有声英语故事连载：《名人传记》之乔布斯 第9期

For the first time, computer characters are warm, cuddly, relatable.

有史以来 电脑人物头一次显得如此有血有肉 活泼可爱 栩栩如生

 

These were animated characters but they seemed like they belonged in our family or

虽然他们只是动画人物 但他们就好像是我们的家人

 

that we'd have them in our house.

或是家里的一部分

 

It's the big comeback Steve Jobs has been waiting for.

这正是史蒂夫·乔布斯期盼多年的华丽回归

 

But it has taken Jobs and Pixar

然而乔布斯和皮克斯工作室

 

 

 

 

nearly ten years to get this far.

花了将近十年才走到这一步

 

And it almost didn't happen at all.

而且差一点就功亏一篑

 

After he got the boot in 1985,

1985年离开苹果公司后

 

he sold all of his Apple shares but one.

他将其股份全部出售 仅保留一股

 

He had millions of dollars burning a hole in his pocket.

他当时拥有几百万美元 堪称巨富

 

Anyone but Jobs might have retired.

换做别人定会选择退休

 

He went through a real period of personal crisis.

他经历了生命中真正的低谷

 

And there's a period of time, it's hard to imagine today,

现在看来很难想象 但有那么一段时间

 

when he was more or less a laughing stock of Silicon Valley.

他差不多是硅谷众人皆知的笑柄

 

I said, Steve,keep your vision intact

我对他说 史蒂夫 坚持你的梦想

 

and you'll be fine.

会没事的

 

You just keep going the way you are.

坚持自我

 

 

 

 

 

At the time, Steve's obsession was to build the best possible new computer, NeXT.

在当时 史蒂夫极力想要打造出新一代至尊电脑 即NeXT

 

What impact will the computer have on the computer industry?

NeXT将对计算机产业有什么影响

 

We think more in terms of what impact is this computer going to have on the people that use it.

我们则更侧重于NeXT电脑对于计算机用户会有什么样的影响

 

Scouting for the most advanced graphics,

他在寻求最先进的图形技术的过程中

 

he ran across Pixar.

邂逅了皮克斯

 

When it comes to Pixar,

说起皮克斯工作室

 

Steve Jobs was really an accidental visionary.

史蒂夫·乔布斯可谓是无心插柳

 

He bought the company,

他买下皮克斯的初衷

 

expecting it to be another computer company like Apple, like NeXT.

是想将其打造成像苹果和NeXT一样的电脑公司

 

And Steve Jobs was also really not that interested at the time in computer animation.

当时 史蒂夫·乔布斯对电脑动画并不怎么感兴趣

 

And as it turned out he saw what John Lasseter and the gang were doing and he liked it.

但后来他碰巧看到了约翰·拉赛特和他团队的研究 便喜欢上了

 

Pixar was a computer before it was a company,

皮克斯之前是一台电脑的名字

 

developed under the direction of George Lucas to enhance special effects for movies like Star Wars

由乔治·卢卡斯负责研发 主要用于制作《星球大战》等电影中震撼的视觉特效

 

But both Pixar's inventers and Steve Jobs believed the technology can do much more.

皮克斯的创始人和史蒂夫·乔布斯都坚信这项技术的潜力远不止于此