乔布斯传 第349期:苹果坠落(2)

 　　Windows 95, which was released in 1995, became the most successful operating system ever, and Macintosh sales began to collapse¹. 1995年8月发布的Windows 95成为有史以来最成功的操作系统，而麦金塔的销售量开始暴跌。

　　"Microsoft simply ripped off what other people did," Jobs later said. “微软只是剽窃他人的成果，然后坚持下去，利用它对IBM兼容机的控制。”乔布斯后来说，

　　"Apple deserved it. After I left, it didn't invent anything new. The Mac hardly improved. It was a sitting duck for Microsoft." “苹果也是活该。我离开后，它没有发明任何新东西。Mac几乎没有改进。面对微软，它只能坐以待毙。”

　　His frustration² with Apple was evident when he gave a talk to a Stanford Business School club at the home of a student, 乔布斯对苹果的沮丧是显而易见的。有一次，他在一个学生家里给斯坦福商学院俱乐部成员演讲，

　　who asked him to sign a Macintosh keyboard. 那个学生请他在一个麦金塔的键盘上签名。

　　Jobs agreed to do so if he could remove the keys that had been added to the Mac after he left. 乔布斯说，如果能把他离开苹果后加到Mac上的键都拿掉，就可以签名。

　　He pulled out his car keys and pried³ off the four arrow cursor keys, which he had once banned, 他拿出汽车钥匙，抠掉了他曾经禁止使用的四个箭头光标按键，

　　as well as the top row of F1, F2, F3...function keys. 还有最上面一行的“FI 、 F2 、F3……”等功能键。

　　"I'm changing the world one keyboard at a time," he deadpanned. Then he signed the mutilated keyboard. “我在一次一个键盘地改变世界。”他面无表情地说。然后他在残缺不全的键盘上签了名。

　　During his 1995 Christmas vacation in Kona Village, Hawaii, 1995年圣诞节，在夏威夷的康娜度假村休假时，

　　Jobs went walking along the beach with his friend Larry Ellison, the irrepressible Oracle⁴ chairman. 乔布斯跟他的朋友甲骨文强势的董事长拉里·埃利森在海滩散步。

　　They discussed making a takeover bid for Apple and restoring Jobs as its head. 他们讨论收购苹果，然后让乔布斯回去重掌大局。

　　Ellison said he could line up $3 billion in financing: 埃利森说他可以安排30亿美元的融资。

　　"I will buy Apple, you will get 25% of it right away for being CEO, and we can restore it to its past glory." “我会买下苹果，你作为CEO会立即获得25%的股份，我们可以重现它过去的辉煌。”

　　But Jobs demurred⁵. "I decided⁶ I'm not a hostile-takeover kind of guy," he explained. 但是乔布斯却表示反对。“我认定我不是那种能做恶意收购的人，”他解释说，

　　"If they had asked me to come back, it might have been different." “如果他们请我回去，那就不一样了。”

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

3 pried   

v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的过去式和过去分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• We pried open the locked door with an iron bar. 我们用铁棍把锁着的门撬开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. 因此汤姆撬开它的嘴，把止痛药灌下去。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

4 oracle   

n.神谕，神谕处，预言

参考例句：

• In times of difficulty,she pray for an oracle to guide her.在困难的时候，她祈祷神谕来指引她。
• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important.它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。

5 demurred   

v.表示异议，反对( demur的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• At first she demurred, but then finally agreed. 她开始表示反对，但最终还是同意了。
• They demurred at working on Sundays. 他们反对星期日工作。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 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。