I remember the moment when the BlackBerry was cool. It was a fleeting moment when I was kind of cool too.
我还记得黑萄手机最酷的时代。那时的我也非常酷，但那个时代巳经随着时间 的流逝渐渐走远了。
That was more than eleven years ago, during the Gore-Bush election of 2000. Part of the coolness of Gore’s campaign was the young crowd that made up his staff and that they were all using BlackBerrys. At the time, the BlackBerry wasn’t even a smartphone, it was still a PDA (Personal Data Assistant) and was competing head to head with Palm. All of the tech people wanted their hands on a BlackBerry. I had a BlackBerry back then. My clients would squeal with excitement whenever I used it. They envkrasly1 watched as emails were “pushed” to me automatically. Wow. I was hot. I was cool. I had a BlackBerry.
11年前的2000年还是小布什在竞选总统的时候。布什阵营里有一部分很潮的 年轻人，他们大多都在用黑霉手机。那时黑莓手机还只是个人商务机，不是智能手 机，还在与掌上电脑比拼市场份额。每个对科技感兴趣的人都希望他们可以拥有一 部黑莓手机，我也紧跟潮流使用黑莓手机。每次我的客户们看到我在使用黑莓，都 会非常兴奋地叫喊出来。他们总是用很艳羡的目光看着电子邮件自动地“推”向我。 哇，那时的我是多么时尚,多么抢眼。我有黑莓手机！
Now things have changed. Palm is no longer a player. And, by the looks of things, the BlackBerry is on its way out too. Yet here I am, still clinging to2 my once cool device. And I’m looking more like a loser every day. That’s because BlackBerry is no longer cool And neither am I. I keep seeing signs pointing to a future without the BlackBerry.
但现在不同了。个人掌上电脑已经落伍了,而且从外型上看，黑莓手机也逐渐 落伍了。但我却还在执着地使用着曾经流行一时的电子产品。这让我每天都看起来 像是个失败者。因为黑莓已经不再那么潮了,而我也一样。我一直等着看黑莓时代 过后的市场新的风向标。
For example, recently Verizon released their version of the iPhone. At the time I emailed about a dozen tech guys I know, owners and employees at IT firms, and asked them if I should bite the bullet, ditch the BlackBerry and get a different smartphone. I was laughed at. “What, you still have a BlackBerry?” one tech guy emailed me back. “What a loser! ” A full 80% of those guys told me to go out and immediately buy the iPhone. The remainder recommended a Droid device. Not a single person told me to get another BlackBerry. And the amazing thing is that these tech guys were mostly Microsoft people. So you，d think they，d be telling me to buy anything other than an Apple or Google product. Their enthusiasm no love of their iPhone or Droid device said it all: I’m a loser. And the BlackBerry is toast.
例如，最近Verizon公司推出了iPhone手机。我发了十几封邮件问那些在IT公司 工作的朋友，其中有老板也有员工,我问他们是否应该忍痛抛弃黑莓换一个新的智 能手机？结果被他们嘲笑了。一位朋友给我回邮件惊讶地问什么？你现在还在用 黑莓？你也太落伍了!“他们之中80%的人都说我已经太落后了，应该马上换iphone手机，我的朋友没有一个建议我再买黑莓了。而更另我惊讶的是，这些rr行业的人 大多数都是微软的拥护者，所以他们也绝对不会建议我买苹果或者谷歌的手机产 品。他们对此的狂热，不，对iphone或者Droid的喜爱都向我传达一个信息:我已经落 伍了，黑毒已经过时了。
Clients I know who once loved their BlackBerry are jumping ship. John’s a client of mine who owns a fifty person job shop. He’s not the most technical guy around. But he’s not a loser like me. That’s because he used to own a BlackBerry, and he was happy with it. But about a month ago his contract came up. So he decided to switch to an iPhone. And he loves this phone. He loves the interface, the browsing, the apps everything. BlackBerry users don’t have this kind of passion about their smartphone.
我的一位客户曾经也是黑莓的追捧者，而现在已经投向其他品牌了。我的一位 客户约翰，拥有一家50人的商店，他不是电子行业的人，但是他却不像我这样落后 于时代。因为他曾经是黑莓的用户，也非常喜欢黑莓,但是一个月前他的合同到期 之后，他决定换成iphone，并且他一下子就喜欢上了这款手机。他钟爱iphone的界 面、浏览器及其附件等等。而黑莓的用户则对他们的智能手机没有这样的激情。
The other thing I noticed about the BlackBerry is that you can’t find accessories3 for it anywhere but in the phone store or online. Go into any Walmart or Best Buy and try to find a screen protector or car adaptor for your BlackBerry and you’ll be shown to a corner where they keep the damaged items and left over Christmas ornaments. Meanwhile, there are aisles of accessories and add-ons for the iPhone and Droids available. I feel like such a loser when I have to pull out my BlackBerry and explain I need a new case for it. The hipster salesperson would just roll his eyes.
