時代經(jīng)典用詞科技篇 電子電機
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carbon fullerene
福樂烯
Ever since the 1985 discovery of carbon fullerenes,scientists have been on the lookout for other substances that can form the same remarkable soccer-ball shape.
自從1985年發(fā)現(xiàn)福樂烯之后，科學(xué)家便一直在尋找能夠形成相同足球狀結(jié)構(gòu)的其他材料。
cellular phone
蜂巢式移動電話
After attending the Academy Awards and taking a side trip to the Picasso exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
在參加過奧斯卡頒獎典禮并且順道到洛杉磯的郡立藝術(shù)博物館參觀畢加索展覽之后，
Paquin returned home to New Zealand,where she's learning that even though you've just won an Oscar,
Paquin回到她在新西蘭的家，在那里她發(fā)現(xiàn)，就算你剛贏得一座奧斯卡金像獎，
it doesn't necessarily mean you'll spend your time louging by the pool,reading the showbiz trades and chatting to Jack Nicholson on the cellular phone.
也不一定代表你會在游泳池旁消磨時光，讀著影世雜志，和杰克·尼克松用大哥大來聊天。
cogeneration
熱電共生
Amid all this disappointment came yet another prospect for survival.
在種種挫折之余，仍有著一線生機。
CSX Corp.,parent of the Chesapeaks & Ohio railroad,took an interest in Otisca as a possible source of fuel for a pilot cogeneration plant it was planning at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
Chesapeaks & Ohio鐵路公司的母公司——CSX企業(yè)，對于Otisca表現(xiàn)出相當?shù)呐d趣，他們計劃在西佛吉尼亞洲的Greenbrier Resort興建一座試驗性的熱電共生廠，可能以O(shè)tisca為燃料來源。
DBS
直播衛(wèi)星
Other potential rivals to cable are on the horizon.Two consortiums of media companies have launched direct-broadcast satellite ventures.
其他可能與有線電視競爭的潛在對手也逐漸浮出臺面。有兩家媒體公司的財團已經(jīng)展開直播衛(wèi)星的事業(yè)。
facsimile
傳真
While analysts were debating whether this global network was feasible,
正當分析家在討論這個全球性網(wǎng)絡(luò)是否可行的時候，
Microsoft announced a deal with Japan's Nippon Telegraph & Telephone,the world's second largest telephone company,to design business applications for CD-ROM and facsimile machines.
“微軟”宣布將與全球第二大的電話公司日本電報電話公司，合作為只讀存儲器和傳真機等設(shè)計商業(yè)方面的應(yīng)用。
The published edition promises to include a facsimile of the Ripper's confessional document,a transcript and material authenticating that the book is the work of Jack himself.
已上市的此一版本承諾附上一張開膛手的自白書電傳文本，一份謄本以及一些文件來證明這本書真的是杰克自己寫的。
Global Positioning System
全球定位系統(tǒng)
Panasonic is advertising a tiny hand-held Global Positioning System device,
松下電器最近在廣告促銷一款小型的手握式全球定于系統(tǒng)設(shè)備，
a little brother to the satellite navigation system developed for the military and now used in aircraft and yachts.
這個系統(tǒng)的大哥就是當初為了軍事用途而現(xiàn)在則用在飛機及游艇上的衛(wèi)生導(dǎo)航系統(tǒng)。
Satellites are also making possible commercial use of the Pentagondeveloped global positioning system,
衛(wèi)星也使美國國防部開發(fā)出來的全球定位系統(tǒng)得以用于商業(yè)用途，
which was employed by soldiers using handheld monitors during the Gulf War to pinpoint their location in the desert.
在海灣戰(zhàn)爭中，士兵即已利用手握式監(jiān)測器，透過該系統(tǒng)了解自己在沙漠中的正確位置。
Iridium
銥計劃
Motorola has announced plans for its own satellite-linked worldwide system,through a new firm called Iridium.
