随身听：音乐播放器的变革
Walkman: the music player revolution
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
大家好。这里是BBC教学英语的《六分钟英语》节目。我是尼尔。
And I'm Georgina.
我是乔治娜。
Hello, Georgina. How are you today?
你好，乔治娜。你今天感觉如何？
Georgina? Georgina!
乔治娜？乔治娜！
Oh sorry, Neil, I didn't hear you - I was listening to music on my headphones!
哦，抱歉，尼尔，我没听见你说话，我刚戴着耳机听音乐呢！
Ah, I see!
啊，明白了！
Listening to music stored on your mobile phone or iPod when out on-the-move doesn't seem like a big deal now,
如今，出门在外时听存储在手机或iPod上的音乐似乎并不是什么大事，
but the concept of personal portable music didn't exist until 1979,
但个人便携式音乐的概念直到1979年才出现，
when the Japanese electronics company, Sony, launched the Walkman.
当时日本电子公司索尼推出了随身听。
Years before iPods and MP3 downloads, the Sony Walkman was the first widely available portable music player.
在用iPods和MP3下载音乐之前，索尼随身听是第一款广泛使用的便携式音乐播放器。
It revolutionised the way fans listened to their favourite bands.
它彻底改变了歌迷听他们最喜欢的乐队的方式。
In this programme, we'll be taking a nostalgic look back at the 1980s and the birth of the Sony Walkman.
在本期节目中，我们将带你回顾一下令人怀旧的20世纪80年代以及索尼随身听的诞生。
And, of course, we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well.
当然，我们也会学习一些新词汇。
Now, it may not seem so revolutionary to young people nowadays,
对于现在的年轻人来说，便携式音乐播放器似乎没那么具有变革性，
but back in the late 1970s portable music players were unheard of.
但在20世纪70年代末，便携式音乐播放器是闻所未闻的。
The idea behind the Walkman was simple – a high-quality stereo cassette player,
随身听背后的想法很简单——一个高质量的立体声盒式磁带放录机，
small enough to hold in your hand, allowing you to walk down the street listening to your own soundtrack.
小到可以拿在手里，让你可以走在街上听自己的音乐。
They became so popular that by the time production of the Walkman ended in 2010,
随身听如此受欢迎，以至于2010年随身听生产结束时，
Sony had sold over 220 million machines worldwide.
索尼已经在全球售出了超过2.2亿台随身听。
So, my quiz question is this:
所以，我的测试问题是：
when the original Walkman model first went on sale in 1979, how much did it cost?
首款型号的随身听在1979年首次销售时，它的价格是多少？
Was it: a) 50 dollars, b) 100 dollars or c) 150 dollars?
是：a)50美元，b) 100美元，还是c) 150美元？
Things were a lot cheaper in 1979, Neil, so I'll say b) 100 dollars.
在1979年，东西要便宜得多，尼尔，所以我选b) 100美元。
OK, Georgina – we'll find out later if that's right.
好的，乔治娜，我们稍后将揭晓那是否正确。
Now, the inspiration behind the Walkman came from Sony chairman, Akio Morita.
随身听的灵感来自索尼董事长盛田昭夫。
He saw Japanese teenagers listening to heavy transistor radios carried on their shoulders,
他看到日本青少年听着肩膀上扛着的沉重晶体管收音机，
and had a vision of a smaller stereo which could be held in the hand.
然后就设想到了可以拿在手里的小型立体声收音机。
However, few of Mr Morita's colleagues had faith in his idea for a portable music player.
然而，盛田先生的同事中几乎没有人对他关于便携式音乐播放器的想法有信心。
Here's Andrea Koppen, of Sony UK, speaking to the BBC in 1989,
这是索尼英国公司的安德里亚·科彭在1989年接受BBC采访时谈到的，
taken from the BBC World Service programme, Witness History.
内容摘自BBC全球服务节目Witness History。
People were very sceptical.
人们非常怀疑。
They couldn't believe that people would want to walk around with headphones on and carry this cassette with them.
他们无法相信人们会想戴着耳机，拿着这种盒式磁带放录机走来走去。
And he actually laid his job on the line and said,
实际上他冒着失去工作的危险，说：
'If it doesn't take off, I will resign'…
“如果它不成功，我就辞职……
And they didn’t have much money at the time, so their advertising was very tight.
他们当时没有太多的钱，所以他们的广告方面非常紧张。
And they decided to give it to students to try.
他们决定从学生入手。
And so people saw them on the trains, in campuses, in towns and the newspapers picked up on it immediately.
所以人们在火车上，在校园里，在城镇上看到随身听，报纸立即对此进行报道。
The Walkman was designed to be used with headphones - a pair of padded speakers worn over the ears,
随身听的设计初衷是和耳机一起使用，耳机指的是戴在耳朵上的一对衬垫扬声器，
so you can listen to music without other people hearing.
这样你就可以在别人听不到的情况下听音乐。
Akio Morita was confident his stereo plus headphones idea would take off - suddenly start to be successful and popular.
