百色职业学院-优秀班主任材料

When Steve Jobs walked on to the stage
at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center in
January, it capped the most remarkable
comeback in modern business history.
It wasn’t simply a matter of the illness
that had sidelined him for half the year
before, leaving him severely emaciated and
eventually requiring a liver transplant. Little
more than a decade earlier, both Mr Jobs’
career and Apple, the company he had
co-founded, were widely considered washed
up, their relevance to the future of
technology written off both in Silicon Valley
and on Wall Street.
By the start of this year, however, the
rebound was complete. The level of
anticipation whipped up in advance of the
January event was unusual even by Mr Jobs’
own, impressive standards.
Critics often talk disparagingly of the
“reality distortion field” generated by the
Apple boss: his ability to convince onlookers
that technologies that would seem unformed
in other hands have reached a peak of
perfection at Apple. Generating this
suspension of disbelief is essential to stirring
up demand for gadgets most consumers had
no idea they needed, and is an art form of
which Mr Jobs has long been the
acknowledged master.
Speculation had been building in the
tech world for months about what was
rumoured to be Apple’s latest
ground-breaking product. A touch-screen
computer without a keyboard, it might even
rival the impact of the iPod, introduced in
2001, and the iPhone, in 2007. In the event,
the iPad that Mr Jobs carried on to the stage
with him that day did not disappoint.
A rebuttal of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
much-quoted aphorism that there are no
今年1月，史蒂夫•乔布斯(Steve Jobs)
走上旧金山芳草地艺术中心(Yerba Buena
Center)的舞台发布iPad，完成了现代商业
史上最引人注目的一次复出。
这不仅仅关乎半年前迫使他退居幕后的
疾病。病魔一度令乔布斯严重消瘦，最终不得
不进行肝脏 移植手术。而就在十多年前，几乎
所有人认为乔布斯的事业及其共同创立的苹
果公司(Appl e)已经走上绝路。硅谷和华尔街
都断定，它们已经与科技的未来无缘。
然而，到了今年初， 苹果已然重生。在1
月份的发布会之前，即使是按照乔布斯自己的
苛刻标准衡量，外界对苹果的 期望程度也是异
乎寻常的。
批评者总是用贬抑的口吻谈论乔布斯创
造的“现实扭曲场 ”：他能让观众信服，那些在
其他厂商手中似乎尚未成形的技术已经被苹
果完美地应用。为了激 起消费者购买他们自己
也不知道是否真正需要的电子产品的欲望，打
消他们的疑虑极其关键，而 乔布斯则早就被公
认为这种艺术形式的大师。
在iPad发布之前的数月内，科技界对苹果这款最新的突破性产品猜测纷纷。据传它是
没有键盘的触摸屏电脑，甚至可以媲美2001
年的iPod和2007年的iPhone带来的影响。
在1月份的发布会上，乔布斯带上台的iPa d
没有让人们失望。
对于F•斯科特•菲茨杰拉德(F. Scott
Fitzgerald)广为流传的名言（美国人的生命

second acts in American life does not come
more decisively than this. When Steven Paul
Jobs first hit the headlines, he was younger
even than Mark Zuckerberg is now. Long
before it was cool to be a nerd, his formative
role in popularising the personal computer,
and Apple’s initial public offering on Wall
Street – which came when Mr Jobs was still
only 25 – made him the tech industry’s first
rock star.
Now, three decades on, he has secured
his place in the foremost ranks of the West
Coast tech titans who have done so much to
shape the world around the turn of the
millennium. Long-time nemesis Bill Gates
may be richer and, at his peak, arguably
exerted greater sway, thanks to his
monopoly over the world’s PC software. But
the Microsoft co-founder has left the stage to
devote his life and fortune to good works. It
is Mr Jobs who now holds the spotlight.
Of all the fingers that Apple has poked
into Microsoft’s eyes over the years, none
can have rankled as much as the early
success of the iPad. Mr Gates himself
championed a tablet computer nearly a
decade ago, though the stylus needed to
write on its screen and the PC-like interface
generated little demand.
The iPad is already turning out to be a
different story. Extending the iPhone’s
innovations of a more versatile screen and
lightweight “apps” designed for specific
tasks, it points to a future beyond the
computer mouse – and a world without
Windows. Sales of cheaper notebook
computers are already suffering.
It is not a vision that is universally
welcomed among the digerati. By deciding
which apps are available in its online store,
and setting the rules for how those apps are
developed, Apple rules this new kingdom
中没有第二幕）而言，没有比这更坚决的反驳
了。乔布斯首次登上报纸头条时，甚至比现在
的马克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg) 还要
年轻。早在书呆子备受追捧之前，由于在普及
个人电脑(PC)中发挥的关键作用，以及苹 果
在华尔街的成功上市（当时乔布斯年仅25
岁），乔布斯就成为了科技界的第一个摇滚明星。
如今，三十年过去了，乔布斯成为了在
塑造世纪之交的世界中居功至伟的美国西海< br>岸的几大科技巨头之一。他的老对手比尔•盖
茨(Bill Gates)或许更富有，而且在盖 茨的事
业巅峰时期，凭借其在PC软件领域的垄断，
可以说盖茨的影响力比乔布斯更大。但盖茨 已
经离开了舞台，将其余生和财富奉献给慈善事
业。如今，乔布斯才是焦点所在。
这 些年来，在苹果针对微软的所有打击
中，没有一次比得过iPad的巨大成功造成的
冲击。近十 年前，盖茨自己也开发过一款平板
电脑，但由于需要用笔在屏幕上写字，并且采
用与PC一样的 界面，该产品并未带动多少需
求。
iPad则完全不同。iPad延续了iPhone
在屏幕多用途以及用于具体任务的轻量级“应
用程序”方面的创新，代表着一个没有计算机
鼠 标和没有Windows的未来。廉价上网本的
销售已经受到了冲击。
不是所有数字专家都欢 迎这样的未来。
通过操纵在线商店销售的应用程序，以及为开
发这些应用制定规则，苹果对这个 新王国的控
制更胜于微软对PC的控制。

