So Apple needed a partner, one that could make a stable operating system, preferably one that was UNIX-like and had an object-oriented application layer. There was one company that could obviously supply such software—NeXT—but it would take a while for Apple to focus on it.
所以蘋果需要一個合作伙伴提供穩定的操作系統,最好還是像Unix那樣的操作系統,具備面向對象的應用程序。當時,有一家公司顯然可以提供這樣的軟件——NeXT——但是還要過一段時間蘋果才會關注到這一點。
Apple first homed in on a company that had been started by Jean-Louis Gassée, called Be. Gassée began negotiating the sale of Be to Apple, but in August 1996 he overplayed his hand at a meeting with Amelio in Hawaii. He said he wanted to bring his fifty-person team to Apple, and he asked for 15% of the company, worth about $500 million. Amelio was stunned. Apple calculated that Be was worth about $50 million. After a few offers and counteroffers, Gassée refused to budge from demanding at least $275 million. He thought that Apple had no alternatives. It got back to Amelio that Gassée said, “I’ve got them by the balls, and I’m going to squeeze until it hurts.” This did not please Amelio.
蘋果先是鎖定了一家由讓-路易·加西創建的公司Be。加西開始探討把Be賣給蘋果,但是1996年8月在夏威夷跟阿梅里奧開會時,他過于自以為是了。他說他想帶50人的團隊加入蘋果,要公司15%的股杈,價值大約5億美元。阿梅里奧聽罷目瞪口呆。蘋果當時對Be的估值只有5000萬美元。經過幾番討價還價,加西無法接受低于2.75億美元的報價。他以為蘋果沒有其他選擇了。加西對別人說,“我拿住了他們的要害,我要一直捏到他們疼為止。”這話傳到阿梅里奧耳朵里,那感覺可不太好。
Apple’s chief technology officer, Ellen Hancock, argued for going with Sun’s UNIX-based Solaris operating system, even though it did not yet have a friendly user interface. Amelio began to favor using, of all things, Microsoft’s Windows NT, which he felt could be rejiggered on the surface to look and feel just like a Mac while being compatible with the wide range of software available to Windows users. Bill Gates, eager to make a deal, began personally calling Amelio.
蘋果的首席技術官埃倫·漢考克(EllenHancock)贊成采用Sun公司基于Unix的Solaris操作系統,盡管它還沒有一個友好的用戶界面。而阿梅里奧居然開始傾向于使用微軟的WindowsNT操作系統,他認為可以做一些外觀上的改動,使之看起來感覺就像個Mac,又能跟Windows用戶可以使用的大量軟件相兼容。比爾·蓋茨非??释_成這項合作,開始親自給阿梅里奧打電話。
There was, of course, one other option. Two years earlier Macworld magazine columnist (and former Apple software evangelist) Guy Kawasaki had published a parody press release joking that Apple was buying NeXT and making Jobs its CEO. In the spoof Mike Markkula asked Jobs, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling UNIX with a sugarcoating, or change the world?” Jobs responded, “Because I’m now a father, I needed a steadier source of income.” The release noted that “because of his experience at Next, he is expected to bring a newfound sense of humility back to Apple.” It also quoted Bill Gates as saying there would now be more innovations from Jobs that Microsoft could copy. Everything in the press release was meant as a joke, of course. But reality has an odd habit of catching up with satire.
當然,還有另外一個選擇。兩年前,《Macworld》雜志的專欄作家(前蘋果軟件布道者)蓋伊·川崎(GuyKawasaki)曾經發表了一篇模擬新聞通稿,開玩笑說蘋果即將收購NeXT然后讓喬布斯擔任CEO。文中模仿邁克·馬庫拉問喬布斯:“你想把下半輩子用來賣裹著層糖衣的Unix,還是用來改變世界?”喬布斯同意這項收購并表示:“我現在是個父親了,我需要一個穩定的收入來源?!蔽恼略u論說“由于他在NeXT的經歷,人們期待他會把一種從未有過的謙卑感帶回蘋果”。文章還擬引了比爾·蓋茨的話說,現在會有更多喬布斯的創新可以供微軟抄襲了。當時這篇新聞稿里所有的話都是玩笑。但是現實總有一個奇怪的習慣,要追上嘲諷的步伐。