乔布斯传 第489期:木材 石头 钢铁 玻璃(5)

 In July 2011, a decade after the first ones opened, there were 326 Apple stores. 2011年，第一批苹果零售店开业10年之后，全世界已经有317家苹果零售店。

The biggest was in London's Covent Garden, the tallest in Tokyo's Ginza. 最大的店在伦敦的科芬园，最高的店在东京的银座。

The average annual revenue per store was $34 million, and the total net sales in fiscal¹ 2010 were $9.8 billion. 每家店的平均收入是3400万美元，2010财年的净销售总额是98亿美元。

But the stores did even more. They directly accounted for only 15% of Apple's revenue, 但是零售店的贡献还不仅仅是这一点。零售店为苹果公司贡献的收入仅占15%，

but by creating buzz and brand awareness² they indirectly³ helped boost everything the company did. 但它们在制造话题和提髙品牌认知度这些方面作出了间接的贡献，提升了整个公司的业务。

Even as he was fighting the effects of cancer in 2011, Jobs spent time envisioning future store projects, 2011年，即使在与癌症作斗争时，乔布斯也仍然在花时间设想未来的店铺规划，

such as the one he wanted to build in New York City's Grand Central Terminal. 比如他想在纽约中央车站建造一家。

One afternoon he showed me a picture of the Fifth Avenue store and pointed⁴ to the eighteen pieces of glass on each side. 一天下午，他向我展示了一张第五大道店的照片，并指着两边各18块玻璃的外墙。

"This was state of the art in glass technology at the time," he said. 他说道：“这是当时流行的玻璃技术。

"We had to build our own autoclaves to make the glass." 但我们必须自己制造高压玻璃脱泡机。”

Then he pulled out a drawing in which the eighteen panes⁵ were replaced by four huge panes. 然后，他拿出一张图纸，上面的18块玻璃已经变成了4大块巨大的玻璃。

That is what he wanted to do next, he said. 他说这是他下一步要做的。

Once again, it was a challenge at the intersection⁶ of aesthetics⁷ and technology. 这是对美学与技术结合的又一次挑战。

"If we wanted to do it with our current technology, we would have to make the cube a foot shorter," he said. 他说：“用现在的技术，我们不得不让这个立方体外形矮一英尺。

"And I didn't want to do that. So we have to build some new autoclaves in China." 但是我不想这样做，所以我们必须在中国造一些新的玻璃脱泡机。”

Ron Johnson was not thrilled by the idea. 罗恩·约翰逊对这个提议并不感兴趣。

He thought the eighteen panes actually looked better than four panes would. 他认为18块玻璃比4块玻璃要好看些。

"The proportions we have today work magically with the colonnade⁸ of the GM Building," he said. 他说：“这家店铺的外观比例刚好和通用汽车大楼的柱廊协调一致。

"It glitters like a jewel box. I think if we get the glass too transparent⁹, it will almost go away to a fault." 它像一个珠宝盒那样熠熠闪光。我认为如果玻璃的透明度太高，也会成为一个错误。”

He debated the point with Jobs, but to no avail. 他为此和乔布斯争辩，但没有用。

"When technology enables something new, he wants to take advantage of that," said Johnson. 约翰逊还说：“一旦技术有了新突破，他就要利用起来。

"Plus, for Steve, less is always more, simpler is always better. 而且，对史蒂夫来说，‘少’永远意味着‘多’，越简单越好。

Therefore, if you can build a glass box with fewer elements, it's better, it's simpler, and it's at the forefront of technology. 所以，最好就是能用更少的元素搭建起一个玻璃屋，不但更加简约，而且是站在技术的前沿。

That's where Steve likes to be, in both his products and his stores." 这就是史蒂夫最喜欢做的，无论是对于他的产品还是对于他的零售店。”

 

1 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

2 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

3 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

4 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。

5 panes   

窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sun caught the panes and flashed back at him. 阳光照到窗玻璃上，又反射到他身上。
• The window-panes are dim with steam. 玻璃窗上蒙上了一层蒸汽。

6 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

7 aesthetics   

n.(尤指艺术方面之)美学，审美学

参考例句：

• Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
• The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。

8 colonnade   

n.柱廊

参考例句：

• This colonnade will take you out of the palace and the game.这条柱廊将带你离开宫殿和游戏。
• The terrace was embraced by the two arms of the colonnade.平台由两排柱廊环抱。

9 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。