乔布斯传 第149期:蜜月(4)

 Sculley began to believe that Jobs's mercurial¹ personality and erratic² treatment of people were rooted deep in his psychological makeup³,

斯卡利开始相信，乔布斯善变的个性和对人飘忽不定的态度深深根植于他的心理构成中，

perhaps the reflection of a mild bipolarity.

或许这反映出他性格里有轻微的两极化。

There were big mood swings; sometimes he would be ecstatic, at other times he was depressed⁴.

乔布斯的情绪波动很大。他有时候欣喜若狂，有时候又低沉沮丧。

At times he would launch into brutal⁵ tirades⁶ without warning, and Sculley would have to calm him down.

有时候他会没有任何征兆地开始严厉斥责别人，斯卡利就得让他平静下来。

"Twenty minutes later, I would get another call and be told to come over because Steve is losing it again," he said.

“20分钟以后，我会接到另一个电话让我过去，因为史蒂夫又在发脾气了。”他说道。

Their first substantive⁷ disagreement was over how to price the Macintosh.

他们第一次产生重大分歧是在给麦金塔电脑定价时。

双语有声读物 乔布斯传

It had been conceived as a $1,000 machine,

按照最初的设想，麦金塔的售价将是1000美元，

but Jobs's design changes had pushed up the cost so that the plan was to sell it at $1,995.

但是乔布斯对设计进行了更改，成本提髙了，于是又将计划售价调整为1995美元。

However, when Jobs and Sculley began making plans for a huge launch and marketing⁸ push,

然而，当乔布斯和斯卡利开始为盛大的发布和营销工作制订计划时，

Sculley decided⁹ that they needed to charge $500 more.

斯卡利认为他们需要将售价再提髙500美元。

To him, the marketing costs were like any other production cost and needed to be factored into the price.

对于他来说，营销成本就像其他任何生产成本一样需要计入售价。

Jobs resisted, furiously. "It will destroy everything we stand for," he said.

乔布斯愤怒地拒绝了。“这会破坏我们所有的理念，”他说道，

"I want to make this a revolution, not an effort to squeeze out profits."

“我想让它成为一次革命，而不是努力榨取利润。”

Sculley said it was a simple choice:

斯卡利说这是个很简单的选择：

He could have the $1,995 price or he could have the marketing budget for a big launch, but not both.

他可以保持1995美元的售价，或者可以拿营销预算去举办一场盛大的产品发布会，二者只能选其一。

"You're not going to like this," Jobs told Hertzfeld and the other engineers,

“有个坏消息，”乔布斯告诉赫茨菲尔德和其他工程师们，

"but Sculley is insisting that we charge $2,495 for the Mac instead of $1,995."

“斯卡利坚持要求我们将定价从1995美元上调至2495美元。”

Indeed the engineers were horrified¹⁰.

工程师们当然非常震惊。

Hertzfeld pointed¹¹ out that they were designing the Mac for people like themselves,

赫茨菲尔德指出Mac是为像他们自己这样的人设计的，

and overpricing it would be a "betrayal" of what they stood for.

定价过高将会“违背”他们的立场。

So Jobs promised them, "Don't worry, I'm not going to let him get away with it!"

于是乔布斯向他们承诺；“不用担心，我不会让他得逞的!”

But in the end, Sculley prevailed.

但最后还是斯卡利获胜了。

Even twenty-five years later Jobs seethed¹² when recalling the decision:

虽然这件事已经过去了25年，但当乔布斯回忆起当时的决定时，他依然非常气愤。

"It's the main reason the Macintosh sales slowed and Microsoft got to dominate the market."

“这是麦金塔销量下滑的主要原因，然后微软才得以占领市场。”他说道。

The decision made him feel that he was losing control of his product and company,

这个决定让他感觉到他正在失去对自己的产品和公司的控制，

and this was as dangerous as making a tiger feel cornered.

而这就跟把老虎逼入绝境一样危险。

1 mercurial   

adj.善变的，活泼的

参考例句：

• He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.他是个反复无常的人，因此对他的行为无法预言。
• Our desires and aversions are mercurial rulers.我们的欲望与嫌恶是变化无常的统治者。

2 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

3 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

4 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 tirades   

激烈的长篇指责或演说( tirade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• What's the matter with Levin today?Why doesn't he launch into one of his tirades? 你所说得话我全记录下来列文今天怎么啦？没有反唇相讥？

7 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

8 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

9 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。

10 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 seethed   

（液体）沸腾( seethe的过去式和过去分词 )； 激动，大怒； 强压怒火； 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth)

参考例句：

• She seethed silently in the corner. 她在角落里默默地生闷气。
• He seethed with rage as the train left without him. 他误了火车，怒火中烧。