我所注意到的另外一点是，你只能在手机店或者网上找到黑莓手机的配件。如 果你试图在沃尔玛或者百思买这样的地方找到黑莓的屏保或者车载转换器，你会 被带到超市的角落，那里通常是放置已经有些损坏的商品或者是圣诞节装饰品。而 iphone和Droids却都有自己的配件货架和通道。当我必须在一堆破旧商品里淘我的 黑莓配件并且向店员询问哪里有新的配件时，我觉得自己就像是一个失败者。那些 时輋的店员会对我不屑一顾。
I don't want to be a loser anymore. I want to be a winner. Like Charlie Sheen. And Ralph Macchio on “Dancing With The Stars.” And John.
我不想再做一个落伍的人了，我要变成潮人，就像査理?辛和拉夫?马奇奥在 《与星共舞》中的表演一样。
And yet I continue to resist moving to the iPhone or a Droid device. It’s not because I don’t think they’re good phones. I think they're great phones. It's just that I don’t want to be a loser again. And the choices are getting too complicated. Back in the day, there were lots of desktop applications to choose to help me run my business. And they all ran on Windows. Today there are lots of smartphone apps to choose. But they’reall different and not compatible with other smartphone operating systems.
但是我继续拒绝成为iphone或Droid的用户，这倒不是因为我认为他们不够好， 我认为他们是很棒的手机，我只是不想再次成为一个失败的落伍者。选择变得太复 杂。现在有很多的电脑应用供应商推荐我使用他们的产品，他们都是在Windows系 统上进行操作的。今天有很多的智能手机配套附件可供选择，但是他们都不同，并 且很难与其他的运行系统兼容。
I don't want to have to choose between Apple and Google only to find out that one emerges as the winner. And then once again I’m stuck with a loser. I want a long term solution. So I cling to my BlackBerry, hoping that a clear choice will emerge.
我不想仅仅在苹果和谷歌两个牌子中作出选择，选择一个比较流行的然后再 很快又被时尚抛弃，我想有一个长久的解决办法。所以我现在还在坚持使用我的黑 莓手机，等待着一个更明朗的手机流行趋势出现。
Am I destined to be a smartphone loser? Should I just kneel down and give my allegiance to the Apple and Google Gods? Could there be someone out there that saves me? Actually, I think there is a savior. An unlikely savior. And it is Microsoft. Yes. Microsoft.
难道我注定成为智能手机的失败者？难道我真的要屈服并拥护苹果或者谷歌 的产品?难道没有什么可以来拯救我?事实上，我相信有解救者,它就是微软。是的， 微软。
The people may have given us Windows ME, but really they’re no dummies. They know that 38% of small and medium businesses depend on mobile apps. They know that the mobile app market is estimated to be at $25 billion by 2015. They know there’s a big need for small business apps for these devices. The one thing I’ve learned about Microsoft over the past twenty years: they like money. They’re not going to let this opportunity get away from them. Microsoft just entered into a partnership with Nokia. Supposedly these two companies will be churning out the next generation of cool smartphones designed to really help small business owners like me. Only Microsoft, with its billions in cash and thousands of partners can make this happen. I just hope they do three things for losers like me.
他们提供给我们Windows ME操作系统,但他们不是傻瓜。他们了解38%的中小 企业都依赖着手机管理服务端，他们同样了解到2015年手机服务端的市场市值将达到250亿美元。人们对小型服务端有着大量的需求。而过去的20年中，据我了解，微软公司最大的特点就是他们很喜欢钱，因此他们不会让任何搜钱的机会从身边 溜走。微软刚刚与诺基亚进行合作，试想一下,这两大巨头公司将在智能手机发展 的下个时代联袂合作，计划设计出满足像我这样的小客户需要的智能手机。只有有 着几十亿现金和几千个合作伙伴的微软公司才能开创智能手机新的时代。我只希 望他们能对像我这样的失败者做三件事情。
For starters, I hope Microsoft develops the next smartphone killer app. And I hope that killer app is for making payments. Right now Google is testing an And roid based payment system in San Francisco and New York. Microsoft needs to muscle into this area and take the lead. They’re a software company. They write applications. So please write a killer payment application for the smartphone. Use your power to bring in the major card processors and retailers into the fold. Offer deep discounts for your smartphone customers. Leverage the QR code technology so that I can easily wave my phone over a scanner and buy something. Help me get rid of my credit cards. Integrate9 the data with the popular accounting software used by me and my clients. Payment processing is the application that will set smartphones apart from each other. And the market is like the wild west right now. I want to be able to whip out my phone and pay for my business and personal supplies like a 19th century gunslinger. And have my clients pay me in the same manner. I can be a smartphone winner, not a loser. Microsoft can make that happen.