盛田昭夫自信他的“立体声收音机加耳机”想法会成功——突然开始成功和受欢迎。
In fact, he was so confident of success that he laid his job on the line
事实上，他对取得成功充满信心，以至于他冒着失去工作的危险。
– an idiom meaning to risk losing something important,
这个习语的意思是冒着失去重要东西的风险，
such as your job or reputation.
比如你的工作或名誉。
Luckily, he didn't lose his job because many people started buying the new Walkmans,
幸运的是，他没有丢掉工作，因为许多人开始购买新出的随身听，
something the newspapers picked up on - noticed or gave particular attention to.
这是报纸上报道的东西——引起注意或特别关注。
Morita's idea was a massive success.
盛田的想法取得了巨大成功。
Released at the start of the summer holidays for Japanese students, within 3 months the entire first run of 30 thousand Walkmans had sold out.
首批3万台随身听在暑假开始时面向日本学生发售，在3个月内全部售罄。
Meanwhile, music lovers outside of Japan were desperately trying to get hold of the new machines.
与此同时，日本以外的音乐爱好者们也拼命想得到这种新机器。
Among the first to buy one was music journalist, Tim Jarman.
第一批购买到的人中就有音乐记者蒂姆·贾曼。
Here he is speaking to Farhana Haider, for BBC World Service's Witness History:
这是他在BBC全球服务节目Witness History上对法尔哈纳·海德谈到的：
It was made available in the US in June 1980.
它于1980年6月在美国上市。
The Walkman was especially popular with the 16 to 24 age group.
随身听在16岁到24岁年龄段的人群中特别受欢迎。
They thought it could be a niche product, that might not sell,
他们认为它可能是一种利基产品，可能不会售卖，
but it really caught the public imagination in every market that it was offered in.
但它确实吸引了公众对所供各个市场的兴趣。
When the Walkman was sold to the rest of the world and became popular with youngsters,
当随身听销往世界各地并受到年轻人的欢迎时，
people thought it was a niche product - something marketed for sale to a small, specific group.
人们认为它是一种利基产品——面向一小部分特定群体销售的东西。
But instead, people of all ages began wearing Walkmans to listen to their favourite music on the move,
但相反的是，各个年龄段的人们开始戴上随身听，一边走一边听他们最喜欢的音乐。
and the new invention caught the public imagination
这个新发明勾起人们的想象
– an idiom meaning, made the public interested in or excited about something.
——这个习语的意思是，令公众对某事感兴趣或感到兴奋。
Many put the Walkman's success down to its perfect combination of sound quality, small size and affordable price.
许多人把随身听的成功归功于其音质、小巧尺寸和实惠价格的完美结合 。
But exactly how affordable, Georgina?
但到底有多便宜，乔治娜？
Remember my quiz question?
还记得我的测试问题吗？
Yes, Neil. You asked how much the original Walkman cost when it came out in 1979.
记得，尼尔。你问我，1979年当第一代随身听问世时，它的价格是多少。
What did you say?
你说是多少？
I thought it cost b) 100 dollars.
我认为是b) 100美元。
Well, Georgina, things were cheaper in 1979,
好吧，乔治娜，在1979年，东西要便宜一些，
but not that cheap – the actual price was c) 150 dollars.
但也没那么便宜——实际价格是c) 150美元。
That's around 530 dollars today!
那大约相当于现在的530美元！
In this programme, we've been looking back at the iconic Sony Walkman,
在本期节目中，我们回顾了标志性的索尼随身听，
the first portable stereo made up of a cassette player plus headphones
它是第一款由盒式磁带放录机和耳机组成的便携式立体声盒式磁带放录机
– pairs of padded speakers worn over the ears.
——耳机是戴在耳朵上的一对衬垫扬声器。
Sony chairman Akio Morita was so confident his invention would take off – become popular and successful
索尼董事长盛田昭夫非常自信他的发明会取得成功——大受欢迎并获得成功，
- that he laid his job on the line.
以至于他冒着失去工作的危险。
That means risked something important, like his job.
那是指冒着失去重要事物的危险，比如他的工作。
His colleagues at Sony worried the Walkman was a niche product
他在索尼的同事们担心随身听是一种利基产品
– product targeted for sale to a niche, or small and specific, market.
——针对利基市场或小部分特定市场销售的产品。
But luckily for him, the Japanese newspapers picked up on his idea,
但对他来说幸运的是，日本报纸注意到了他的点子
– noticed it and gave it particular attention.
——注意到了它，并给予了特别关注。
As a result, the Sony Walkman caught the public imagination
结果，索尼随身听勾起了人们的想象
- made the public excited and interested in it.
——让公众感到兴奋并对它产生兴趣。
That's all for this programme.
以上就是本期节目的全部内容。
Until we meet again at 6 Minute English – happy listening!
下期《六分钟英语》再见——快乐倾听！
Happy listening!
快乐倾听！