While most multimillionaire heads of large companies like to give their presentations with all the pomp and circumstance of royalty addressing the peons, Steve Jobs scorns the suit-and-tie combo favoured by the majority and instead stands before the masses at the Apple Worldwide Developers Convention in trademark black turtleneck and jeans.
雖然家產(chǎn)顯赫的公司領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人一般都會在致辭中裝模作樣,擺出一副高高在上的樣子,但是斯蒂文#8226;喬布斯卻對那些受到大多數(shù)人偏愛的高層不屑一顧,相反地,他在蘋果全球開發(fā)者會議上就穿了件黑色套領(lǐng)毛衣配牛仔褲。
He's here in person to announce the launch of Apple's new iPhone 3G, the latest in a wave of technological wonders that have collectively become known as the iGizmos – a family which includes the iPhone, iPod, and iMac. Unlike most CEOs launching a new product, Jobs can talk about these little gadgets with complete authority and knowledge… because he actually helped create them.
他親自宣布了最新的3G版iPhone——iGizmos的誕生,這是科技浪潮的新生代產(chǎn)物,將iPhone、iPod和iMac融為一體。和其他執(zhí)行總裁不同,喬布斯在發(fā)布時能夠全面詳盡并富權(quán)威性地描述新品,因為,實際上,這還是他讓新品得以真正實現(xiàn)。
You see, one thing Jobs has never been accused of is orthodoxy. The freewheeling Apple CEO has a reputation for being a hands-on manager, a shameless self-promoter and changing his business plans in a matter of seconds in order to throw off rivals. (Or, as Time magazine once said, being \"mercurial, egomaniacal, a micromanager.\")
喬布斯永遠(yuǎn)不會被指責(zé)的就是他的正統(tǒng)性。這位隨心所欲的蘋果總裁是個積極主動的管理者和狂妄的自我推銷者,更是一名為了擊敗對手而在瞬間改變商業(yè)計劃的商人(或者,就如《時代》雜志曾經(jīng)描述的一樣,他是個“雄辯機(jī)智、極端利己的電子管理者”)。
Steve Jobs isn't just some boardroom jockey concerned solely with profits and the bottom line. A technical genius in his own right, he has had technical input in nearly every creation that Apple have come up with. He worked on the Mac, the short-lived Lisa, and even had a part to play in the creation of the iPhone.
但是喬布斯決不是一個只關(guān)心利潤和結(jié)果的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。作為一名憑借自身頭銜的科技天才,他幾乎對蘋果的任何一個創(chuàng)意都投入了科技成分。他曾經(jīng)為Mac工作過、也曾效力于“短命”的Lisa,甚至還參與了iPhone的研發(fā)。
Blessed or cursed with a sarcastic streak a mile wide, an intensely competitive nature and a willingness to launch verbal attacks on just about anyone who disagrees with him, Jobs is the technology industry's equivalent of home-made dynamite – ready to explode at any time.
不管是受到祝福還是遭到尖酸的咒罵,天生有強(qiáng)烈競爭性并扎實肯干的喬布斯絕不會在言語上放過任何一個跟他不同陣營的人,他就是科技領(lǐng)域的大人物,任何時刻都會有驚人之舉。
As a result of his unusual temperament and feuds with just about all of the industry's major players, Jobs has built himself a rep as a quirky, individualistic Silicon Valley hotshot, emphasizing the importance of design while understanding the crucial role aesthetics play in public appeal. His work driving forward the development of products that are both functional and elegant has earned him a devoted following.
由于本身的脾氣以及與其他電子大亨結(jié)怨,喬布斯已經(jīng)被描述成古怪、自私的硅谷狂人,他一直強(qiáng)調(diào)設(shè)計的重要性,同時也理解美在吸引公眾方面扮演的重要角色。而他在發(fā)展產(chǎn)品功能性和美觀性方面的才華也為他贏得了一幫忠心耿耿的員工。
Jobs' successes are manifold, but he will always be remembered for one great achievement: along with college buddy Steve Wozniak, he kickstarted the personal computer era when they created the Apple II in 1976. A lifelong computer hobbyist, Jobs had long wondered what would happen if computers, rather than being confined to room-sized mainframes and government use, could be manufactured in a much-reduced, homeowner-friendly way? The resulting Apple II was a tremendous success, making over $200 million in the first three years.
雖然喬布斯在各方面都取得了成功,但是他將永遠(yuǎn)因為一個偉大的創(chuàng)舉而被記住,那就是他和校友斯蒂文#8226;沃茲一起于1976年創(chuàng)造的蘋果二代開創(chuàng)了個人電腦的新紀(jì)元。研究電腦是喬布斯一生的愛好,他曾思考過這樣一個問題:如果電腦的體積沒那么龐大,又不僅只適合政府使用,可以變得更小巧并被大家普遍使用會怎么樣呢?思考的結(jié)果就是蘋果二代取得了巨大的成功,頭三年就盈利2億多。
More than anything else, Jobs is a canny CEO who knows how to sell product. Steve Wozniak was the technical genius behind the first Apple computer; Jobs saw the marketability. He now presides over a company with $24 billion in annual sales and 22,000 employees. On the side, through his dealings with the animation company Pixar (whom he helped found), he also serves on the board of directors at Disney.
喬布斯最成功的一點在于他是名知道如何銷售產(chǎn)品的精明總裁。斯蒂文#8226;沃茲是開發(fā)第一代蘋果電腦的科技天才,而喬布斯卻看到了商機(jī)。現(xiàn)在,他經(jīng)營著每年創(chuàng)利潤高達(dá)240億、擁有2.2萬員工的公司。另外,他還協(xié)創(chuàng)了皮克斯動畫公司,同時他也是迪士尼董事會的成員之一。
There's no doubting that, right now, Steve Jobs is on top of his game. Throughout his career, he has been faced with terrible difficulties: he has been humiliated, betrayed by his closest collaborators, and has even faced death when, in 2004, he had to endure surgery to be cured from a very rare form of pancreatic cancer.
毫無疑問,斯蒂文#8226;喬布斯目前已經(jīng)站在了事業(yè)的巔峰。但是一路走來,他曾經(jīng)困難重重:他曾被最親密的合作伙伴羞辱、背叛,甚至在2004年因罹患一種罕見的胰腺癌而面臨死亡的威脅。
Yet he is now regarded as one of the most prominent figures in technology, the visionary leader of iconic Apple and a key player of entertainment colossus Disney. In November 2007, he was even named most influential businessman on earth by Fortune Magazine, for his role in the computer, music, animation and phone industries.
但是他現(xiàn)在被公認(rèn)為科技領(lǐng)域中最顯赫的人物、蘋果公司最有前瞻性的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人、娛樂圈巨人迪士尼公司中最關(guān)鍵的人物。2007年11月,他因在計算機(jī)、音樂、動畫和手機(jī)領(lǐng)域的貢獻(xiàn)而被《財富雜志》評為全球最有影響力的企業(yè)家。
Not bad for an orphaned college dropout from Silicon Valley.
這對于一個在硅谷被拋棄的孤兒來說可一點都不差呀。