《名人传记》之乔布斯亿万富豪嬉皮士84:乔布斯回归苹果

 　　The company had lost its lead in the computer market,

　　苹果公司已经失去了它在计算机领域的领导地位

　　customers were leaving in droves, the company had no future, no roadmap.

　　客户不断在流失 公司的前途一片黯淡 不知何去何从

　　The company was in serious trouble.

　　苹果当时身陷囹圄

　　I, and other Apple users¹, were being told with malicious² grins³

　　那些使用Windows操作系统的朋友们曾坏笑着

　　from our Windows-using friends that if we wanted to keep our machines

　　告诉我和其他苹果机用户 如果我们想继续使用我们的机器

　　we'd have to go to hobbyist shops because there would be no Apple computer.

　　就得去小众爱好者商店了 因为以后不会再有苹果机了

　　At Next, Jobs had focused on developing its powerful operating system.

　　此时 在Next公司 乔布斯正在全力筹备一个强大操作系统的开发

　　Apple needed just such a system.

　　而这恰恰是苹果所需要的

　　Apple was in technical trouble.

　　苹果遇到了技术瓶颈

　　Next was absolutely in financial trouble, and the two came together.

　　而Next则陷入了财务困境 它们刚好可以互补

　　Apple bought Next for $400 million.

　　苹果以4亿美金收购了Next

　　It got the new operating system it needed, and Steve Jobs.

　　获得了它正需要的操作系统 以及史蒂夫·乔布斯

　　Steve was truly excited to be linked up with Apple again.

　　能够再次回到苹果让史蒂夫兴奋不已

　　It was the company he founded, the company he was kicked out of.

　　这是他一手创建的公司 也是他被扫地出门的公司

　　It's the company that had lost its way, it was starting to fail,

　　这也是一家失去了方向 开始走下坡路的公司

　　so he had this opportunity to go back and start fixing Apple at large.

　　他现在有了一个回去让苹果重整旗鼓的机会

　　A few days later, Apple revealed⁴ just how much trouble it was really in.

　　几天之后 苹果坦白了它究竟遇到了多大麻烦

　　They announced that they were going to lose something like $1 billion,

　　他们宣布 苹果的损失达到将近十亿美元

　　and back then $1 billion was a lot of money.

　　那个时候 十亿美元可是一大笔钱

　　I said, "Steve, what did we just get ourselves into?"

　　我说 史蒂夫 我们这可是给自己挖了什么样的大坑啊?

　　And he was wondering himself! Because this was a big surprise to us.

　　他自己也愣住了 这个情况是我们都始料未及的

　　To bring Apple back from the brink⁵,

　　为了让苹果重回正轨

　　Jobs had a conventional⁶ business challenge.

　　乔布斯需要解决一个典型的商业难题

　　He had to stop the company haemorrhaging money,

　　那就是扭转公司持续亏损的状态

　　but he also had to do more.

　　但他需要做的远远不仅如此

　　He had to help the company rediscover itself,

　　他还必须让这个公司重新定位自己

　　and for that he thought he needed to take it back to the future,

　　因此 他觉得自己有必要让苹果找回先机

　　to the values that had built it up in the first place.

　　找回那些苹果最初赖以生存的价值观

1 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

2 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

3 grins   

v.露齿而笑( grin的第三人称单数 )；露齿笑着表示

参考例句：

• How can you teach a child who just grins stupidly at you all day? 如果一个孩子整天都冲着你傻笑，你怎么能教他呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The grins of his friends discomposed Jack when he tried to make his speech. 杰克想要进行演讲时，他的朋友们咧着嘴笑，这使得他心里很慌乱。 来自《用法词典》

4 revealed   

v.显示( reveal的过去式和过去分词 )；揭示；泄露；[神学]启示

参考例句：

• They revealed to me that the experiment had failed. 他们向我透露试验失败了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His insincerity is revealed by the quick goggle of his eyes. 他眼睛的快速转动泄露了他的不诚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

6 conventional   

adj.普通的，常规的；符合习俗的，因循守旧的

参考例句：

• After a conventional opening remarks,he made a brilliant speech.在一个常规的开场白后，他做了个很精彩的演讲。
• It is simpler and quicker to use than conventional methods.这比通常的做法更简单、更快捷。