乔布斯传 第684期:2010年1月，iPad发布(1)

The Launch, January 2010

2010年1月，iPad发布

The usual excitement that Jobs was able to gin up for a product launch paled in comparison to the frenzy¹ that built for the iPad unveiling on January 27, 2010, in San Francisco.

2010年1月27日，iPad在旧金山亮相激起的狂热，令乔布斯通常在产品发布会上所能激起的热情黯然失色。

The Economist² put him on its cover robed, haloed, and holding what was dubbed³ "the Jesus Tablet."

《经济学人》杂志的封面上，乔布斯穿着长袍，头顶光环，手持被称为“耶稣平板电脑”的iPad。

The Wall Street Journal struck a similarly exalted⁴ note:

《华尔街日报》也发表了类似的赞美报道：

"The last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it."

“人类上一次对一个平板如此兴奋是因为上面写有十诫。”

As if to underscore the historic nature of the launch, Jobs invited back many of the old-timers from his early Apple days.

似乎是为了强调这一产品的历史意义，乔布斯邀请了苹果公司当年的许多参与者。

More poignantly⁵, James Eason, who had performed his liver transplant the year before,

更意味深长的是，他还请来了詹姆斯·伊森，一年前刚刚为他做了肝脏移植手术；

and Jeffrey Norton, who had operated on his pancreas in 2004, were in the audience, sitting with his wife, his son, and Mona Simpson.

还有杰弗里·诺顿，2004年为他做了胰腺手术，iPad发布当天，他携妻带子，与乔布斯的妹妹莫娜·辛普森一起坐在观众席中。

Jobs did his usual masterly job of putting a new device into context, as he had done for the iPhone three years earlier.

乔布斯以一贯的大师风格为新产品的登场铺陈渲染，就像三年前发布iPhone时一样。

This time he put up a screen that showed an iPhone and a laptop with a question mark in between.

这一次，屏幕上显示出一台iPhone和一台笔记本电脑，中间标着一个问号。

"The question is, is there room for something in the middle?" he asked.

“问题是，两者之间还可能存在别的东西吗？”他问道。

That "something" would have to be good at web browsing⁶, email, photos, video, music, games, and ebooks.

这个“东西”必须能用来很好地浏览网页、电子邮件、照片、视频、音乐、游戏和电子书。

He drove a stake through the heart of the netbook concept. "Netbooks aren't better at anything!" he said.

他给予了上网本概念致命的一击，说道：“上网本无论从哪个角度来讲都乏善可陈！”

The invited guests and employees cheered. "But we have something that is. We call it the iPad."

来客和员工欢呼起来。“但是我们有这样一个‘东西’，它叫做iPad。”

1 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

5 poignantly   

参考例句：

• His story is told poignantly in the film, A Beautiful Mind, now showing here. 以他的故事拍成的电影《美丽境界》，正在本地上映。

6 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》