首先,我希望微软可以在新的智能手机上开发终结服务端。我指的终结服务端 是指付款。前不久，谷歌刚在旧金山和纽约测试了基于安卓系统的付款系统。微软 需要进人该领域并且当带头人。他们是编写应用程序的软件公司，所以拜托……为 智能手机编一套终端支付程序。用你们的力量将各种卡的处理和商家的系统进行 整合，为智能手机用户提供更多的折扣。运用QR二维条码系统，只要扫描一下我的 手机就可以买东西，帮助我脱离信用卡的苦海，将所有的信息与我及我的客户常用 的财务软件整合起来。支付处理系统将使微软的智能手机与众不同，脱颖而出。现 在的市场就像是未拓荒的美国西部一样。我希望我能像19世纪的神枪手一样轻轻 —挥我的手机，就能支付我所有业务的费用，而我的客户支付给我费用时也一样。 我可以称为智能手机的贏家，而不是失败者。微软会让这一切成为现实的。
The second way Microsoft can make me a winner is by doing what they did so well back in the 90's. Those were the days when they ruthlessly took over markets, brutally stomping on companies like Netscape, Lotus and WordPerfect. They underpriced and out-developed their rivals. They can do this again in the smartphone market. I don’t want to pay hundreds for a new iPhone. I already pay hundreds every freaking month incell phone bills! I should be given a smartphone. So should my employees. For free. Of course I realize that I Ml be paying for the price of the phone ten times over through a bunch of hidden fees. But hey that’s the cool way to do it. Microsoft and Nokia should change their pricingmodels and make it easier for losers like me to get hold of their new phones. Cheap. They should make these phones available for next to nothing to their vast partner channel too, encouraging them to play and develop new applications.
第二,我希望微软公司可以像他们20世纪90年代那样，疯狂且毫不留情的占据 市场，残酷地将同类公司，例如Netscape,Lotus和WordPerfect等都踩在脚下0当时的 微软通过打价格战，推陈出新战胜他们的对手。如今,他们可以在智能手机市场上 再展宏图。我不想花几百美元买新的苹果手机,我巳经每个月都交几百美元的电话 费了。我应该得到一部智能手机，我的员工也一样。我当然知道事实上我们付的隐 形费用10倍于我们的手机价格，但是这还是让我们觉得很酷。微软公司和诺基亚应该改变他们的价格模式,使像我一样的落伍者坚决拥护新手机。价廉是一个很重要 的方面，他们应该运用他们广阔的合作渠道，更积极地开发新的软件。
And these developers should be allowed to do again what they did with Windows: create a new standard. The technology industry exploded because of Windows. Of course there were better operating systems. But Windows was standardized on just about every workstation around. Developers didn’t have to worry about writing different applications for different operating systems. The smartphone industry needs standardization. Today, there are different app versions for the BlackBerry, the Droid, the iPhone and Windows devices. Apple and Google are so territorial6. Right now no one seems to care because apps are just toys. But as these phones grow in importance to the business community, compatibility will be critical. Microsoft can take the lead by making sure their smartphones support applications from any platform. Open it up. Be friends with all! We want the ability to choose the best application around and have it run on our device. We shouldn’t have to worry about whether it’s compatible or not. Is this feasible? Apple makes devices. Google does search. Microsoft you’re a software company. And this is a software issue.
这些曾经为Wind麵系统设置标准的人，也应该为手机程序设置标准。技术行 业之所以会爆发就是因为Windows系统的出现。当然，曾经有更好的操作系统，但是 Windows对每一个操作设定了标准。软件开发者不用为对不同的操作系统写不同 的软件而担心，智能手机行业需要这样的标准。今天,黑莓,Dried,苹果,Windows# 自有各自的服务端版本。苹果与谷歌都有自己的地盘，目前他们似乎都不担心,因 为服务端就像是玩具。然而随着手机在商务上重要性的增加，兼容性就显得格外重 要了。微软可以引领其他品牌,确保他们的智能手机支持各个平台的软件使用。说 得更形象些，与所有人做朋友！我们想挑选最好的软件安装到手机上，我们不想为 手机的兼容性而担忧。这是否可行呢？苹果主做机身,谷歌主做搜索引擎。微软，你 是一家软件公司，这些都是软件问题。
I am a BlackBerry loser. But I can one day become a smartphone winner. If Microsoft chooses to be a winner too.
我在选择黑莓时失败了，但是我希望有朝一日我能成为智能手机的成功选择 者。如果微软也选择成为成功者，我的梦想就会成真的。