乔布斯传 第65期:苹果二代风暴(3)

 Jobs didn't like it.

乔布斯并不喜欢这个箱子。

He wanted a simple and elegant design,

他想要的是筒单又精致的设计，

which he hoped would set Apple apart from the other machines, with their clunky gray metal cases.

可以让苹果电脑从那些配有笨重的灰色金属箱的电脑中脱颖而出。

While haunting the appliance aisles¹ at Macy's,

有一次他在梅西百货的家用电器通道闲逛时，

he was struck by the Cuisinart food processors and decided² that he wanted a sleek³ case made of light molded plastic.

厨艺公司的食品加工机触发了他的灵感，他决定要一个光滑的机箱，

At a Homebrew meeting, he offered a local consultant⁴, Jerry Manock, $1,500 to produce such a design.

由轻便的模制塑料制成。在一次家酿计算机俱乐部的会议上，他出价1500美元，请一名当地的技术顾问杰里·马诺克将这个设计制造出来。

Manock, dubious⁵ about Jobs's appearance, asked for the money up front.

乔布斯的着装形象让马诺克有些半信半疑，他要求乔布斯预支报酬。

Jobs refused, but Manock took the job anyway.

乔布斯拒绝了，但马诺克还是接受了这份工作。

Within weeks he had produced a simple foam-molded plastic case that was uncluttered and exuded⁶ friendliness⁷.

几个星期后，他就做出了一个简单的发泡成型的塑料箱，整齐简洁5看上去很友好。

Jobs was thrilled.

乔布斯十分激动。

Next came the power supply.

接下来是电源的问题。

Digital geeks like Wozniak paid little attention to something so analog⁸ and mundane⁹,

像沃兹尼亚克这样的数字极客是不大会关注电源这种不起眼的部分的，

but Jobs decided it was a key component¹⁰.

但乔布斯认为这是一个关键部件。

In particular he wanted—as he would his entire career—to provide power in a way that avoided the need for a fan.

具体地说，他想要的——也是他整个职业生涯一直追求的——是在不使用风扇的情况下供电。

Fans inside computers were not Zen-like; they distracted.

计算机内部的风扇有悖于禅意，它们的噪音会让人无法集中精神。

He dropped by Atari to consult with Alcorn, who knew old-fashioned electrical engineering.

乔布斯去雅达利公司咨询奥尔康，他了解老式的电气工程。

"Al turned me on to this brilliant guy named Rod Holt,

“奥尔康把一个叫罗德·霍尔特的聪明家伙介绍给我，

who was a chain-smoking Marxist who had been through many marriages and was an expert on everything," Jobs recalled.

这是个烟不离手的马克思主义者，结过多次婚，精通所有事物。”乔布斯回忆。

Like Manock and others meeting Jobs for the first time, Holt took a look at him and was skeptical¹¹.

和马诺克以及其他第一次见到乔布斯的人一样，霍尔特打量了他一番，满腹狐疑。

"I'm expensive," Holt said.

“我收费很髙的。”霍尔特说。

Jobs sensed he was worth it and said that cost was no problem.

乔布斯感觉到此人一定物有所值，于是说钱不是问题。

"He just conned¹² me into working," said Holt, who ended up joining Apple full-time¹³.

“他就这么说服我为他工作了。”霍尔特说，他后来加入苹果公司，成为了一名全职员工。

Instead of a conventional linear power supply, Holt built one like those used in oscilloscopes.

霍尔特并没有使用传统的线性电源，而是制造了一个与示波器等仪器上使用的相类似的开关电源。

It switched the power on and off not sixty times per second, but thousands of times;

这就意味着，在一秒钟之内，通断电的次数不是60次，而是上千次，

this allowed it to store the power for far less time, and thus throw off less heat.

这样电源存储电能的时间就大大减少，散热量也随之减少。

重点讲解：

1.apart from 除……之外；除...外；除去

例句：And, apart from all that, where he gave free-kick in the wrong place.

而且，除此之外，他给的任意球罚球位置也是错误的。

2.dubious about 对...怀疑

例句：I remain dubious about his motives¹⁴.

我对他的动机心存疑虑。

3.up front 预先

例句：It takes courage to trust that concrete feedback along the way is better than trying to know everything up front.

相信开发过程中的具体反馈比预先知道每件事更有价值，需要一定的勇气。

4.consult with 商量；商议；与…商量

例句："I shall consult with Mr. Gordon about this, " said Mr. Greenough, becoming joss-like again.

“我会和戈登先生商讨，”格里诺先生说，一副菩萨心肠。

1 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

2 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。

3 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

4 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

5 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

6 exuded   

v.缓慢流出，渗出，分泌出( exude的过去式和过去分词 )；流露出对（某物）的神态或感情

参考例句：

• Nearby was a factory which exuded a pungent smell. 旁边是一家散发出刺鼻气味的工厂。 来自辞典例句
• The old drawer exuded a smell of camphor. 陈年抽屉放出樟脑气味。 来自辞典例句

7 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

8 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

9 mundane   

adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的

参考例句：

• I hope I can get an interesting job and not something mundane.我希望我可以得到的是一份有趣的工作，而不是一份平凡无奇的。
• I find it humorous sometimes that even the most mundane occurrences can have an impact on our awareness.我发现生活有时挺诙谐的，即使是最平凡的事情也能影响我们的感知。

10 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

11 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

12 conned   

adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lynn felt women had been conned. 林恩觉得女人们受骗了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was so plausible that he conned everybody. 他那么会花言巧语，以至于骗过了所有的人。 来自辞典例句

13 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

14 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。