苹果即将失去灵魂
原文：选自英国＜＜金融时报＞＞
译者：赖小琪
The debate will no doubt rage for some time about how Apple will fare now Steve Jobs has stepped down as chief executive. Will the group retain its extraordinary leadership in the technology sphere – one that has carried it to the brink of becoming the world’s most valuable listed company?
苹果的CEO史蒂夫•乔布斯离职后, 苹果的未来发展前景如何? 关于这个问题的争论无疑会持续一段时间. 苹果集团还能继续保持在科技领域的超领先地位吗? 正因为其技术比对手遥遥领先, 苹果已经快成为世界上市值最高的上市公司.
Few bosses – even founders – have defined their companies with quite the intensity that Mr Jobs brought to the task, nor enjoyed the same success. More than a chief executive, he has been a sort of impresario – the presiding intelligence behind Apple’s growth.
很少老板, 哪怕是企业创办者, 能够比得上乔布斯倾注于苹果的心血以及取得的成就. 乔布斯所扮演的不仅仅是CEO的角色, 更担当舞台的主办方—运用其智慧全面筹划, 促使苹果实现增长.
The company’s fortunes have waxed with his presence and waned without him. Creatively, all of the fecund periods have certainly been under Mr Jobs’ leadership – from the development of the iconic Macintosh in the 1980s to the recent flowering of iPod, iPhone and iPad. It is hard to think of anything memorable in his absence. And it has been the same with Apple’s finances. Contrast its current prosperity with the position in the 1990s, when it nearly collapsed into bankruptcy.
苹果的命运因为他的存在而被看好, 也会因为他的离去而黯淡. 奇特的是, 所有的 “高产期” 都是在乔布斯的领导下出现的—从上世纪80年代具有偶像级地位的Macintosh电脑，到近年备受欢迎的iPod媒体播放器、iPhone智能手机和iPad平板电脑. 而在他离开苹果期间, 我们很难想出有什么难忘的东西. 苹果的财务状况也是如此. 将苹果目前的繁荣与九十年代时相比便可见一斑, 九十年代苹果濒临破产.
To some extent, the focus on Mr Jobs is deceptive. In recent years, he has built a world-beating management team. The succession process has been well planned – perhaps due to Mr Jobs’ past illnesses, which led to him taking extended leave of absence in 2004 and 2009. His replacement, Tim Cook, ran the company on both occasions and is well regarded.
某种程度上说, 对乔布斯的关注带有一定的欺骗性. 近年来, 他已建立了一支世界级的管理团队. 接任过程已经被妥善安排, 这大概是源于乔布斯过去疾病不断, 这使他在2004和2009两年间延长病假. 他的接班人, 蒂姆•库克, 在他两次病假期间暂代他管理公司, 声誉良好.
The challenge for any successor though is to replace Mr Jobs’ special talent; his ability to bring a technological vision and aesthetic sensibility to bear on Apple’s activities. Stories abound about his attention to detail. He once demanded changes to the iPhone because he felt the second “o” in Google’s logo was the wrong shade of yellow on the screen.
对任何一个接班人而言, 最大的挑战莫过于接替乔布斯的特殊才能. 他具有科技视觉和审美情趣, 引领苹果一切活动. 关于他对细节的敏感性, 坊间有很多传闻. 有一次他要求对iPhone进行改进, 因为他觉得谷歌标识中的第二个o在屏幕上显示的色彩有异.
Mr Jobs’ authority allowed him to bet Apple’s resources on a relatively small number of often experimental products. Investors’ confidence in his judgment can be seen as one of Apple’s secret weapons. Compare it with Hewlett-Packard, where a radical strategy has led to shareholder uproar.
乔布斯的威望使他能够将苹果的资源押在相对较少的几种实验性产品中. 投资者对他的判断的信心可以说是苹果的秘密武器之一. 相比之下, 惠普最近的激进策略引起股东们议论纷纷.
Apple does not yet have to confront life without Mr Jobs, in spite of the elegiac tone of his resignation letter. He will stay on as chairman as long as the board consents, which it surely will. But when the link is finally broken, Apple will need to replace the vital spark that he has brought to its affairs. And history suggests that this can only come from another individual, not a management team, however talented.
苹果目前还不用面对没有乔布斯的生活, 尽管他的离职信充满哀伤离别的语调. 只要董事会通过(毫无疑问董事会会这样做), 他会继续留任董事会主席一职. 但是一旦乔布斯真的离开了苹果, 苹果将要替换他带给苹果的关键 “活力”. 而历史表明, 这种关键 “活力”只能来自另一个天才，而不是一个管理团队，不管这个团队多么有才能． |
