乔布斯传 第499期:iTunes(2)

 That is when Bill Kincaid came in. 这时，比尔·金凯德出现了。

A former Apple software engineer, he was driving to a track in Willows¹, California, 他之前是苹果公司的软件工程师，有一天，他一边驱车前往加州的威洛斯赛道，

to race his Formula Ford² sports car while (a bit incongruously) listening to National Public Radio. 准备开着他的福特方程式赛车在赛道上驰骋，一边（虽然有点儿不协调）听着美国公共广播电台的节目。

He heard a report about a portable music player called the Rio that played a digital song format³ called MP3. 他听到一条新闻在介绍一种叫做Rio的便携式音乐播放器，能够播放一种叫MP3的数字音乐格式。

He perked⁴ up when the reporter said something like, 当他听到播音员的一句话时突然兴奋起来：

"Don't get excited, Mac users, because it won't work with Macs." “但是别激动，苹果用户们，因为Rio和苹果机不兼容。”

Kincaid said to himself, "Ha! I can fix that!" 金凯德自言自语道：“哈哈，这个我可以做到。”

To help him write a Rio manager for the Mac, 为了给苹果机写Rio的管理程序，

he called his friends Jeff Robbin and Dave Heller, also former Apple software engineers. 金凯德叫来了他的两个朋友：杰夫·罗宾和戴夫·海勒，他们之前也是苹果公司的软件工程师。

Their product, known as SoundJam, offered Mac users an interface⁵ for the Rio and software for managing the songs on their computer. 三人制作的软件叫做SoundJam，给苹果机用户提供了一个专为Rio设置的界面，一个用来管理计算机上音乐的点唱机。

In July 2000, when Jobs was pushing his team to come up with music-management software, 2000年7月，当乔布斯催促他的团队做出音乐管理软件时，

Apple swooped⁶ in and bought SoundJam, bringing its founders⁷ back into the Apple fold. 苹果公司果断出手，买下了SoundJam，而且这也把他们三个发明人带回了苹果公司。

(All three stayed with the company, （他们三个人一直留在苹果公司，

and Robbin continued to run the music software development team for the next decade. 罗宾在接下来的十年里继续管理音乐软件开发团队。

Jobs considered Robbin so valuable he once allowed a Time reporter to meet him 乔布斯认为他非常有价值，所以有一次当《时代》杂志的记者想要采访罗宾时，

only after extracting the promise that the reporter would not print his last name.) 乔布斯的条件是不要公开他的姓氏。）

 

1 willows   

n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木

参考例句：

• The willows along the river bank look very beautiful. 河岸边的柳树很美。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Willows are planted on both sides of the streets. 街道两侧种着柳树。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 format   

n.设计，版式；[计算机]格式，DOS命令:格式化(磁盘)，用于空盘或使用过的磁盘建立新空盘来存储数据；v.使格式化，设计，安排

参考例句：

• Please format this floppy disc.请将这张软盘格式化。
• The format of the figure is very tasteful.该图表的格式很雅致。

4 perked   

（使）活跃( perk的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）增值； 使更有趣

参考例句：

• The recent demand for houses has perked up the prices. 最近对住房的需求使房价上涨了。
• You've perked up since this morning. 你今天上午精神就好多了。

5 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

6 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

7 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句