more closely than Microsoft ever ruled the
PC.
To critics, this is the dark side of Mr
Jobs’ perfectionism. Dependent on Apple’s
good graces, new ideas could be stifled.
Google, once an ally, has positioned itself as
the anti-Apple: a company that has drawn on
the openness of the web itself as the model
for its own smartphone software.
For now, though, those fears are largely
hypothetical, and millions of consumers are
only too happy to buy a piece of the elegant –
and elegantly simple – digital life that Mr
Jobs is selling. His ability to get consumers
to line up for products conjured from
nothing – paying premium prices, and in
uncertain economic times – draws accolades
even from rivals.
“Steve’s the last of the great builders,”
says Roger McNamee, a Silicon Valley
financier who led a recent, failed attempt to
rebuild Palm in Apple’s image. “What makes
him different is that he’s creating jobs and
economic activity out of thin air while just
about every other CEO in America is working
out ways to cut costs and lay people off.”
The sophistication of his touch-screen
devices is a long way from Mr Job’s
rudimentary start in the garage of his
adoptive parents in suburban northern
California. It was there that the circuit
boards were assembled for the first personal
computers designed by co-founder Steve
Wozniak. Rough wooden cases to house the
boards were an optional extra.
There was little in Mr Jobs’ beginnings
that gave a hint of what was to come. A
college drop-out with no formal engineering
background, he had just returned from a trip
to India when he and Mr Wozniak found a
way to turn their electronics hobby into a
对批评者来说，这是乔布斯完美主义的
阴暗面。依赖苹果善意的新 思想很可能会被扼
杀。曾经的盟友谷歌(Google)站到了苹果的
对立面。谷歌以web的 开放性为基础，建立
了自己的智能手机软件模式。
然而，就目前而言，那些担忧很大程度上仍然是一种假设，众多消费者也非常乐意购
买乔布斯销售的设计优雅、简单易用的数字产
品。乔布斯能够使消费者在不确定的经济形势
下，着魔般地排队溢价购买苹果产品。这种能
力甚 至赢得了竞争对手的推崇。
硅谷金融家罗杰•麦克纳米(Roger
McNamee)表示 ：“史蒂夫是最后一个伟大的
创造者。他的与众不同之处在于，当美国其他
首席执行官都在设法 削减开支和裁员的时候，
他却在凭空创造新的就业和经济活动。”麦克
纳米最近曾模仿苹果重建 Palm，但宣告失败。
苹果触摸屏产品的复杂性，远远超过了
乔布斯在车库中鼓捣出的初级 产品。当时乔布
斯在其位于加州北部郊区的养父母家中，与史
蒂夫•沃兹尼亚克(Steve Wozniak)用电路
板组装出第一台个人电脑。外面套着一个做工
粗糙的木盒——这是可选 配件。
创业之初，没有任何迹象表明乔布斯能
取得今日的成就。他从大学退了学，没有任何< br>正式的工程背景，刚刚从印度旅行回来。他不
过是与沃兹尼亚克一起找到了一种方法，将他
们对电子产品的爱好转化为了初创企业。

