"I was always into repeating digits," Wozniak said.  "我一直都很喜欢重复的数字，"沃兹尼亚克说，

"The phone number for my dial-a-joke service was 255-6666."  "我的'打电话听笑话'服务的号码是255-6666。"

Neither of them knew that in the Book of Revelation 666 symbolized¹ the "number of the beast,"  他们两个都不知道的是，666是《圣经·启示录》中"恶魔的数字"。

but they soon were faced with complaints,  不过很快他们就遭到了抗议，

especially after 666 was featured in that year's hit movie, The Omen².  特别是在当年大热的电影《凶兆》重点突出了数字666之后。

(In 2010 one of the original Apple I computers was sold at auction³ by Christie's for $213,000.)  （2010年，一台原版Apple I在佳士得的一场拍卖中以213000美元售出。）

The first feature story on the new machine appeared in the July 1976 issue of Interface⁴, a now-defunct hobbyist magazine.  这台新机器的第一次专题报道出现在1976年7月的《界面》(Interface)杂志上，这是一本面向业余爱好者的杂志

Jobs and friends were still making them by hand in his house, 乔布斯和朋友们还在家中动手组装机器，

but the article referred to him as the director of marketing⁵ and "a former private consultant⁶ to Atari." 但报道文章中已经称他为"市场总监"和"前雅达利的私人顾问"了。

It made Apple sound like a real company.  这让苹果听上去像个真正的公司。

"Steve communicates with many of the computer clubs to keep his finger on the heartbeat of this young industry," the article reported,  "史蒂夫与许多电脑俱乐部进行交流，以掌握这一新兴产业的脉搏，"报道中称，

and it quoted him explaining,  并且还引用了乔布斯的解释，

"If we can rap about their needs, feelings and motivations, "如果我们可以了解他们的需求、感受和动机，

we can respond appropriately by giving them what they want."  我们就可以作出正确的回应，生产出他们所需要的产品。"

By this time they had other competitors, in addition to the Altair,  那个时候，他们已经有了阿尔泰之外的竞争者，

most notably⁷ the IMSAI 8080 and Processor Technology Corporation's SOL-20.  其中最著名的是IMSAI8080和处理器科技公司的SOL-20。

The latter was designed by Lee Felsenstein and Gordon French of the Homebrew Computer Club. 后者是由家酿计算机俱乐部的李·费尔森施泰因和戈登·弗伦奇设计的。

They all had the chance to go on display during Labor Day weekend of 1976, 1976年的劳工节周末，第一届年度个人电脑节在新泽西州的大西洋城举行，所有人都有机会展示自己的产品。

at the first annual Personal Computer Festival, held in a tired hotel on the decaying boardwalk of Atlantic City, New Jersey⁸.  活动地点在一座陈旧的酒店里，酒店位于当时已经开始破败的木板路上。

Jobs and Wozniak took a TWA flight to Philadelphia,  乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克搭乘环球航空公司的航班前往费城，

cradling one cigar box with the Apple I and another with the prototype for the successor that Woz was working on.  他们将Apple I放在一只雪茄盒子里，沃兹正在开发的第二代样机放在另一只盒子里。

Sitting in the row behind them was Felsenstein, who looked at the Apple I and pronounced it "thoroughly⁹ unimpressive."  费尔森施泰因就坐在他们后面一排，他看到Apple I后，

Wozniak was unnerved by the conversation in the row behind him.  称之"十分平庸'这番评论让沃兹失去了信心。

"We could hear them talking in advanced business talk," he recalled,  "我们听见他们在用很高深的商业术语讲话"，他回忆说

"using businesslike acronyms¹⁰ we'd never heard before." "用的都是我们从没有听过的类似商业术语的缩略词。"

Wozniak spent most of his time in their hotel room, tweaking his new prototype. 沃兹大多数时间都待在酒店房间里，研究他的新样机。

He was too shy to stand at the card table that Apple had been assigned near the back of the exhibition hall. 展览大厅的后面有一张桌子被安排给了苹果公司，沃兹太害羞了，根本没勇气姑在那里介绍产品。

Daniel Kottke had taken the train down from Manhattan, where he was now attending Columbia,  当时在哥伦比亚大学就读的科特基，从曼哈顿搭乘火车来到了这里，

and he manned the table while Jobs walked the floor to inspect the competition.  他坚守在桌旁，乔布斯则四处走动观察竞争对手的情况。

What he saw did not impress him. Wozniak, he felt reassured¹¹, was the best circuit engineer,  他看到的东西并不能打动他。他确信，沃兹尼亚克是最好的电路工程师，

and the Apple I (and surely its successor) could beat the competition in terms of functionality.  Apple I(当然也包括它的第二代）在功能上绝对可以击败所有对手。

However, the SOL-20 was better looking. 然而，SOL-20拥有更加迷人的外观。

It had a sleek¹² metal case, a keyboard, a power supply, and cables.  它有一个造型优美的金属盒子，附带键盘、电源以及线缆。

It looked as if it had been produced by grown-ups.  看上去这才是成年人设计的产品。

The Apple I, on the other hand, appeared as scruffy¹³ as its creators. 相反，Applel就显得和它的发明者一样邋遢不堪。