有声英语故事连载：《名人传记》之乔布斯 第83期

故事连载

 

Jobs recognized technology was on the cusp of allowing us to communicate through computers.

乔布斯认识到 科技应该能够让我们利用电脑进行交流

And, in fact, the Next’s powerful operating system

事实上 Next计算机功能强大的操作系统

helped Sir Tim Berners-Lee connect computer users together.

帮助Tim Berners-Lee爵士将计算机用户连结在了一起

I developed the World Wide Web on this Next machine in a couple of months,

我在一台Next电脑上 用几个月的时间创建了万维网

whereas on another machine it would've taken me a lot longer.

相比之下 如果是用别的电脑 花费的时间将会长得多

YOU ARE A TOY!

你只是个玩具!

As well as high-tech,

除了活跃在高科技领域

Jobs invested in a struggling computer animation company.

乔布斯还投资了一家处境艰难的动画公司

He ploughed $50 million into Pixar, keeping it afloat

他向皮克斯动画公司投入了5千万美元 以维持公司的运作

until it created the first computer-animated feature film.

直到皮克斯制作出了第一部电脑制作的动画电影

 

Toy Story was a blockbuster,

《玩具总动员》一鸣惊人

and taking Pixar public made Steve Jobs super rich.

而皮克斯公司的上市 也给乔布斯带来了巨大的财富

He did stay in there and made the company successful,

他的帮助使公司获得了巨大的成功

and we made him a billionaire in return.

而我们也为他带来了数十亿的利润

Seems like a pretty good deal.

这是件双赢的事情

Now the hippy computer mogul had become a Hollywood player.

现在这个嬉皮士计算机大亨已经进军好莱坞了

Jobs had the world, but he didn’t have Apple.

但他的春风得意 并不能弥补离开苹果留下的遗憾

They say that there are no second acts in American life,

有人说 美国从不给人第二次机会

but there clearly are.

但凡事都有例外

One of the astonishing things about the Apple phenomenon

苹果帝国最富有传奇性的一点

 

is it goes in two halves.

就是它的历史明显分为两个阶段

In the 11 years since Jobs left Apple,

在乔布斯离开了苹果的11年中

the computer market had changed radically.

计算机市场发生了翻天覆地的变化

Now Microsoft was the dominant force in computing.

现在 微软公司成为了计算机领域的主力军

Its operating systems powered nearly 90% of personal computers in America.

在美国 超过90%的个人电脑都安装了微软操作系统

Apple had tried to compete

苹果曾试图与之竞争

by allowing other manufacturers to make and sell copies of its machines and software,

他们允许其他制造商生产出售自己的计算机和软件

but it wasn’t working.

但是这并没有奏效