fledgling business.
As told by journalist-turned-venture
capitalist Michael Moritz in Return to the
Little Kingdom, Mr Jobs’ spiritual
aspirations left him with little use for either
shoes or soap for long periods – to the
distress of co-workers. A spirituality guided
by his training in Zen Buddhism has played a
central part in his life, even prompting him
to eschew formal medical treatment for a
period during his battle with pancreatic
cancer.
Mr Jobs’ first stint at Apple was to last
less than a decade. At the age of 30, after a
power struggle with a more experienced
executive who had been hired to run the
upstart company, he was out. But in 1997, a
floundering Apple acquired Mr Job’s second
company, Next, and within the year he was
back in control.
The iPad is the culmination of an
approach that he has seemingly been
perfecting for his entire career. Those who
have laboured under him describe him as a
stern taskmaster who understands the art of
the possible, rather than a long-range
visionary. That means pushing relentlessly
forward rather than milking old successes –
even ones as significant as the iPod.
“Other companies might try to stretch
out the life of [the iPod], but they were
willing to say, ‘No there’s better
technology,’ ” says Carl Bass, chief executive
of Autodesk, a design software company that
has developed apps for the iPad. “I don’t
often think about CEOs being brave and
courageous, but Steve is.”
Inside Apple, it is clear who calls the
shots on design and development. “You have
to make one guy like what you’re doing,” said
one recently departed executive, who spoke
风险投资家迈克尔•莫里茨(Michael
Moritz)在《重返小王国》(Return to the
Little Kingd om)一书中写道，乔布斯对性灵
的追求导致在很长一段时间里，鞋子或者肥皂
对他来说都毫无 用处——这令与他共事的人
十分痛苦。禅宗佛教教义在他的生活里扮演着
中心角色，以致于在患 上胰脏癌之后，他有一
段时间拒绝接受常规治疗，试图通过佛教提倡
的“精神力”克服病患。
不到10年后，苹果聘用了一位更富有经
验的经理人来管理这家迅速成长的企业，在一
场权力斗争之后，30岁的乔布斯选择了离开
他一手创办的公司。但在1997年，陷入困境
的 苹果收购了乔布斯开办的第二家公司
NeXT，这一年还没过去，乔布斯便再度掌控
苹果。 < br>iPad是乔布斯日臻完美的职业生涯的巅
峰之作。曾在他手底下做事的人将他描述为一
个严厉的工头，只理解无限可能的艺术，而不
是长期远景。这意味着坚持不懈地向前迈进，
而不 是依靠往日的成功获利——即使是iPod
这样的明星产品。
软件设计商欧特克(Autodesk)首席执
行官卡尔•巴斯(Carl Bass)说：“ 其他公司可
能会试图延长iPod产品线的寿命，但苹果会
说，‘不，还有更好的技术。’首席 执行官们并
不都是勇敢无畏的，但史蒂夫绝对是这样的
人。”欧特克是iPad的应用开发商之 一。
在苹果公司内部，乔布斯在设计和开发
方面拥有最终决策权。一名不愿透露姓名的苹果前高管说：“你必须让一个人喜欢你的产品。
他既是用户，也是营销部门。”

only on the condition he not be named. “He’s
the customer, and he’s the marketing
department too.”
That famed attention to detail can be
obsessive. A lieutenant who left this year
describes how the Apple boss can become
more fixated in finding flaws in an icon on a
screen than in the programme it represents.
“You can go into a meeting with the most
wonderful product in the world, and he will
stare at the icon for the entire meeting,” this
person says.
The same perfectionism is brought to
his hotly anticipated public appearances.
Before the lights go on, he practises every
phrase. An executive at another company –
who was due to share the stage for an Apple
announcement – recalls that when he was
brought onstage during rehearsal, breaking
Mr Jobs’ concentration, he and the staffers
leading him were treated to a hailstorm of
invective.
That makes Apple’s slips, when they
occur, noteworthy. A wrap-around antenna
on this year’s iPhone 4 made the device more
susceptible to dropped calls. Mr Jobs, who
had boasted of the elegance and technical
mastery of the steel band, lashed out
defensively, pointing to similar reception
issues with rival smartphones – before
offering Apple’s style-conscious customers
ungainly plastic “bumpers” to cover the
metal. The engineer in charge of the project
later quietly left Apple.
As Apple’s business has grown, Mr
Jobs’ style has changed, according to people
who have worked with him. “There is a lot
more pragmatism,” says a veteran who left
this year. With sales of more than $$50bn,
Apple has had to look to the mass market.
Compromise seems too strong a word,
乔布斯对细节的关注几近痴迷。一名今
年离职的乔布斯助手称，这位苹果公司的老 板
会对某个程序图标的外观缺陷念念不忘，甚至
超过对程序bug的关注程度。“大家开会讨论
全世界最为奇妙的产品，他却会在整个会议期
间目不转睛地盯着那个图标。”这名人士说。 < br>这种完美主义情结也在乔布斯每次广受
期待的公开亮相中表现得淋漓尽致。每次上场
前， 他会对每一环节进行演练。一名其他公司
的首席执行官曾与乔布斯共同登台发布苹果
产品。他回 忆道，他在乔布斯排练中途被带上
台，扰乱了乔布斯的注意力，结果他和带他上
台的工作人员都 被乔布斯痛骂了一顿。
这导致苹果的每一次失误都尤为引人关
注。今年发布的iPhone 4由于环形天线存在
缺陷，更容易掉线。令长期鼓吹这款产品的精
致和技术含量的乔布斯大为火 光，并大力为之
辩护，声称其他智能手机也存在类似问题。但
最后，苹果还是向时尚意识很强的 用户们免费
提供缓冲手机套，暂时解决了这一问题；负责
该项目的工程师稍后也悄然离职。 < br>据一名与其共事的人士称，随着苹果业
务的增长，乔布斯的风格也发生了变化。一名
苹果 前雇员称：“实用主义的成分越来越多。”
随着销售额超过500亿美元，苹果已经将目
光投向 大众市场。
“妥协”一词也许过于强烈，但这种更强

