20年來12大最具影響力的個人科技產品大綱
This is my last column for The Wall Street Journal, after 22 years of reviewing consumer technology products here.
爲《華爾街日報》評測科技類消費品22年後，這是我的最後一篇專欄文章。
So I thought I'd talk about the dozen personal-technology products I reviewed that were most influential over the past two decades. Obviously, narrowing so many products in the most dynamic of modern industries down to 12 is a subjective exercise and others will disagree.
所以我想來談談過去20年我評測過的12個最具影響力的個人科技產品。很顯然，從這個最富活力的現代產業所生產的五花八門的產品中挑選出12個，這是個很主觀的看法，別人也許會有不同意見。
Though most were hits, a couple weren't blockbusters, financially, and one was an outright flop. Instead, I used as my criteria two main things.
雖然大多數產品都一竄而紅，但有幾個卻叫好不叫座，有一個更是一敗塗地。在這裏，我來講講我的兩個標準。
First, the products had to improve ease of use and add value for average consumers. That was the guiding principle I laid down in the first sentence of my first column, in 1991: 'Personal computers are just too hard to use, and it's not your fault.'
首先，產品要能提高易用性，能爲普通消費者增添價值。這也正是我1991年第一篇專欄文章中頭一句話所提出的指導原則：個人電腦太難用了，這不是你們的錯。
Second, I chose these 12 because each changed the course of digital history by influencing the products and services that followed, or by changing the way people lived and worked. In some cases, the impact of these mass-market products is still unfolding. All of these products had predecessors, but they managed to take their categories to a new level.
其次，我之所以選擇這12個產品，是因爲所有這些產品都改變了數碼歷史的進程，它們要麼影響了後來追隨而至的產品和服務，要麼改變了人們的生活和工作方式。在某些情況下，這些大衆產品仍在釋放影響力。所有這些產品都有“前輩”，但它們做到了將其所屬類別提升至一個新高度。
Some readers will complain that Apple is overrepresented. My answer: Apple introduced more influential, breakthrough products for average consumers than any other company over the years of this column.
一些讀者可能會抱怨說，蘋果(Apple)產品出現的頻率過高。對此我的解釋是，在我撰寫本專欄的這些年裏，相比其他任何一家公司，蘋果面向普通消費者推出了更多具有影響力和突破性的產品。1. Newton MessagePad (1993)
1. Newton MessagePad (1993)
This hand-held computer from Apple was a failure, even a joke, mainly because the company promised it could flawlessly recognize handwriting. It didn't. But it had one feature that foreshadowed some of today's most cutting-edge technology: an early form of artificial intelligence. You could scrawl 'lunch with Linda Jones on Thursday' and it would create a calendar entry for the right time with the right person.
蘋果推出的這個掌上電腦不僅是失敗之作，甚至可以說是個笑話，這主要是因爲該公司當時承諾，這個產品可精準無誤地識別手寫體。但它並沒有做到這一點。不過，它倒是的確有一項功能，可謂是如今一些最頂尖技術的鼻祖：人工智能的早期形式。你可以隨手寫一句“週四與琳達·瓊斯(Linda Jones)吃午飯”，然後這個電腦就能對應正確的時間和正確的人生成一個日曆項。
2. Netscape Navigator (1994)
2. 網景領航員(Netscape Navigator, 1994)
The first successful consumer Web browser, it was later crushed by Microsoft's Internet Explorer. But it made the Web a reality for millions and its influence has been incalculable. Every time you go to a Web page, you are seeing the legacy of Netscape in action.
這是第一款獲得成功的消費者網頁瀏覽器，後來被微軟(Microsoft)的Internet Explorer (IE)瀏覽器擊敗。但它讓數以百萬計的人們上網的願望成爲現實，它所帶來的影響不可估量。每次你瀏覽網頁的時候，你會發現網景留下的遺產就在你的眼前。
3. Windows 95 (1995)
3. Windows 95 (1995)
This was the Microsoft operating system that cemented the graphical user interface and the mouse as the way to operate a computer. While Apple's Macintosh had been using the system for a decade and cruder versions of Windows had followed, Windows 95 was much more refined and spread to a vastly larger audience than the Mac did.
微軟的這款操作系統將圖形界面與鼠標結合起來，成了電腦操作的標準模式。儘管當時蘋果的Macintosh電腦操作系統已經有10年曆史，而且隨後曾出現過更加粗糙的Windows版本，但Windows 95更爲精緻，用戶遠遠超過Mac操作系統。
4. The Palm Pilot (1997)
The first successful personal digital assistant, the Pilot was also the first hand-held computer to be widely adopted. It led to one of the first smartphones, the Treo, and attracted a library of third-party apps, foreshadowing today's giant app stores.
這是第一款獲得成功的個人數字助理，它還是第一款廣泛使用的手持電腦。它催生了第一批智能手機Treo，吸引了大量第三方應用程序，爲今天的應用程序商店塑造出了原型。
5. Google Search (1998)
5. 谷歌搜索(Google Search, 1998)
The minute I used Google, it was obvious it was much faster and more accurate than previous search engines. It's impossible to overstate its importance, even today. In many ways, Google search propelled the entire Web.
從用上谷歌的那一刻起，我就明顯地發現，它比此前的搜索引擎要快得多，也準確得多。谷歌搜索的重要意義怎麼說都不過分，這話就算放在今天也依然成立。在很多方面，谷歌搜索推動了整個網絡的發展。
12. The iPad (2010)
12. iPad (2010)
With this 10-inch tablet, Apple finally cracked the code on the long-languishing tablet category. Along with other tablets, it is gradually replacing the laptop for many uses and is popular with everyone from kids to CEOs. Developers have created nearly 500, 000 apps for the iPad, far more than for any other tablet.
