs usually demanded.

　　该软件拥有如此多神奇的功能，但却缺少乔布斯一向要求的简单性。

1 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

2 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

3 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

4 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

5 berating   

v.严厉责备，痛斥( berate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He deserved the berating that the coach gave him. 他活该受到教练的严厉训斥。 来自互联网
• The boss is berating those who were late for work. 老板正在呵斥那些上班迟到的员工。 来自互联网

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 grove   

n.林子，小树林，园林

参考例句：

• On top of the hill was a grove of tall trees.山顶上一片高大的树林。
• The scent of lemons filled the grove.柠檬香味充满了小树林。

8 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

9 desktop   

n.桌面管理系统程序；台式

参考例句：

• My computer is a desktop computer of excellent quality.我的计算机是品质卓越的台式计算机。
• Do you know which one is better,a laptop or a desktop?你知道哪一种更好，笔记本还是台式机？

10 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。