乔布斯传 第348期:苹果坠落(1)

 　　Apple Falling 苹果坠落

　　For a few years after Jobs was ousted¹, 在乔布斯出局后的几年，

　　Apple was able to coast comfortably with a high profit margin² based on its temporary dominance in desktop³ publishing. 苹果公司由于暂时统领桌面排版系统，还可以舒服地享受很髙的利润率。

　　Feeling like a genius back in 1987, John Sculley had made a series of proclamations that nowadays sound embarrassing. 当时自我感觉有如天才的约翰·斯卡利，于1987年发表了一系列今天看起来颇为尷尬的宣言。

　　Jobs wanted Apple "to become a wonderful consumer products company," Sculley wrote. 乔布斯希望苹果“成为一家出色的消费品公司”，斯卡利写道，

　　"This was a lunatic plan. Apple would never be a consumer products company. “这是个愚蠢的计划。苹果永远不会是一家消费品公司。

　　We couldn't bend reality to all our dreams of changing the world. 我们不能因为我们改变世界的梦想就扭曲现实。

　　High tech could not be designed and sold as a consumer product." 高科技不能作为消费品去设计和销售。”

　　Jobs was appalled⁴, and he became angry and contemptuous as Sculley presided over a steady decline in market share for Apple in the early 1990s. 乔布斯格外震惊，20世纪90年代初，苹果在斯卡利的领导下市场份额和收入持续下降，他对斯卡利的愤怒和蔑视也与日俱增。

　　"Sculley destroyed Apple by bringing in corrupt⁵ people and corrupt values," Jobs later lamented⁶. “斯卡利引进下三滥的人和下三滥的价值观，把苹果给毁了。”乔布斯后来悲叹，

　　"They cared about making money--for themselves mainly, and also for Apple--rather than making great products." “他们只在乎如何赚钱--主要为他们自己，同时也为苹果--而不在乎如何制造出色的产品。”

　　He felt that Sculley's drive for profits came at the expense of gaining market share. 乔布斯感觉斯卡利对利润的追逐是以牺性市场份额为代价的。

　　"Macintosh lost to Microsoft because Sculley insisted on milking all the profits he could get rather than improving the product and making it affordable⁷."  “麦金塔之所以输给微软，是因为斯卡利坚持榨取每一分利润，而不是努力改进产品和降低价格。”

　　As a result, the profits eventually disappeared. 结果就是，这些利润最终消失了。

　　It had taken Microsoft a few years to replicate⁸ Macintosh's graphical user interface⁹, 微软用了几年时间模仿麦金塔的图形用户界面，

　　but by 1990 it had come out with Windows 3.0, which began the company's march to dominance in the desktop market. 到1990年就已经推出了Windows 3.0系统，从此走上了统领台式电脑市场的征途。

1 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

2 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

3 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？

4 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

9 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。