憑藉這款10英寸平板電腦，蘋果終於在長期低迷的平板領域取得了突破。iPad與其他平板電腦一起在許多用途方面正逐步取代筆記本電腦，從兒童到CEO，人人都對iPad愛不釋手。開發商已經爲iPad開發了近50萬個應用，數量遠遠超過了其他任何一款平板電腦。
As I sign off from this column, I want to thank The Wall Street Journal for giving me the freedom to write these reviews all these years. And I especially owe great thanks to the readers who have followed my work. I am not retiring -- I will still be doing reviews on a new online site. And the Journal will continue to offer tech reviews, penned by talented successors, which will continue to guide readers as consumer technology evolves.
在告別本專欄之際，我想感謝《華爾街日報》這些年給了我撰寫這些評論文章的自由，尤其要感謝追隨本專欄的讀者們。我並不是退休——我將在一個新網站上撰文。《華爾街日報》將繼續發佈由出色的繼任者撰寫的科技評論文章，隨着消費者技術的發展，繼續爲讀者提供指南。
6. iPod (2001)
Apple's iPod was the first mainstream digital media player, able to hold 1, 000 songs in a device the size of a deck of playing cards. It lifted the struggling computer maker to a new level and led to the wildly successful iTunes store and a line of popular mobile devices.
蘋果的iPod是第一款主流數字媒體播放器，這個相當於一副撲克牌大小的設備能存儲1,000首歌曲。這款設備將陷入困境的蘋果提升到一個新的層次，催生了取得巨大成功的iTunes商店和一系列流行移動設備。
7. Facebook (2004)
7. Facebook (2004)
Just as Netscape opened the Web, Facebook made the Internet into a social medium. There were some earlier social networks. But Facebook became the social network of choice, a place where you could share everything from a photo of a sunset to the news of a birth or death with a few friends, or with hundreds of thousands. Today, over a billion people use it and it has changed the entire concept of the Internet.
正像網景開創了網絡時代一樣，Facebook開闢了社交網絡時代。儘管在此之前也有一些社交網絡存在，但Facebook最終成爲了人們的選擇，在Facebook上你可以與一些、甚至是成百上千的朋友分享任何事，不論是一張日落黃昏的照片，還是新生兒誕生或者生命逝去的消息。目前，Facebook的用戶數已超過10億，已經完全顛覆了互聯網的概念。
8. Twitter (2006)
8. Twitter
跟Facebook一樣，推特改變了人們在數字時代的生活方式。
Often seen as Facebook's chief competitor, Twitter is really something different -- a sort of global instant-messaging system. It is used every second to alert huge audiences to everything from revolutions to interesting Web posts, or just to offer opinions on almost anything -- as long as they fit in 140 characters. Like Facebook, it has changed the way people live digitally.
推特通常被視爲Facebook的頭號競爭對手，它確實與衆不同——有點像一個全球即時通訊系統。每一秒都有人使用推特向廣大聽衆發送各種各樣的信息，從革命消息到有趣的網站帖子，或者只是對任何事發表看法，但是長度不超過140個字符。與Facebook一樣，推特也改變了人們的數字生活。
11. The MacBook Air (2008)
11. 蘋果MacBook Air (2008)
The late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced this iconic slim, light laptop by pulling it out of a standard manila envelope. It was one of the first computers to ditch the hard disk for solid-state storage and now can be seen all over -- on office desks, on campuses and at coffee shops. It spawned a raft of Windows-based light laptops called Ultrabooks. I consider it the best laptop ever made.
蘋果共同創始人喬布斯(Steve Jobs)在推出MacBook Air時，從一個標準尺寸的馬尼拉紙信封中緩緩抽出了這款標誌性的輕薄筆記本電腦。它是第一批用固態硬盤取代傳統硬盤的電腦產品之一。現在，從辦公桌、校園到咖啡店，隨處可見MacBook Air的身影。它推動了一批基於Windows操作系統的輕薄筆記本電腦（即Ultrabook）的誕生。我認爲MacBook Air是有史以來最棒的筆記本電腦。
10. Android (2008)
10.安卓(Android) (2008)
Google quickly jumped into the mobile world the iPhone created with this operating system that has spread to hundreds of devices using the same type of multi-touch interface. Android is now the dominant smartphone platform, with its own huge selection of apps.
谷歌(Google)憑藉安卓操作系統迅速闖入了iPhone創造的移動世界，採用這一操作系統的移動設備已擴大到上百款，安卓也採用多點觸控用戶界面。安卓目前是主流的智能手機平臺，有大量應用可以選擇。
While iPhones have remained relatively pricey, Android is powering much less costly phones.
iPhone的價格一直相對昂貴，安卓手機價格要便宜的多。
9. The iPhone (2007)
9. iPhone (2007)
Apple electrified the tech world with this device -- the first truly smart smartphone. It is an iPod, an Internet device and a phone combined in one small gadget. Its revolutionary multi-touch user interface is gradually replacing the PC's graphical user interface on many devices.
蘋果憑藉iPhone震驚了科技界。這是第一款真正智能的智能手機，集iPod、互聯網設備、手機功能於一身。iPhone帶來了革命性的多點觸控用戶界面，在許多設備中，個人電腦(PC)圖形用戶界面正逐步被取而代之。
A year after it was introduced, it was joined by the App Store, which allowed third-party developers to sell programs, or apps, for the phone. They now number about a million. It has spawned many competitors that have collectively moved the Internet from a PC-centric system to a mobile-centric one.
iPhone問世一年後，蘋果推出了應用商店(App Store)，允許第三方開發商在店內出售iPhone應用。現在，iPhone的應用數量已經達到約100萬個。iPhone也催生了許多競爭對手，它們共同把互聯網從一個以PC爲中心的系統轉變爲一個以移動設備爲中心的系統。
