Under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Apple has produced products that have changed the way people around the world communicate, obtain information and entertain themselves. Here's a look at Apple’s success and what sets the company apart from other computer companies as it prepares for its founder and visionary leader to step down as CEO.
在史蒂夫·乔布斯的领导下，苹果公司推出的一系列产品，从根本上改变了世界各地的人彼此之间通讯联络、获取信息以及娱乐的方式。
Whether it’s iPods, iPhones or iPads, they have become a part of daily life for people around the world. Technology analyst Francis Lun in Hong Kong said the man responsible is Apple’s chief executive officer, Steve Jobs.
不管是iPods， iPhones 或 iPads，它们都已经成为世界各地很多人目前生活中不可或缺的一部分。香港的一位科技问题分析人士弗郎西斯说，这些产品的背后，是苹果公司的总裁史蒂夫·乔布斯。
"Steve Jobs actually changed the way that we download music, changed the way that we use handsets, and also changed the way that we use computers," said Lun.
弗郎西斯说：“乔布斯改变了我们下载音乐的方式，改变了我们使用手提电话的方式，同时也改变了我们使用计算机的方式。”
University of California Los Angeles management professor Richard Rumelt said the ideas behind Apple’s products are not original.
加州大学洛杉矶分校的管理学教授理查德·鲁梅尔特说，苹果公司产品的概念并不是最创新的。
“Apple didn’t invent personal computers, it didn’t invent [the] mouse and windows interface, it didn’t invent digital music players, it didn’t invent the smart phone or the tablet,” he said.
鲁梅尔特教授说：“苹果公司并不是个人电脑的发明者，也不是鼠标和窗口界面等产品的发明一方；像iPods数码音乐播放器、SMART PHONE电话、以及TABLET平板大脑这些产品，也都不是苹果公司发明的。”
Ted Rozolis of IEEE Computer Society said there is one thing Apple can do that other computer companies have not achieved.
不过，国际工程师协会下属的计算机协会的一位专家罗佐里斯指出，苹果公司在某一个方面的成绩和能力，超过了其他所有公司。
“They take a lot of concepts and re-purpose them, repackage them, make them beautiful and everybody wants to have them," said Rozolis. "They always had a way to take technology and make it again affordable and easy to use and therefore popular.”
罗佐里斯说：“苹果公司能够把很多概念拿来，进行转换利用，重新包装，做得非常精美，很抢手。苹果公司总是能够想办法让科技变得实用，而且让普通人能够买得起，因此它们的产品总是广受欢迎。”
IEEE Computer Society President Sorel Reisman said that’s why Apple has succeeded while many other companies have failed.
国际工程师协会的总裁雷斯曼说，这就是为什么苹果公司能够成功，而其他一些公司则以失败告终。
“It’s just astounding how many computer companies were in the PC business in the '80s that no longer exist,” Reisman observed.
雷斯曼说：“和80年代相比，那时候个人电脑行业里面公司云集，但是现在呢，已经所剩无几。这不得不让人惊叹！”
Reisman also said the Internet has been key to Apple’s growth.
雷斯曼同时表示，对于苹果公司来说，因特网的存在和发展是一个关键。
“When you travel, everybody’s got one of these things, an Apple iPad. When I say everybody, I mean little kids, mothers, women who would otherwise be knitting,” Reisman said.
他说：“旅行的时候，几乎人人手上都有一个苹果公司的 iPad，不管大人、孩子，妇女、儿童，原先人们或许在那儿打毛衣，但是现在呢，手上都拿着一个 iPad。”
Rumelt wrote a book that examines the strategies of businesses such as Apple. He said Apple leaves features out of its products that it cannot implement well. Other companies have tried to make products that are similar to Apple’s, but they have not been as successful.
加州大学洛杉矶分校的鲁梅尔特教授就苹果公司还有其他一些公司的商业战略，写了一本书。他说，苹果公司把那些运作起来有困难的地方，一律不放到产品当中去。其他一些公司也曾尝试拿出类似苹果公司的产品，但是都没有那么成功。
“So we have here a very interesting contrast between the Apple sense of only doing what you can do well, versus the standard industry approach, which is stick in every possible feature you can, but in the end that’s kludgy [inefficient or clumsy].”
鲁梅尔特教授说：“和别的公司比起来，苹果公司只是拿出它们能够做出的最好的产品，但是一般行业内的公司，往往把所有能够想到的都放到某个产品里面，结果是没有效率，也缺乏特色。”
With Steve Jobs’ stepping down as Apple’s CEO, some consumers, like this man from Germany, fear Apple no longer will be the same.
史蒂夫·乔布斯如今已经从苹果总裁的位置上撤下来了，这让苹果公司的一些老客户觉得苹果公司今后恐怕不会和从前一样。
"Definitely on the innovation. I don't think they will continue to be so innovative as he is the brains behind the ideas," he said.
这位来自德国的客户说：“从创新的角度来说，肯定跟从前会不一样，因为乔布斯人不在了，而过去那些创新，都是靠了他。”
Many analysts have a different view. IEEE Computer Society President Reisman said, “He’s handpicked his successors. They’ve been trained to be his successors. I think the company is fine. It’ll be fine.”
不过，很多分析人士并不这么看。国际工程师协会下属的计算机协会的雷斯曼说：“乔布斯已经亲手选了他的继承人。这些人都已经被培训好，就是为了要接他的班的。在我看来，苹果公司今后没问题。”
Still, management professor Rumelt warns that Apple’s managers need to be careful.
不过，管理学教授鲁梅尔特提醒苹果公司的管理层，有要小心的地方。
“If the people who continue to manage Apple into the future don’t impose that same kind of very demanding standards of design excellence on the products they release, then you’ll begin to see a dilution of the company’s brand name," he said.
鲁梅尔特说：“假如公司的管理层将来对产品在设计上的把关没有像从前那么高度严格的话，那么，过一阵，苹果公司这个牌子可能就会没有那么响了。”
For the next three to five years, however, Rumelt said Apple already has its product plans in place.
不过，鲁梅尔特说，今后三到五年内，不必担心，因为今后几年的产品，苹果公司早已经规划好了。 |