喬布斯傳翻譯筆記:老喬對(duì)蘋果痛心疾首
(微軟的windows 95大獲成功)
在老喬離開蘋果后,這家曾經(jīng)具有強(qiáng)大革新力和創(chuàng)造力的公司,已經(jīng)毫無創(chuàng)新可言并陷入了停滯不前的狀態(tài)。喬布斯曾希望蘋果成為一家出色的消費(fèi)品公司,(“to become a wonderful consumer products company”)將喬布斯趕出蘋果的約翰.斯卡利卻發(fā)表言論稱:“蘋果永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)是一家消費(fèi)品公司?!?更甚的是,面對(duì)微軟,蘋果節(jié)節(jié)敗退。這一切都讓喬布斯對(duì)個(gè)人電腦產(chǎn)業(yè)沮喪失望不已,(he despaired about the personal computer industry)甚至說出了“臺(tái)式電腦進(jìn)入黑暗時(shí)代”的話。(”The desktop market has entered the dark ages”)且讓我們看他是如何評(píng)價(jià)蘋果的現(xiàn)狀的吧!
【英語原文】
Jobs was appalled, and he became angry and contemptuous as Sculley presided over a steady decline in market share for Apple in the early 1990s. “Sculley destroyed Apple by bringing in corrupt people and corrupt values,” Jobs later lamented. “They cared about making money—for themselves mainly, and also for Apple—rather than making great products.” He felt that Sculley’s drive for profits came at the expense of gaining market share. “Macintosh lost to Microsoft because Sculley insisted on milking all the profits he could get rather than improving the product and making it affordable.”As a result, the profits eventually disappeared. It had taken Microsoft a few years to replicate Macintosh’s graphical user interface, but by 1990 it had come out with Windows 3.0, which began the company’s march to dominance in the desktop market. Windows 95, which was released in 1995, became the most successful operating system ever, and Macintosh sales began to collapse. “Microsoft simply ripped off what other people did,” Jobs later said. “Apple deserved it. After I left, it didn’t invent anything new. The Mac hardly improved. It was a sitting duck for Microsoft.”(Chapter 23 THE SECOND COMING Apple Falling)
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【滬江譯文】
喬布斯十分震驚。同時(shí)他對(duì)于20世紀(jì)90年代初,蘋果在斯卡利的管理下市場(chǎng)份額持續(xù)下降變得愈加氣憤和蔑視。喬布斯惋嘆道:“斯卡利給蘋果引進(jìn)了惡劣的人 和低下的價(jià)值觀,這毀了蘋果。他們只顧著讓公司賺錢,更多的是讓自己賺錢,而非造出上乘的產(chǎn)品。” ?喬布斯感到斯卡利對(duì)利益的追逐是以市場(chǎng)份額的減少作為代價(jià)的?!胞溄鹚谂c微軟對(duì)決中敗下陣來正是因?yàn)樗箍ɡ麍?jiān)持榨取能夠得到的每一分利潤(rùn),卻沒有想過 改進(jìn)產(chǎn)品和降低價(jià)格?!?結(jié)果自然是利潤(rùn)全無。 微軟用了好些年來模仿麥金塔的圖形用戶界面,直到1990年它推出了Windows 3.0系統(tǒng),從此走上了統(tǒng)領(lǐng)臺(tái)式電腦市場(chǎng)的征程。1995年發(fā)行的Windows95系統(tǒng)成為了有史以來最成功的操作系統(tǒng),然而麥金塔此時(shí)的銷量已幾近崩 盤。“微軟只會(huì)抄襲別人的東西。” 喬布斯后來說:“但是蘋果活該被打敗。我離開之后,它再也沒發(fā)明什么新的東西,Mac操作系統(tǒng)幾乎沒有任何改進(jìn),面對(duì)微軟,它只能坐以待斃?!?/p>
【翻譯筆記】
1 preside?v. 主持,管理
Pre-代表“before”,side這個(gè)詞根代表“sit” 即“坐在前面”??梢栽O(shè)想管理或者主持都需要坐在前面。?
相關(guān)詞匯:
president n. 總統(tǒng),會(huì)長(zhǎng),(大學(xué))校長(zhǎng)?
presidency n. 總統(tǒng)的職位,總統(tǒng)的任期
presidential adj 總統(tǒng)的,管轄的,支配的?
2 milk v. 榨取,白蹭?
milk sth?
當(dāng)某人milk sth時(shí),意思就是這個(gè)人想盡辦法從某件事情或人身上取得最大利益, 這個(gè)短語也帶有白蹭或榨取利益的意思。?
3 affordable adj. 負(fù)擔(dān)的起,買的起?
短語?
economically affordable housing 經(jīng)濟(jì)適用房
affordable fair?價(jià)格實(shí)惠公道
affordable products 價(jià)格實(shí)惠產(chǎn)品
affordable fees 平價(jià)收費(fèi)
Affordable的動(dòng)詞形式為afford,其用法如下
afford to do sth
負(fù)擔(dān)得起;有能力做某事(常與can/can’t連用)
afford sth
買得起;花得起 (常與can/can’t連用)
4 rip off 扯掉;偷竊;欺詐;剝削
其他有關(guān)rip的短語
let rip 毫無拘束地講話;自由自在地行動(dòng);縱情歡樂 , 讓(感情等)奔放
rip out 扯掉;狠狠地發(fā)出
rip up 撕碎,撕毀
5 sitting duck 易被欺騙的對(duì)象,坐以待斃
sitting duck是美國(guó)畫家Michael Bedard在上世紀(jì)70年代設(shè)計(jì)的卡通形象。后來還有了系列動(dòng)畫片,卡通書。轟動(dòng)一時(shí),這個(gè)卡通形象就是容易上鉤的,后來用來形容人。?
Be A Sitting Duck 坐以待斃