乔布斯传 第424期:产品线评估(2)

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The company was churning out multiple versions of each product because of bureaucratic¹ momentum² and to satisfy the whims³ of retailers⁴. 这个公司在官僚作风的驱动下对每个产品炮制出若干版本，去满足零售商的奇思怪想。

"It was insanity," Schiller recalled. "Tons of products, most of them crap, done by deluded⁵ teams." “真是荒谬，”席勒回忆说，“无数的产品，大部分都是垃圾，由迷茫的开发团队制造。”

Apple had a dozen versions of the Macintosh, each with a different confusing number, ranging from 1400 to 9600. 光是麦金塔就有很多个版本，每个版本都有不同的、让人困惑的编号，从1400到9600。

"I had people explaining this to me for three weeks," Jobs said. "I couldn't figure it out." “我让他们给我解释了三个星期，”乔布斯说，“我还是搞不明白。”

He finally began asking simple questions, like, "Which ones do I tell my friends to buy?" 最后他干脆开始问一些简单的问题，比如：“我应该让我的朋友们买哪些？”

When he couldn't get simple answers, he began slashing⁶ away at models and products. Soon he had cut 70% of them. 当无法得到简单的回答时，他就开始大刀阔斧地砍掉不同的型号和产品。很快他就砍掉了70%。

"You are bright people," he told one group. "You shouldn't be wasting your time on such crappy products." “你们是聪明人，”他对一个小组说，“不应该把时间浪费在这样的垃圾产品上。”

Many of the engineers were infuriated at his slash-and-burn tactics, which resulted in massive layoffs⁷. 很多工程师被他这种粗暴、严苛的手段激怒了，因为这样会导致大规模的裁员。

But Jobs later claimed that the good engineers, including some whose projects were killed, were appreciative⁸. 但是乔布斯后来宣称，优秀的员工，包括有些项目被毙掉的员工，都赞成这种做法。

He told one staff meeting in September 1997, 他在1997年9月的一次员工会议上说：

"I came out of the meeting with people who had just gotten their products canceled and they were three feet off the ground with excitement “工程团队无比兴奋，开完会，有一些产品刚被砍掉的人激动得一跳三尺高，

because they finally understood where in the heck we were going." 因为他们终于明白了我们在朝哪个方向前进。”

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