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The Customer Experience
顧客體驗
Jobs hated to cede control of anything, especially when it might affect the customer experience. But he faced a problem.
喬布斯不喜歡失去對任何事情的控制，尤其是關系到顧客體驗的事情。但是他面臨著一個問題。
There was one part of the process he didn't control: the experience of buying an Apple product in a store.
在這個過程中有一個部分他還沒有控制到：那就是在商店里購買蘋果產品的體驗。
The days of the Byte Shop were over.
Byte Shop的時代已經結束了。
Industry sales were shifting from local computer specialty shops to megachains and big box stores,
計算機行業的銷售已經從本地的計算機專賣店過渡到了大型連鎖商店和量販店，
where most clerks had neither the knowledge nor the incentive to explain the distinctive nature of Apple products.
但是在這些地方，大部分店員既不具備蘋果產品的基本知識，也沒有意愿去為顧客解釋產品的獨特性能。
"All that the salesman cared about was a $50 spiff," Jobs said.
喬布斯說：“所有的銷售員都只關心那50美元的銷售提成?！?/div>
Other computers were pretty generic, but Apple's had innovative features and a higher price tag.
其他的計算機都很普通，但是蘋果計算機有一些創新的功能，價格也更高。
He didn't want an iMac to sit on a shelf between a Dell and a Compaq while an uninformed clerk recited the specs of each.
他不希望iMac被放在戴爾和康柏的旁邊，然后不懂行的店員向顧客背誦出每臺計算機的配置。
"Unless we could find ways to get our message to customers at the store, we were screwed."
“除非有辦法在商店里就把我們的理念傳達給顧客，否則我們就完蛋了。”
In great secrecy, Jobs began in late 1999 to interview executives who might be able to develop a string of Apple retail stores.
1999年中后期，喬布斯開始秘密地面試一些能開發蘋果零售店的管理人員。
One of the candidates had a passion for design and the boyish enthusiasm of a natural-born retailer:
其中一個候選人熱愛設計，他就像是天生的零售商一般擁有孩童般的熱情，
Ron Johnson, the vice president for merchandising at Target,
羅恩·約翰遜當時是塔吉特公司負責銷售規劃的副總裁，
who was responsible for launching distinctive-looking products, such as a teakettle designed by Michael Graves.
主要工作是發布有特色的新產品，比如邁克爾·格雷夫斯設計的茶壺。
"Steve is very easy to talk to," said Johnson in recalling their first meeting.
約翰遜回憶起他們的第一次會面時說：“史蒂夫非常平易近人。
"All of a sudden there's a torn pair of jeans and turtleneck, and he's off and running about why he needed great stores.
他穿著髙領衫和破舊的牛仔褲，開門見山地談起他為什么想要開零售店。
If Apple is going to succeed, he told me, we're going to win on innovation.
他告訴我，如果蘋果想要成功，那一定是通過創新取勝。
And you can't win on innovation unless you have a way to communicate to customers."
但如果你無法把創新之處傳達給顧客，你就無法通過創新取勝?！?/p>
