蘋果公司的成功祕訣

Under the leadership of Steve Jobs, Apple has produced products that have changed the way people around the world communicate, obtain information and entertain themselves. Here's a look at Apple’s success and what sets the company apart from other computer companies as it prepares for its founder and visionary leader to step down as CEO.

在史蒂夫·喬布斯的領導下，蘋果公司推出的一系列產品，從根本上改變了世界各地的人彼此之間通訊聯絡、獲取信息以及娛樂的方式。

Whether it’s iPods, iPhones or iPads, they have become a part of daily life for people around the world. Technology analyst Francis Lun in Hong Kong said the man responsible is Apple’s chief executive officer, Steve Jobs.

不管是iPods， iPhones 或 iPads，它們都已經成爲世界各地很多人目前生活中不可或缺的一部分。香港的一位科技問題分析人士弗郎西斯說，這些產品的背後，是蘋果公司的總裁史蒂夫·喬布斯。

"Steve Jobs actually changed the way that we download music, changed the way that we use handsets, and also changed the way that we use computers," said Lun.

弗郎西斯說：“喬布斯改變了我們下載音樂的方式，改變了我們使用手提電話的方式，同時也改變了我們使用計算機的方式。”

University of California Los Angeles management professor Richard Rumelt said the ideas behind Apple’s products are not original.

加州大學洛杉磯分校的管理學教授理查德·魯梅爾特說，蘋果公司產品的概念並不是最創新的。

“Apple didn’t invent personal computers, it didn’t invent [the] mouse and windows interface, it didn’t invent digital music players, it didn’t invent the smart phone or the tablet,” he said.

魯梅爾特教授說：“蘋果公司並不是個人電腦的發明者，也不是鼠標和窗口界面等產品的發明一方；像iPods數碼音樂播放器、SMART PHONE電話、以及TABLET平板大腦這些產品，也都不是蘋果公司發明的。”

Ted Rozolis of IEEE Computer Society said there is one thing Apple can do that other computer companies have not achieved.

不過，國際工程師協會下屬的計算機協會的一位專家羅佐里斯指出，蘋果公司在某一個方面的成績和能力，超過了其他所有公司。

“They take a lot of concepts and re-purpose them, repackage them, make them beautiful and everybody wants to have them," said Rozolis. "They always had a way to take technology and make it again affordable and easy to use and therefore popular.”

羅佐里斯說：“蘋果公司能夠把很多概念拿來，進行轉換利用，重新包裝，做得非常精美，很搶手。蘋果公司總是能夠想辦法讓科技變得實用，而且讓普通人能夠買得起，因此它們的產品總是廣受歡迎。”

IEEE Computer Society President Sorel Reisman said that’s why Apple has succeeded while many other companies have failed.

國際工程師協會的總裁雷斯曼說，這就是爲什麼蘋果公司能夠成功，而其他一些公司則以失敗告終。

“It’s just astounding how many computer companies were in the PC business in the '80s that no longer exist,” Reisman observed.

雷斯曼說：“和80年代相比，那時候個人電腦行業裏面公司雲集，但是現在呢，已經所剩無幾。這不得不讓人驚歎！”Reisman also said the Internet has been key to Apple’s growth.

雷斯曼同時表示，對於蘋果公司來說，因特網的存在和發展是一個關鍵。

“When you travel, everybody’s got one of these things, an Apple iPad. When I say everybody, I mean little kids, mothers, women who would otherwise be knitting,” Reisman said.

他說：“旅行的時候，幾乎人人手上都有一個蘋果公司的 iPad，不管大人、孩子，婦女、兒童，原先人們或許在那兒打毛衣，但是現在呢，手上都拿着一個 iPad。”

Rumelt wrote a book that examines the strategies of businesses such as Apple. He said Apple leaves features out of its products that it cannot implement well. Other companies have tried to make products that are similar to Apple’s, but they have not been as successful.

加州大學洛杉磯分校的魯梅爾特教授就蘋果公司還有其他一些公司的商業戰略，寫了一本書。他說，蘋果公司把那些運作起來有困難的地方，一律不放到產品當中去。其他一些公司也曾嘗試拿出類似蘋果公司的產品，但是都沒有那麼成功。

“So we have here a very interesting contrast between the Apple sense of only doing what you can do well, versus the standard industry approach, which is stick in every possible feature you can, but in the end that’s kludgy [inefficient or clumsy].”

魯梅爾特教授說：“和別的公司比起來，蘋果公司只是拿出它們能夠做出的最好的產品，但是一般行業內的公司，往往把所有能夠想到的都放到某個產品裏面，結果是沒有效率，也缺乏特色。”

With Steve Jobs’ stepping down as Apple’s CEO, some consumers, like this man from Germany, fear Apple no longer will be the same.

史蒂夫·喬布斯如今已經從蘋果總裁的位置上撤下來了，這讓蘋果公司的一些老客戶覺得蘋果公司今後恐怕不會和從前一樣。

"Definitely on the innovation. I don't think they will continue to be so innovative as he is the brains behind the ideas," he said.

這位來自德國的客戶說：“從創新的角度來說，肯定跟從前會不一樣，因爲喬布斯人不在了，而過去那些創新，都是靠了他。”

Many analysts have a different view. IEEE Computer Society President Reisman said, “He’s handpicked his successors. They’ve been trained to be his successors. I think the company is fine. It’ll be fine.”

不過，很多分析人士並不這麼看。國際工程師協會下屬的計算機協會的雷斯曼說：“喬布斯已經親手選了他的繼承人。這些人都已經被培訓好，就是爲了要接他的班的。在我看來，蘋果公司今後沒問題。”

Still, management professor Rumelt warns that Apple’s managers need to be careful.

不過，管理學教授魯梅爾特提醒蘋果公司的管理層，有要小心的地方。

“If the people who continue to manage Apple into the future don’t impose that same kind of very demanding standards of design excellence on the products they release, then you’ll begin to see a dilution of the company’s brand name," he said.

魯梅爾特說：“假如公司的管理層將來對產品在設計上的把關沒有像從前那麼高度嚴格的話，那麼，過一陣，蘋果公司這個牌子可能就會沒有那麼響了。”

For the next three to five years, however, Rumelt said Apple already has its product plans in place.

不過，魯梅爾特說，今後三到五年內，不必擔心，因爲今後幾年的產品，蘋果公司早已經規劃好了。