摩托羅拉公司已宣布了自己的全球衛(wèi)星聯(lián)網(wǎng)系統(tǒng)，這套系統(tǒng)將由一家名為“銥”的公司進行。
While Iridium is designed for portable devices such as phones and hand-held computers,Teledesic is intended for fixed locations,such as offices.
“銥計劃”的對象是像電話及手提式電腦等可攜性設(shè)備，而Teledesic則是用在像辦公室這樣的固定地點。
In perhaps the most ambitious project of all,Motorola plans to launch a wireless system called Iridium,
在這個堪稱最浩大艱巨的工程中，摩托羅拉公司計劃開展一個名為“銥計劃”的無線通信系統(tǒng)，
which will consist of 66 satellites orbiting about 500 miles above the earth.
這套系統(tǒng)包含66顆在地球上方500英里軌道上運行的人造衛(wèi)星。
LCD & LED
液晶顯示器與發(fā)光二極管
Repeated discouragement,of course,leads to repeated equipment purchase.
不在斷的失望下，當然，就會誘發(fā)不斷的購買器具。
But gear possibilities are poor;
但是運動器材的幫助不大；
you don't really want moving parts or a liquid crystal display on a racquet or a three wood.
你不會真的想要一些可拆裝的元件，可不會想在網(wǎng)球拍或高爾夫球桿上裝個液晶顯示熒幕吧。
The Roland E-20($2500)even has a liquid-crystal display window
Roland E-20電子琴($2500)甚至附有液晶顯示窗，
that flashes such information as the chord being played and the tempo being used,...
所彈奏的和弦、所使用的拍子等等信息，都可在其上顯示出來。
nanotechnology
精密工藝技術(shù)
Robot probes no bigger than bacteria will eventually be possible.
像細菌那么小的機器人終將可能出現(xiàn)，
According to K.Eric Drexler,author of Engines of Creation,
根據(jù)《創(chuàng)造的引擎》一書的作者艾力克·德雷克斯勒所說，
they will use nanotechnology to assemble devices atom by atom or molecule by molecule.
他們將會利用精密工藝技術(shù)來組合機器，作法是一個原子接一個原子，或一個分子接一個分子來組裝。
If,on the other hand,you steer your beings adroitly toward the ages of information and nanotechnology,
換個方面來考慮，如果你能夠巧妙地引導(dǎo)你的生命朝向信息與精密工藝技術(shù)的時代邁進，
they will spontaneously load themselves into tiny spacecraft,turn the earth into a wildlife preserve and take off to colonize other planets...
這些生命就能夠自動地將自己裝上小型的太空船，將地球變成野生動物保護區(qū)，并出發(fā)到其他星球居住。
narrowcasting
窄播
To that end,the mayoral hopefuls are playing it safe,narrowcasting their messages to voter segments where they are already popular rather than making broad appeals to the entire electorate.
為了達到這個目的，這些希望當上市長的候選人都采取穩(wěn)扎穩(wěn)打的策略，將他們的信息以窄播的形式傳達給那些喜歡他們的選民，而不拆求于整個選區(qū)的選民。
At this stage,the traditional broadcast networks would probably be hurt,
在目前這個階段，傳統(tǒng)的廣播網(wǎng)絡(luò)可能會受到影響，
but not necessarily crippled.
但還不至于會癱瘓。
Though their audience will be nibbled at further by a fresh attack of narrowcasting barracudas,
盡管他們的觀眾群可能還會被梭魚一樣兇的窄播系統(tǒng)再咬去一些，
they would retain their special role as providers of national news,big sports events and broadbased entertainment fare.
但是在全國性的新聞、大型體育活動以及大規(guī)模的娛樂節(jié)目等方面，還是能夠維持它們的獨特地位。
personal communication network
個人通訊網(wǎng)絡(luò)
Called personal communications networks,these systems operate much like cellular phones but are not intended for cars.
