(出師未捷身先死的Lisa Computer

第八章繼續(xù)講述喬布斯和蘋果公司的發(fā)展。沃茲的杰作蘋果二代大獲成功,讓喬布斯迫切想要?jiǎng)?chuàng)造一個(gè)屬于自己的機(jī)器。從命運(yùn)慘淡的蘋果三代(Apple III),到由于沒有沃茲的才華參與而日益平庸的Lisa Computer(喬布斯用不愿承認(rèn)的私生女的名字命名了這款新電腦),喬布斯表現(xiàn)出了極強(qiáng)的控制欲,讓麗莎項(xiàng)目的負(fù)責(zé)人幾近抓狂。1979年秋天,蘋果開始關(guān)注施樂(lè)公司坐落在帕羅奧多的研究中心(Xerox PARC-Palo Alto Research Center)。喬布斯與施樂(lè)達(dá)成的交易是:蘋果接受施樂(lè)的融資,施樂(lè)向蘋果展示新技術(shù)。施樂(lè)的計(jì)算機(jī)專家研究出來(lái)的圖形用戶界面(graphic user interface)和桌面屏幕概念(desktop screen)讓蘋果一干人等激動(dòng)不已,他們迅速掌握并完善了施樂(lè)的圖形界面等技術(shù),就這樣光明正大地竊取了施樂(lè)的創(chuàng)意和靈感。

【英語(yǔ)原文】

The Apple raid on Xerox PARC is sometimes described as one of the biggest heistsin the chronicles of industry. Jobs occasionally endorsed this view, with pride. As he once said, “Picasso had a saying—‘good artists copy, great artists steal’—and we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” Another assessment, also sometimes endorsed by Jobs, is that what transpired was less a heist by Apple than a fumble by Xerox. “They were copier-heads who had no clue about what a computer could do,” he said of Xerox’s management. “They just grabbed defeat from the greatest victory in the computer industry. Xerox could have owned the entire computer industry.” Both assessments contain a lot of truth, but there is more to it than that. There falls a shadow, as T. S. Eliot noted, between the conception and the creation. In the annals of innovation, new ideas are only part of the equation. Execution is just as important. (Chapter 8 Xerox and Lisa: Great Artists Steals)

【滬江譯文】

蘋果對(duì)施樂(lè)PARC的技術(shù)搶劫,有時(shí)會(huì)被描述成了計(jì)算機(jī)行業(yè)歷史里最嚴(yán)重的盜竊事件之一。喬布斯偶爾也會(huì)一臉驕傲地承認(rèn)這一觀點(diǎn),他曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò):“畢加索有過(guò)名言:好的藝術(shù)家抄創(chuàng)意,偉大的藝術(shù)家盜靈感?!覀儠?huì)竊取偉大的靈感,在這一方面我們一直是厚顏無(wú)恥的?!?喬布斯還認(rèn)同另外一種觀點(diǎn):施樂(lè)的技術(shù)外泄,并不是因?yàn)樘O果的強(qiáng)取豪奪,而是施樂(lè)自己笨手笨腳錯(cuò)失了良機(jī)?!八麄兌际且粠痛镭?,對(duì)電腦的巨大商業(yè)潛力根本一無(wú)所知。” 他這樣評(píng)價(jià)施樂(lè)的管理層。“在這場(chǎng)計(jì)算機(jī)行業(yè)最偉大的勝利之戰(zhàn)中,施樂(lè)是完敗了。施樂(lè)本來(lái)有機(jī)會(huì)可以稱霸整個(gè)計(jì)算機(jī)行業(yè)的?!?這些觀點(diǎn)的確說(shuō)中了一些事實(shí),但不能說(shuō)明所有的問(wèn)題。 英國(guó)著名詩(shī)人兼文藝評(píng)論家艾略特曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò),概念和產(chǎn)物之間投射著一道影子。在創(chuàng)新的發(fā)展過(guò)程中,新鮮的創(chuàng)意只是方程式里的一部分,另外一個(gè)同樣重要的部分是具體執(zhí)行力。

【翻譯筆記】

1. in the chronicles of/in the annals of: chronicles和annals表示的都是編年史、記錄的意思(注意在短語(yǔ)中使用的都是復(fù)數(shù)形式),所以短語(yǔ)表示的多為歷史或者發(fā)展過(guò)程。

My mother has a soft spot in her heart for "The Chronicles of Narnia". 媽媽對(duì)《納尼亞傳奇》這本書很有感情。

The widespread destruction from this typhoon will be in the annals of the nation's history.
臺(tái)風(fēng)造成的滿目瘡痍將被沉痛地載入該國(guó)的史冊(cè)里。

2. have no clue about:毫無(wú)頭緒線索,一無(wú)所知。clue做名詞表示線索、端倪和頭緒。在做完形填空題時(shí)我們經(jīng)常提到要看上下文線索:context clues。clue 的常用短語(yǔ)是have/get a/no about sth.

I guarantee you that less than 2% of investors out there have a clue about how cheap things can really get.
我向你保證,只有不到2%的投資者知道股票能變得有多便宜。
? (ps: have a clue about 多用于否定的表達(dá)中,例如 I don't think that he has a clue about what he really wants. )

We are having a conversation but I have no clue what we are talking about.
我們一直在聊著,但我不知道我們?cè)谡勑┦裁垂頄|西。

3. good artists copy, great artists steal:能工摹其表,偉匠攝其魂

現(xiàn)代派繪畫大師畢加索的原句其實(shí)是:“Bad artists copy; good artist steal”(拙劣的藝術(shù)家抄,偉大的藝術(shù)家盜)。蘋果無(wú)疑是偉大的藝術(shù)家,將施樂(lè)PARC已經(jīng)棄用的圖形界面化腐朽為神奇,這才有了簡(jiǎn)單實(shí)用的大眾化電腦操作。所以,說(shuō)蘋果偷竊了施樂(lè)的創(chuàng)意,這種說(shuō)法其實(shí)是不公平的,畢竟蘋果也接受了施樂(lè)以每股10美元的價(jià)格購(gòu)買了10萬(wàn)股蘋果公司的股票。蘋果的工程師真正地掌握新技術(shù)的精髓。

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