1988年10月,NeXT发布会
Jobs had perfected the art of turning product launches into theatrical productions,
乔布斯将产品发布变成戏剧作品的艺术已经登峰造极。
and for the world premiere of the NeXT computer--on October 12, 1988, in San Francisco's Symphony Hall
NeXT电脑全球首发式定于1988年10月12日在旧金山交响乐堂举行,
he wanted to outdo himself. He needed to blow away the doubters.
乔布斯想要超越自己,他要澄清质疑。
In the weeks leading up to the event, he drove up to San Francisco almost every day to hole up in the Victorian house of Susan Kare,
在发布会前几周,他几乎每天都要开车去旧金山,藏身于苏珊·卡雷的维多利亚风格的房子里。
NeXT's graphic designer, who had done the original fonts and icons for the Macintosh.
苏珊·卡雷是NeXT的图形设计师,她为麦金塔设计了最初的字体和图标。
She helped prepare each of the slides as Jobs fretted over everything from the wording to the right hue of green to serve as the background color.
由于乔布斯操心发布会的每一个细节,从措辞到绿色背景的色调,所以要由卡雷来帮忙准备每一张幻灯片。
"I like that green," he said proudly as they were doing a trial run in front of some staffers.
“我喜欢这种绿。”他自豪地说,当时他们正在一些工作人员的注视下进行预演。
"Great green, great green," they all murmured in assent. No detail was too small.
“很棒的绿色,很棒的绿色。”众人一致低声说道。所有细节都很重要。
Jobs went over the invitation list and even the lunch menu (mineral water, croissants, cream cheese, bean sprouts).
乔布斯亲自核查了邀请名单,甚至还有午餐菜单(矿泉水、牛角面包、奶油乳酪、豆芽)。
He picked out a video projection company and paid it $60,000 for help.
他挑选了一家视频投影公司,并支付了6万美元聘用他们负责视听支持。
And he hired the postmodernist theater producer George Coates to stage the show.
他还聘请了后现代主义戏剧制作人乔治·科茨筹划这次发布会。
Coates and Jobs decided, not surprisingly, on an austere and radically simple stage look.
不出所料,科茨和乔布斯决定采用庄重而极为简单的舞台外观。