乔布斯传 第39期:加盟雅达利(1)

 Atari

雅达利

In February 1974, after eighteen months of hanging around Reed, Jobs decided¹ to move back to his parents' home in Los Altos and look for a job.

1974年2月，在里德学院晃荡了18个月之后，乔布斯决定搬回父母在洛斯阿尔托斯的住处，然后找一份工作。

It was not a difficult search.

这并不是什么难事。

At peak times during the 1970s, the classified section of the San Jose Mercury carried up to sixty pages of technology help-wanted ads.

20世纪70年代，《圣何塞水星报》(San Jose Mercury)的分类广告版面上，科技类的招工广告最多时曾达到60页。

One of those caught Jobs's eye. "Have fun, make money," it said.

其中的一则广告吸引了乔布斯的目光。"在享乐中赚钱"，广告语是这么说的。

That day Jobs walked into the lobby of the video game manufacturer Atari and told the personnel director, who was startled by his unkempt hair and attire²,

那一天，乔布斯走进了游戏制造商雅达利公司（Atari)的大厅，对着被他不修边幅的发型和装扮吓了一跳的人事主管说，

that he wouldn't leave until they gave him a job.

得不到一份工作他是不会离开的。

Atari's founder³ was a burly entrepreneur named Nolan Bushnell, who was a charismatic visionary with a nice touch of showmanship in him

雅达利当时是非常热门的公司。它的创始人是髙大健壮的企业家诺兰·布什内尔（Nolan Bushnell),此人是个充满魅力、能说会道的梦想家

in other words, another role model waiting to be emulated⁴.

换句话说，又一个时代偶像。

After he became famous, he liked driving around in a Rolls, smoking dope, and holding staff meetings in a hot tub.

成名之后，他喜欢开着劳斯莱斯四处转悠，吸食毒品，在浴缸里开员工会议。

As Friedland had done and as Jobs would learn to do, he was able to turn charm into a cunning force,

他有一项能力---是弗里德兰也具有的、乔布斯日后也学会了的——就是将个人魅力转化为说服力，

to cajole and intimidate⁵ and distort reality with the power of his personality.

通过个性的力量进行劝诱、胁迫以及扭曲事实。

His chief engineer was Al Alcorn, beefy and jovial⁶ and a bit more grounded,

他手下的首席工程师叫做阿尔·奥尔康（Al Alcom)，一个健壮、快乐又很理性的人。

the house grown-up trying to implement⁷ the vision and curb⁸ the enthusiasms of Bushnell.

他就像个家长一样，一方面要帮助布什内尔实现他的梦想，另一方面又要控制住他的狂热。

Their big hit thus far was a video game called Pong,

布什内尔指派奥尔康研发一款视频游戏《乒乓》的街机版。

in which two players tried to volley a blip on a screen with two movable lines that acted as paddles.

游戏中两名玩家分别操纵屏幕上两根移动的光标充当球拍，拦截充当乒乓球的小光点

(If you're under thirty, ask your parents.)

（如果你不到40岁，问问你的父母)。

When Jobs arrived in the Atari lobby wearing sandals and demanding a job, Alcorn was the one who was summoned.

当乔布斯穿着凉鞋来到雅达利公司要求工作时，有人通知了奥尔康。

"I was told, 'We've got a hippie kid in the lobby. He says he's not going to leave until we hire him.

“我被告知：有个嬉皮士小子在大厅里，他说我们不雇他他就不走。

Should we call the cops or let him in?' I said bring him on in!"

我们该打电话报警还是让他进来？'我说，快带他进来！ ”

Jobs thus became one of the first fifty employees at Atari, working as a technician for $5 an hour.

乔布斯由此成为了雅达利公司第一批50名员工之一，职位是技术员，薪水每小时5美元。

"In retrospect⁹, it was weird¹⁰ to hire a dropout¹¹ from Reed," Alcorn recalled.

“现在想想，雇用一名里德学院的辍学生真有点儿不可思议，”奥尔康说，

"But I saw something in him. He was very intelligent, enthusiastic, excited about tech."

“但我在他身上看到了一些东西。他非常聪明，富有激情，对技术狂热。”

Alcorn assigned him to work with a straitlaced engineer named Don Lang.

奥尔康让乔布斯与一个叫唐·朗（Don Lang)的工程师一起工作，此人的思想极其保守。

The next day Lang complained, "This guy's a goddamn hippie with b.o.

第二天朗就开始抱怨了：“这家伙是个该死的有体臭的嬉皮士。

Why did you do this to me? And he's impossible to deal with."

你为什么要这么对我？还有，我裉本没法儿跟他相处。”

Jobs clung to the belief that his fruit-heavy vegetarian¹² diet would prevent not just mucus but also body odor,

乔布斯坚信，他以氷果为主的素食习惯不仅会消除黏液，也会去除他的体味，

even if he didn't use deodorant¹³ or shower regularly. It was a flawed theory.

就算他不用香体剂，也不常常洗澡。这是个错误的理论。

1 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。

2 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 emulated   

v.与…竞争( emulate的过去式和过去分词 )；努力赶上；计算机程序等仿真；模仿

参考例句：

• The havoc that months had previously wrought was now emulated by the inroads of hours. 前几个月已经使他垮下来，如今更是一小时一小时地在恶化。 来自辞典例句
• The key technology emulated by CAD and the circuit is showed. 对关键技术进行了仿真，给出了电路实现形式。 来自互联网

5 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

6 jovial   

adj.快乐的，好交际的

参考例句：

• He seemed jovial,but his eyes avoided ours.他显得很高兴，但他的眼光却避开了我们的眼光。
• Grandma was plump and jovial.祖母身材圆胖，整天乐呵呵的。

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

8 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

9 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

10 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

11 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

12 vegetarian   

n.素食者；adj.素食的

参考例句：

• She got used gradually to the vegetarian diet.她逐渐习惯吃素食。
• I didn't realize you were a vegetarian.我不知道你是个素食者。

13 deodorant   

adj.除臭的；n.除臭剂

参考例句：

• She applies deodorant to her armpits after she showers.沐浴后，她在腋下涂上除臭剂。
• Spray deodorant and keep the silk garments dry before dressing.在穿衣之前，洒涂防臭剂并保持干燥。