自拍杆原来是老古董？

 　　The selfie stick didn't always look like this. The original patent was filed all the way back in 1984, before cell phones were ubiquitous. Before the word "selfie" was even coined, let alone in the dictionary. The first selfie stick was neither as elegant nor as successful as the latest models.

　　自拍杆并不是一直都长这样的。在1984年手机还未普及之时，就有人首次为自拍杆申请了专利。当时，英文中还未出现“自拍”这个单词，更别说将其录入字典了。与最新自拍杆相比，第一台自拍杆既不美观也不受欢迎。

　　The first selfie stick was invented by Hiroshi Ueda and Yujiro Mima, was called a "telescopic extender for supporting compact camera," and looked a little something like this:

　　第一台自拍杆由上田宏（Hiroshi Ueda）和美马有二郎（Yujiro Mima）发明，起名为“袖珍相机支撑式伸缩扩展器”，样子有点类似下图：

　　Not so elegant. Since there weren't any cell phones with cameras, let alone smartphones with front-facing digital ones, Ueda's original product included a mirror so the user could see what they looked like as they took the photo.

　　不怎么美观。当时的手机没有摄像头，更不用提智能手机的前置摄像头了，所以上田宏的自拍杆只能加上一面镜子，这样拍照时人们就能看到摄像头中自己的样子。

　　自拍杆原来是老古董？

　　Ueda, who worked for camera company Minolta when he invented the extender, held the patent until it ran out in 2003 according to the BBC.

　　据BBC报道，发明这台扩展器时，上田宏在日本美能达(Minolta)公司工作，这项专利一直为他持有，直到2003年专利失效。

　　"My idea came too early, but that's just one of those things." Ueda told the BBC. "I patented about 300 ideas, so that was just one of them. We call it a 3am invention - it arrived too early."

　　接受BBC采访时，上田宏说：“我的这项发明出现得太早了。不过我还有大约300项发明专利，它只是其中之一。我们称它为‘凌晨3点的发明’，它到来得太早了。”

　　In 2005 another inventor, Wayne Fromm, brought the selfie stick back with his patent for an "apparatus¹ for supporting a camera and method for using the apparatus." He called his product Quik Pod.

　　而2005年另一位发明者韦恩·弗洛姆为“相机支撑器和支撑器的使用方法”申请了专利，再一次将自拍杆展示在世人面前。他称自己的发明为“快捷豆荚”（Quick Pod）。

　　Fromm feels similarly to Ueda, in that he believes his product came at the wrong time, before smartphones were everywhere. “The selfie stick today would not exist if it was not for me,” Fromm told ReadWrite. Fromm is currently suing many different selfie stick creators for copyright infringement².

　　弗洛姆与上田宏一样，觉得当时智能机还未流行，自己的发明可谓是生不逢时。他告诉读写网（ReadWrite）：“如果没有我的发明，现今的自拍杆不可能问世。”弗洛姆认为众多自拍杆的发明者侵犯了自己的专利权，正在提起上诉。

　　Vocabulary

　　apparatus 装置

1 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

2 infringement   

n.违反；侵权

参考例句：

• Infringement of this regulation would automatically rule you out of the championship.违背这一规则会被自动取消参加锦标赛的资格。
• The committee ruled that the US ban constituted an infringement of free trade.委员会裁定美国的禁令对自由贸易构成了侵犯