but the greater sense of expediency reflects
Apple’s new place in the world. Its iPads are
now on sale at mass-market retailers – a
world away from the high style of Apple’s
own retail stores.
In this new phase of his life, Mr Jobs is
no longer the underdog. Buoyed by the iPad,
Apple’s shares finally surpassed Microsoft in
May to make it the world’s most valuable
technology concern. Others now have Apple
in their sights, forcing Mr Jobs into the
competitive moves that would once have
seemed out of character. Apple has
acknowledged its rivalry with Facebook, for
instance, by releasing Ping, a me-too social
network for iTunes users that a prouder
Steve Jobs would not have let out the door.
And he has adopted a dismissive tone
towards Google, a former ally. He called the
smaller, 7in tablets running Google software
“useless unless you include sandpaper so
users can sand their fingers down” – though
some speculate that Apple will counter with
a similar gadget of its own.
The attention of regulators is also new.
After antitrust authorities took an interest
this year, Mr Jobs backed off a requirement
that forced developers to use Apple’s
software tools to create apps, barring rival
Adobe’s technology – though the reversal
also seemed calculated to appease
developers who might otherwise turn more
attention to creating apps for phones
running Google’s software. “They have to be
less arrogant than they have been,” says one
former executive.
For all that, Mr Jobs has set a daunting
standard for rivals. “They have no predators
at this point,” says Mr McNamee. “I think
they could bring out a dishwasher and
people would buy it.”
烈的利害意 识代表了苹果在全世界的重新定
位。如今，大众市场零售商也开始销售iPad，
而这些零售商 与苹果专卖店的高端形象格格
不入。
在人生的新阶段，乔布斯不再是一个失
败者。5 月，在iPad热销的推动下，苹果市
值终于超越微软，成为全球最具价值的科技公
司。而其他 公司也都在盯着苹果，迫使乔布斯
采取了一些以往看起来不符合其风格的竞争
手段。例如，在意 识到Facebook的威胁后，
苹果面向iTunes用户推出了类似的社交平台
Ping。 换作当年那个傲气十足的史蒂夫•乔布
斯，这是万万不可能的。
此外，面对曾经的盟友——谷 歌，乔布
斯表现出一种轻蔑的态度。他将搭载谷歌
Android操作系统和7英寸显示屏的平 板电
脑称为“毫无用处，除非附送砂纸，好让用户
磨细手指”。尽管有人猜测，苹果有可能也推
出一款类似尺寸的平板电脑与之抗衡。
监管机构的关注也是乔布斯没有遭遇过
的。今 年，在反垄断机构表达关切后，乔布斯
作出了让步，不再强制要求开发人员使用苹果
软件开发各 种应用，或禁止使用竞争对手
Adobe公司的技术。不过此举似乎另有所图
——防止开发人员 转而为使用Android操作
平台的手机开发应用。一名业界高管称：“他
们不得不比之前稍 微谦逊些。”
尽管如此，乔布斯仍然为对手设立了一
个令人生畏的标准。麦克纳米说：“目前 ，他
们没有天敌。苹果就算推出一款洗碗机，人们
也会去购买的。”

In his autobiography, John Sculley, the
former PepsiCo executive who once ran
Apple, said this of the ambitions of the man
he had pushed out: “Apple was supposed to
become a wonderful consumer products
company. This was a lunatic plan. High-tech
could not be designed and sold as a
consumer product.” How wrong can you be.


曾担任苹果首席执行官的前百事可乐
(PepsiCo) CEO约翰•斯卡利(John
Sculley)在自传中如此评价曾被他赶走的乔
布斯的野 心：“乔布斯认为，苹果的目标是成
为一家极为出色的消费品公司。这是一个狂热
的计划。高科 技不可能被当作消费产品进行设
计和销售。”如今的一切已经表明，斯卡利你
大错特错了。
译者何黎