Speech to Apple Employees
对苹果员工的演讲
“Was George Orwell right about 1984?”
"乔治-奥威尔对《1984》的看法对吗？"
Steve introduced the Macintosh and its iconic commercial, which ran during the 1984 Super Bowl, at an Apple sales meeting in October 1983.
在 1983 年 10 月的一次苹果销售会议上，史蒂夫介绍了 Macintosh 及其标志性广告，该广告曾在 1984 年的超级碗比赛中播放。
Hi, I’m Steve Jobs. 你好，我是史蒂夫-乔布斯。
It is 1958. IBM passes up the chance to buy a young, fledgling company that has invented a new technology called xerography. Two years later, Xerox is born. And IBM has been kicking themselves ever since.
时间是 1958 年。IBM 放弃了收购一家年轻的新兴公司的机会，这家公司发明了一种名为 "Xerography "的新技术。两年后，施乐公司诞生了。从那时起，IBM 就一直在自责。
It is ten years later, the late sixties. Digital Equipment [DEC] and others invent the minicomputer. IBM dismisses the minicomputer as too small to do serious computing, and therefore unimportant to their business. DEC grows to become a multi-hundred-million-dollar corporation before IBM finally enters the minicomputer market.
十年后，也就是 60 年代末。数字设备公司 [DEC] 和其他公司发明了微型计算机。IBM 认为微型计算机太小，不能进行严肃的计算，因此对他们的业务不重要。在 IBM 最终进入微型计算机市场之前，DEC 已经发展成为一家市值数亿美元的公司。
It is now ten years later, the late seventies. In 1977, Apple, a young, fledgling company on the West Coast, invents the Apple II, the first personal computer as we know it today. IBM dismisses the personal computer as too small to do serious computing and unimportant to their business.
现在是十年后的七十年代末。1977 年，美国西海岸一家刚刚起步的年轻公司 Apple 发明了 Apple II，也就是我们今天所知的第一台个人电脑。IBM 认为个人电脑太小，不能进行严肃的计算，对他们的业务也不重要。
The early eighties, ’81. Apple II has become the world’s most popular computer. Apple has grown to a $300 million company, becoming the fastest-growing corporation in American business history, with over fifty competitors vying for a share. IBM enters the personal-computer market in November ’81 with the IBM PC.
八十年代初，81 年。苹果 II 已成为世界上最流行的计算机。苹果公司已发展成为一家市值 3 亿美元的公司，成为美国商业史上发展最快的公司，50 多个竞争对手争相与之分一杯羹。81 年 11 月，IBM 推出 IBM PC，进入个人电脑市场。
1983. Apple and IBM emerge as the industry’s strongest competitors, each selling approximately one billion dollars’ worth of personal computers in 1983. Each will invest greater than $50 million for R&D and another $50 million for television advertising in 1984, totaling almost one quarter of a billion dollars combined.
1983年，苹果公司和 IBM 公司成为该行业最强劲的竞争对手，1983 年各自销售了价值约 10 亿美元的个人电脑。1984 年，两家公司将分别投资 5000 多万美元用于研发，另外还将投资 5000 万美元用于电视广告，两家公司的投资总额接近 25 亿美元。
The shakeout is in full swing. The first major firm goes bankrupt, with others teetering on the brink. Total industry losses for ’83 outshadow even the combined profits of Apple and IBM for personal computers.
洗牌正在如火如荼地进行。第一家大公司破产，其他公司也岌岌可危。83 年的行业总损失甚至超过了苹果和 IBM 个人电脑利润的总和。
It is now 1984. It appears IBM wants it all. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run for its money. Dealers initially welcoming IBM with open arms now fear an IBM-dominated and controlled future. They are increasingly and desperately turning back to Apple as the only force that can ensure their future freedom.
现在是 1984 年。看来，IBM 想要这一切。苹果公司被认为是向 IBM 发起冲击的唯一希望。经销商们最初张开双臂欢迎 IBM，现在却担心未来会被 IBM 主宰和控制。他们越来越迫切地把苹果公司作为唯一能确保他们未来自由的力量。
IBM wants it all, and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple. Will Big Blue dominate the entire computer industry? [Audience: No!] The entire information age? [Audience: No!] Was George Orwell right about 1984?
IBM 想要得到这一切，并将枪口对准了行业控制的最后一个障碍：苹果公司。蓝色巨头会主宰整个计算机行业吗？[整个信息时代？[关于《1984》，乔治-奥威尔说对了吗？
[Steve runs the “1984” commercial. Directed by Ridley Scott, the ad depicts a dystopian, Orwellian world. In one scene, people dressed in gray, their heads shaved, sit expressionless in front of a large screen on which a dictator drones nonsense. A woman in bright red running shorts and a Macintosh shirt bursts into the room. She hurls a hammer at the screen, destroying it. The commercial ends with a promise: “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984.’”]
[史蒂夫播放了 "1984 "广告。该广告由雷德利-斯科特执导，描绘了一个乌托邦式的奥威尔世界。在一个场景中，人们穿着灰色的衣服，剃着光头，面无表情地坐在一个大屏幕前，屏幕上是一个独裁者在滔滔不绝地说着废话。这时，一个穿着鲜红色跑步短裤和麦金塔衬衫的女人冲进房间。她用锤子砸向屏幕，将其砸毁。广告以一句承诺结束："1 月 24 日，苹果电脑公司将推出 Macintosh。届时，你就会知道为什么《1984》不会像《1984》一样。］
[There is tumultuous applause and shouting from the audience; once it dies down, Steve resumes.] That ad is going to run one week before Macintosh is introduced. And our ad agency that put it together is here today, Chiat/Day. Jay Chiat is here, the principal. Lee Clow and Steve Hayden, [who] wrote the copy and did the creative, are also here.
[台下响起了热烈的掌声和叫喊声；掌声平息后，史蒂夫继续说道]这则广告将在麦金塔电脑问世前一周播出。我们的广告公司 Chiat/Day 今天也来了。Jay Chiat 在这里，他是负责人。李-克劳（Lee Clow）和史蒂夫-海登（Steve Hayden）也在这里，他们负责撰写文案和创意。
You might—I guess they just heard what you thought.
我猜他们只是听到了你的想法。