Throughout 1979 and early 1980 the Macintosh project led a tenuous¹ existence. 从1979年到1980年初，麦金塔项目一直处于奄奄一息的状态。

Every few months it would almost get killed off, but each time Raskin managed to cajole Markkula into granting clemency². 每隔几个月，它就会面临被解散的命运，但每一次拉斯金都能让马库拉善心大发，项目便能得以延续。

It had a research team of only four engineers located in the original Apple office space next to the Good Earth restaurant, a few blocks from the company's new main building. 它的研究团队只有4名工程师，办公地点在苹果公司以前的办公楼，紧邻美好地球餐厅，跟公司新建的主楼隔了几个街区。

The work space was filled with enough toys and radio-controlled model airplanes(Raskin's passion) to make it look like a day care center for geeks. 办公室里堆满了玩具和无线电遥控的飞机模型（拉斯金的最爱），看上去就像个为极客们服务的日托中心。

Every now and then work would cease for a loosely organized game of Nerf ball tag. 大家会时不时地停下手中的工作，玩一场组织松散的Nerf球游戏。

Andy Hertzfeld recalled, "This inspired everyone to surround their work area with barricades³ made out of cardboard, 正如安迪·赫茨菲尔德回忆的：“这让大家都在自己的办公区域四周围上了纸板做成的挡板，

to provide cover during the game, making part of the office look like a cardboard maze⁴." 以便在游戏的时候提供遮挡，这么一来，办公室看上去就像个用纸板围成的迷宫。”

The star of the team was a blond, cherubic, and psychologically intense self-taught young engineer named Burrell Smith, 团队中的明星是一个叫伯勒尔·史密斯的无师自通的年轻工程师。他有一头金发，长着一张娃娃脸，内心却极其严肃认真，

who worshipped the code work of Wozniak and tried to pull off similar dazzling feats⁵. 他十分崇拜沃兹尼亚克编写的代码，自己也想做出一些耀眼的成就。

Atkinson discovered Smith working in Apple' s service department and, amazed at his ability to improvise⁶ fixes, recommended him to Raskin. 阿特金森在苹果的服务部门发现了在那里工作的史密斯，惊叹于他随时想出补救方法的能力，于是将他推荐给了拉斯金。

He would later succumb⁷ to schizophrenia, but in the early 1980s he was able to channel his manic intensity⁸ into weeklong binges of engineering brilliance⁹. 史密斯后来饱受精神分裂症的折磨，但在20世纪80年代初期，他还是将自己疯狂的热情投入到不分节假日的工作中，并展现了完美的工程天赋。

Jobs was enthralled¹⁰ by Raskin's vision, but not by his willingness to make compromises to keep down the cost. 乔布斯十分赞赏拉斯金的想象力，但并不同意他为了降低成本而牺牲产品性能。

At one point in the fall of 1979 Jobs told him instead to focus on building what he repeatedly called an "insanely great" product. 1979年秋的一天，乔布斯告诉拉斯金，集中精力把他反复念叨的“终极完美”的产品做好就行。

"Don't worry about price, just specify¹¹ the computer's abilities," Jobs told him. “你不用担心价格，把电脑的性能列出来。”乔布斯吿诉他。

Raskin responded with a sarcastic¹² memo¹³. 作为回应，拉斯金送上了一份充满讽刺的备忘录。

It spelled out everything you would want in the proposed computer: 其中列出了当时所有人梦寐以求的功能：

a high-resolution color display, a printer that worked without a ribbon and could produce graphics¹⁴ in color at a page per second, 每行可显示96个字符的高分辨率彩色屏幕，无需使用色带、能以每秒1页的速度打印所有彩色图像的打印机，

unlimited¹⁵ access to the ARPA net, and the capability¹⁶ to recognize speech and synthesize music, 可以不受限地访问ARPA(美国国防部髙级研究计划署）网络，还能够识别语音和合成音乐，

"even simulate Caruso singing with the Mormon tabernacle choir¹⁷, with variable reverberation¹⁸." “甚至可以模拟卡鲁索与摩门大教堂合唱团共同演唱并伴有各种混音效果的场景”。

The memo concluded, "Starting with the abilities desired is nonsense. 备忘录最后总结道：“一切只从性能出发是毫无意义的。

We must start both with a price goal, and a set of abilities, and keep an eye on today's and the immediate¹⁹ future's technology." 我们必须设定一个价格目标和相应的一系列性能，同时还必须关注当下以及不远的未来的科技。"

In other words, Raskin had little patience for Jobs's belief that you could distort reality if you had enough passion for your product. 换句话说，乔布斯认为只要对产品有足够的热情就可以扭曲现实，但拉斯金对此并不认同。