乔布斯传 第493期:连点成线(4)

 FireWire 火线

Jobs's vision that your computer could become your digital hub 乔布斯关于“计算机将成为数字中枢”这个设想，

went back to a technology called FireWire, which Apple developed in the early 1990s. 要追溯到苹果公司在20世纪90年代初开发的“火线”技术。

It was a high-speed serial¹ port that moved digital files such as video from one device to another. 火线是一条高速的串口，能够将数字文件（比如视频）从一台设备快速转移到另一台设备。

Japanese camcorder makers² adopted it, 日本的摄像机制造商采用了这一技术，

and Jobs decided³ to include it on the updated versions of the iMac that came out in October 1999. 之后乔布斯决定把火线用在1999年10月上市的新版iMac上。

He began to see that FireWire could be part of a system that moved video from cameras onto a computer, 他开始预见到，火线将成为苹果系统的一部分，用来把视频文件从摄像机中转移到计算机上，

where it could be edited and distributed. 然后再进行编辑和发布。

To make this work, the iMac needed to have great video editing software. 为了让这一功能得以实现，iMac需要有一款出色的视频编辑软件。

So Jobs went to his old friends at Adobe⁴, the digital graphics⁵ company, 为此，乔布斯决定去Adobe公司找他的老朋友，Adobe是一家出品数字图像软件的公司，

and asked them to make a new Mac version of Adobe Premiere, which was popular on Windows computers. 他请他们制作一款适用于新的Mac版本的Adobe Premiere软件，当时这一软件在Windows系统中很流行。

Adobe's executives stunned⁶ Jobs by flatly turning him down. 可是，Adobe公司高层断然拒绝了他，这让乔布斯备受打击。

The Macintosh, they said, had too few users to make it worthwhile. 他们说：“麦金塔的用户太少，要单独为它做一个软件不太划算。”

Jobs was furious and felt betrayed. 乔布斯愤怒了，觉得自己遭到了背叛。

"I put Adobe on the map, and they screwed me," he later claimed. 他后来跟我说：“我让Adobe出了名，他们却这样对待我。”

Adobe made matters even worse when it also didn't write its other popular programs, such as Photoshop, for the Mac OSX, Adobe随后又拒绝为Mac OSX系统定制其他的流行软件，比如Photoshop，

even though the Macintosh was popular among designers and other creative people who used those applications. 即使麦金塔电脑在使用这类软件的设计师和创意人士中非常受欢迎。整个局面更加糟糕了。

 

1 serial   

n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的

参考例句：

• A new serial is starting on television tonight.今晚电视开播一部新的电视连续剧。
• Can you account for the serial failures in our experiment?你能解释我们实验屡屡失败的原因吗？

2 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 adobe   

n.泥砖，土坯，美国Adobe公司

参考例句：

• They live in an adobe house.他们住在一间土坯屋里。
• Adobe bricks must drived dried completely before are used.土坯砖块使用前一定要完全干燥。

5 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

6 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。