《喬布斯傳》翻譯筆記:蘋果偷了別人的創(chuàng)意
(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,讓喬布斯迫切想要創(chuàng)造一個屬于自己的機器。從命運慘淡的蘋果三代(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)出了極強的控制欲,讓麗莎項目的負責(zé)人幾近抓狂。1979年秋天,蘋果開始關(guān)注施樂公司坐落在帕羅奧多的研究中心(Xerox PARC-Palo Alto Research Center)。喬布斯與施樂達成的交易是:蘋果接受施樂的融資,施樂向蘋果展示新技術(shù)。施樂的計算機專家研究出來的圖形用戶界面(graphic user interface)和桌面屏幕概念(desktop screen)讓蘋果一干人等激動不已,他們迅速掌握并完善了施樂的圖形界面等技術(shù),就這樣光明正大地竊取了施樂的創(chuàng)意和靈感。
【英語原文】
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】
蘋果對施樂PARC的技術(shù)搶劫,有時會被描述成了計算機行業(yè)歷史里最嚴重的盜竊事件之一。喬布斯偶爾也會一臉驕傲地承認這一觀點,他曾經(jīng)說過:“畢加索有過名言:好的藝術(shù)家抄創(chuàng)意,偉大的藝術(shù)家盜靈感?!覀儠`取偉大的靈感,在這一方面我們一直是厚顏無恥的。” 喬布斯還認同另外一種觀點:施樂的技術(shù)外泄,并不是因為蘋果的強取豪奪,而是施樂自己笨手笨腳錯失了良機?!八麄兌际且粠痛镭洠瑢﹄娔X的巨大商業(yè)潛力根本一無所知?!?他這樣評價施樂的管理層?!霸谶@場計算機行業(yè)最偉大的勝利之戰(zhàn)中,施樂是完敗了。施樂本來有機會可以稱霸整個計算機行業(yè)的?!?這些觀點的確說中了一些事實,但不能說明所有的問題。 英國著名詩人兼文藝評論家艾略特曾經(jīng)說過,概念和產(chǎn)物之間投射著一道影子。在創(chuàng)新的發(fā)展過程中,新鮮的創(chuàng)意只是方程式里的一部分,另外一個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(注意在短語中使用的都是復(fù)數(shù)形式),所以短語表示的多為歷史或者發(fā)展過程。
My mother has a soft spot in her heart for "The Chronicles of Narnia". 媽媽對《納尼亞傳奇》這本書很有感情。
2. have no clue about:毫無頭緒線索,一無所知。clue做名詞表示線索、端倪和頭緒。在做完形填空題時我們經(jīng)常提到要看上下文線索:context clues。clue 的常用短語是have/get a/no about sth.
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)。蘋果無疑是偉大的藝術(shù)家,將施樂PARC已經(jīng)棄用的圖形界面化腐朽為神奇,這才有了簡單實用的大眾化電腦操作。所以,說蘋果偷竊了施樂的創(chuàng)意,這種說法其實是不公平的,畢竟蘋果也接受了施樂以每股10美元的價格購買了10萬股蘋果公司的股票。蘋果的工程師真正地掌握新技術(shù)的精髓。