The First Launch Event 首次盛大的产品发布会

The introduction of the Apple II was scheduled to coincide with the first West Coast Computer Faire, Apple II 的发布时间被设定为与首届西海岸电脑展览会同步。

to be held in April 1977 in San Francisco, organized by a Homebrew stalwart, Jim Warren. 该展会将于1977年4月在旧金山举办。展会的组织者是一名家酿计算机俱乐部的中坚会员--吉姆·沃伦，

Jobs signed Apple up for a booth as soon as he got the information packet. 乔布斯在得到展会的信息之后立刻为苹果公司预定了一个展位。

He wanted to secure a location right at the front of the hall as a dramatic way to launch the Apple II, and so he shocked Wozniak by paying $5,000 in advance. 他想确保得到展厅最前端的位置，这样就可以用最盛大的方式来发布Apple II ，于是他预先支付了5000 美元，这让沃兹大感震惊。

"Steve decided¹ that this was our big launch," said Wozniak. "史蒂夫认为这是我们的重要发布，"沃兹尼亚克说，

"We would show the world we had a great machine and a great company." "我们要让全世界知道，我们有很棒的电脑，我们是一家很棒的公司。"

It was an application of Markkula's admonition that it was important to "impute²" your greatness by making a memorable³ impression on people, especially when launching a new product. 这是马库拉的营销准则的一次实际应用：通过给人们留下深刻的印象从而把你和产品的卓越品质 "灌输 " 给他们，这是至关重要的一点，尤其是发布新产品的时候。

That was reflected in the care that Jobs took with Apple's display area. 这也反映在了乔布斯对苹果公司的展示区域所下的工夫上。

Other exhibitors had card tables and poster board signs. 其他的参展商用的都是普通的桌子和硬纸板做的牌子。

Apple had a counter draped in black velvet⁴ and a large pane⁵ of backlit Plexiglas with Janoff's new logo. 苹果则用上了盖着黑色天鹅绒的柜台，和一大块背光式的有机玻璃，上面印着雅诺夫新设计的标识。

They put on display the only three Apple IIs that had been finished, but empty boxes were piled up to give the impression that there were many more on hand. 他们展示的是仅有的三台 Apple II成品，但在周围堆满了空的包装箱，这样就显得他们拥有充足的存货。

Jobs was furious that the computer cases had arrived with tiny blemishes⁶ on them, so he had his handful of employees sand and polish them. 送到展会的电脑箱子上都有细小的污点，这让乔布斯大为光火，他让为数不多的几名员工把这些污点都打磨掉。

The imputing⁷ even extended to gussying up Jobs and Wozniak. "灌输"工作甚至还扩展到了给乔布斯和沃兹尼亚克穿衣打扮上。

Markkula sent them to a San Francisco tailor for three-piece suits, which looked faintly ridiculous on them, like tuxes on teenagers. 马库拉让他们去见一个旧金山的裁缝，定做了三件套西装，但他们穿上之后显得很滑稽，就好像小孩子穿着晚礼服一样。

"Markkula explained how we would all have to dress up nicely, how we should appear and look, how we should act," Wozniak recalled. "马库拉解释了我们必须怎样盛装打扮，以怎样的形象登台亮相，以及怎样举手投足。"沃兹尼亚克回忆说。

It was worth the effort. 这些努力是值得的。

The Apple II looked solid yet friendly in its sleek⁸ beige case, unlike the intimidating⁹ metal-clad machines and naked boards on the other tables. 置于漂亮的米黄色箱子内的 Apple II显得既牢固结实又亲切友好，完全不像其他展台上那些镀着金属的丑陋机器或者干脆裸露的电路板。

Apple got three hundred orders at the show, and Jobs met a Japanese textile maker¹⁰, Mizushima Satoshi, who became Apple's first dealer¹¹ in Japan. 苹果在这次展会上接到了300份订单，乔布斯还遇到了一个日本的纺织品制造商水岛聪，后来这个人成为了苹果在日本的第一位经销商。

The fancy clothes and Markkula's injunctions could not, however, stop the irrepressible Wozniak from playing some practical jokes. 然而，华丽的服装和马库拉的谆谆教导都无法阻止闲不住的沃兹槁些恶作剧。

One program that he displayed tried to guess people's nationality from their last name and then produced the relevant ethnic¹² jokes. 他展示的一个程序，会根据人们的姓氏来猜测国籍，然后冒出一些跟种族有关的笑话。

He also created and distributed a hoax¹³ brochure for a new computer called the "Zaltair," 他还自己印制并分发恶作剧的小册子，介绍一种新型的名叫扎尔泰的电脑，

with all sorts of fake ad-copy superlatives like "Imagine a car with five wheels." 附上了各种从别的广告上抄来的夸张言辞，诸如"想象一辆有5个轮子的汽车 ……"

Jobs briefly¹⁴ fell for the joke and even took pride that the Apple II stacked up well against the Zaltair in the comparison chart. 乔布斯轻易地信以为真，甚至还因为Apple II在和扎尔泰的对比中不相上下而颇感自豪。

He didn't realize who had pulled the prank¹⁵ until eight years later, when Woz gave him a framed copy of the brochure as a birthday gift. 直到8年后，沃兹将一份镶了框的宣传册送给乔布斯做生日礼物，他才意识到当年是谁制造了这场闹剧。