這種被稱為個人通訊網(wǎng)絡(luò)的系統(tǒng)，操作起來很像是移動電話，但是并非供車上使用。
Instead they are designed for pedestrian use
實際上它們是設(shè)計來給行人使用的，
and will consist of pocket phones so small they can be folded up like a wallet to the size of a pack of cigarettes.
有一只口袋型電話，體積很小，可以像皮夾一樣折起來，只有一包香煙大。
The user could thus bypass the local phone company,which makes the PCN system a threat to the Baby Bells' local monoploy.
使用者因此可以越過當?shù)氐碾娫捁?，使得個人通訊網(wǎng)絡(luò)系統(tǒng)對于貝爾電話公司子公司的區(qū)域性壟斷造成了威脅。
Last week Cox scored an industry first by becoming the first cable system to test-market a PCN serivce.
上周Cox公司成為第一個在市場上測試個人通信網(wǎng)絡(luò)服務(wù)的有線系統(tǒng)。
superconductivity
超導(dǎo)性
Sixteen years later,Bardeen and two others won the Nobel for their theory of low-temperature superconductivity,
16年之后，巴丁和另外兩名科學(xué)家又因低溫超導(dǎo)理論再度獲得諾貝爾獎，
in which electricity travels through matter with little or no resistance.
在低溫超導(dǎo)狀態(tài)，電流可以在極低或沒有阻力的情況下流經(jīng)物質(zhì)。
Japanis the only country that is developing practical uses of superconductivity
日本是唯一正在發(fā)展超導(dǎo)之實際應(yīng)用的國家，
and I believe,will master the technology in ten years.
而且我相信，10年內(nèi)一定會精通這項工藝技術(shù)。
Then Japan will be at the center of industry.
到時候日本會成為工業(yè)的中心。
Betting on the Sky
押寶在天上
1.Until recently,mobile radio was to wireless communications what the Yugo was to transportation.
不久前，移動無線電在無線通信業(yè)的地位還只是像南斯拉夫牌車輛在運輸業(yè)的地位一樣。
With a motley clientele ranging from truckers using CBs to police armed with walkie-talkies to taxi drivers dispatched by radio,
它的客戶群五花八門，包括使用民用頻道無線電的卡車司機、配有對講機的警察以及經(jīng)由無線電臺傳呼的出租車司機。
it was viewed as an unglamorous business and a technological backwater.
一般人都認為這種通信方式平凡無奇、技術(shù)水平甚低。
2.But specialized mobile radio,as it is known,has been rediscorered.It is now considered one of the biggest prizes in the all-out war for the public airwaves.
可是這種叫做專業(yè)移動無線電的技術(shù)最近咸魚翻身，在爭奪公用電波的全面大戰(zhàn)中被視為數(shù)一數(shù)二的大獎。
The reason:high-tech companies have figured out how to profitably rebuild the antiquated dispatching system into an advanced cellular-telephone network
這是因為高科技公司已經(jīng)研究出來怎樣把這個老掉牙的傳呼系統(tǒng)，改造為先進的移動電話網(wǎng)絡(luò)，
that can take on the likes of AT&T and the giant Baby Bells.
用它賺錢，甚至可以挑戰(zhàn)美國電話電報公司，以及規(guī)模龐大的貝爾電話子公司這一類的對手。
Upstart Nextel Communications sent shock waves through the industry last week
新出道就來勢洶洶的“暴發(fā)戶”通信公司上周造成業(yè)界大震撼，
when it agreed to buy Motor-ola's SMR frequencies for $1.8 billion.
同意以18億美元的價格買下摩托羅拉公司手中的SMR頻道。
3.With the 2500 radio frequencies acquired from Motorola,
接收摩托羅拉的2500條無線電頻道之后，
Nextel will have the potential to serve 180 million customers in 21 states,including 45 of the 50 largest cities.
