乔布斯传 第489期:木材 石头 钢铁 玻璃(5)

 In July 2011, a decade after the first ones opened, there were 326 Apple stores. 2011年，第一批苹果零售店开业10年之后，全世界已经有317家苹果零售店。

The biggest was in London's Covent Garden, the tallest in Tokyo's Ginza. 最大的店在伦敦的科芬园，最高的店在东京的银座。
The average annual revenue per store was $34 million, and the total net sales in fiscal 1 2010 were $9.8 billion. 每家店的平均收入是3400万美元，2010财年的净销售总额是98亿美元。
But the stores did even more. They directly accounted for only 15% of Apple's revenue, 但是零售店的贡献还不仅仅是这一点。零售店为苹果公司贡献的收入仅占15%，
but by creating buzz and brand awareness 2 they indirectly 3 helped boost everything the company did. 但它们在制造话题和提髙品牌认知度这些方面作出了间接的贡献，提升了整个公司的业务。
Even as he was fighting the effects of cancer in 2011, Jobs spent time envisioning future store projects, 2011年，即使在与癌症作斗争时，乔布斯也仍然在花时间设想未来的店铺规划，
such as the one he wanted to build in New York City's Grand Central Terminal. 比如他想在纽约中央车站建造一家。
One afternoon he showed me a picture of the Fifth Avenue store and pointed 4 to the eighteen pieces of glass on each side. 一天下午，他向我展示了一张第五大道店的照片，并指着两边各18块玻璃的外墙。
"This was state of the art in glass technology at the time," he said. 他说道：“这是当时流行的玻璃技术。
"We had to build our own autoclaves to make the glass." 但我们必须自己制造高压玻璃脱泡机。”
Then he pulled out a drawing in which the eighteen panes 5 were replaced by four huge panes. 然后，他拿出一张图纸，上面的18块玻璃已经变成了4大块巨大的玻璃。
That is what he wanted to do next, he said. 他说这是他下一步要做的。
Once again, it was a challenge at the intersection 6 of aesthetics 7 and technology. 这是对美学与技术结合的又一次挑战。
"If we wanted to do it with our current technology, we would have to make the cube a foot shorter," he said. 他说：“用现在的技术，我们不得不让这个立方体外形矮一英尺。
"And I didn't want to do that. So we have to build some new autoclaves in China." 但是我不想这样做，所以我们必须在中国造一些新的玻璃脱泡机。”
Ron Johnson was not thrilled by the idea. 罗恩·约翰逊对这个提议并不感兴趣。
He thought the eighteen panes actually looked better than four panes would. 他认为18块玻璃比4块玻璃要好看些。
"The proportions we have today work magically with the colonnade 8 of the GM Building," he said. 他说：“这家店铺的外观比例刚好和通用汽车大楼的柱廊协调一致。
"It glitters like a jewel box. I think if we get the glass too transparent 9, it will almost go away to a fault." 它像一个珠宝盒那样熠熠闪光。我认为如果玻璃的透明度太高，也会成为一个错误。”
He debated the point with Jobs, but to no avail. 他为此和乔布斯争辩，但没有用。
"When technology enables something new, he wants to take advantage of that," said Johnson. 约翰逊还说：“一旦技术有了新突破，他就要利用起来。
"Plus, for Steve, less is always more, simpler is always better. 而且，对史蒂夫来说，‘少’永远意味着‘多’，越简单越好。
Therefore, if you can build a glass box with fewer elements, it's better, it's simpler, and it's at the forefront of technology. 所以，最好就是能用更少的元素搭建起一个玻璃屋，不但更加简约，而且是站在技术的前沿。
That's where Steve likes to be, in both his products and his stores." 这就是史蒂夫最喜欢做的，无论是对于他的产品还是对于他的零售店。”