“暴發(fā)戶”就有辦法服務(wù)21個州的1.8億名客戶，前50名的大都市中有45個也在服務(wù)范圍中。
That would give the Rutherford,New Jersey,company access to nearly three times the number of customers now covered by McCaw Cellular Communications,the nation's biggest cellular operator,
這么一來，“暴發(fā)戶”可涵蓋的客戶群比起美國最大的移動電話公司“麥考行動通訊”目前涵蓋的客戶群還要大得多——幾乎到它的3倍。
which is being acquired by AT&T for $12.6 billion.
美國電話電報公司開出126億，正在并購麥考公司。
Even though it will cost at least $2.5 billion to rebuild the SMR system into a cellular network,Nextel,which is backed by Comcast Corp. and Japan's Matsushita & Nippon Telegraph and Telephone,
雖然改造SMR系統(tǒng)為移動電話網(wǎng)絡(luò)至少要25億的成本，可是“暴發(fā)戶”有康卡斯公司與日本的松下公司及日本電報電話公司作后盾，
intends to have a coast-to-coast wireless network up and running by 1995.
計劃在1995年之前就要開始營運一個從太平洋岸到大西洋岸的無線通信網(wǎng)。
4.That could pose a serious threat to cellular hegemony.
此舉可能嚴重威脅到移動電話的霸權(quán)。
Although both systems are based on the same basic technology,
雖然兩種系統(tǒng)的基本技術(shù)相同，
SMR systems are digital and cover almost 25 times as much area as the average cellular network.
可是SMR系統(tǒng)是數(shù)位型，能涵蓋到的面積幾乎有一般移動電話網(wǎng)絡(luò)的25倍大。
SMR handsets won't work on cellular systems and tend to be bulkier than cellular phones,
SMR的手機在移動電話系統(tǒng)上不能運作，而且往往比移動電話笨重，
though they provide more features,like a digital pager service.
可是能提供更多功能，例如它有數(shù)位型呼叫服務(wù)。
And while cellular growth has tripled to some 13 million subscribers since 1990,
此外，移動電話用戶盡管從1990年以來增加了3倍，到達1300萬之多，
the technology has been losing ground.
可是技術(shù)面卻節(jié)節(jié)敗退。
It is running out of channel capacity so fast,
它的頻道承載量快速呈現(xiàn)不足，
in fact,that 40% of cellular calls in high-density areas like Manhattan and Los Angeles fail to be completed.
像曼哈頓區(qū)與洛杉磯這種高密度地區(qū)有40%的移動電話通話都會被腰斬。
SMRs have capacity to spare,and service could eventually be priced 10% to 15% less than cellular.
至于SMR則有用不完的承載量，假以時日，SMR服務(wù)費可以比移動電話低10%至15%。
Dispatchers predict they will have at least 10 million subscribers by the end of the decade.
SMR轉(zhuǎn)接公司預(yù)測90年代結(jié)束前至少會有1000萬名用戶。
There are now about 1.5 million users of SMRs.
目前大約有150萬戶。
5.The addition of another contender to an already crowded field of telephone systems will surely multiply the confusion.
對早已充塞各式各樣電話系統(tǒng)的行業(yè)而言，新競爭者的加入，勢必會使局面更增混亂。
By the year 2000,consumers will be able to choose from at least half a dozen vendors of a dizzing array of wireless-communications services,
到了公元2000年，消費者面對令人眼花繚亂的無線通信服務(wù)廠商，至少有6種選擇，
including pagers,voice mail,answering machines and cellular phones.
包括呼叫器、有聲郵件、答錄機與移動電話在內(nèi)。
Phone and cabletelevision operators,such as Bell South,MCI and Cox Enterprises,
電話業(yè)者與有線電視業(yè)者，諸如南方貝爾公司，MCI公司與柯克斯企業(yè)，
are developing so-called personal-communications networks,or PCNs,
正在開發(fā)所謂的個人通信網(wǎng)絡(luò)。
a highly advanced portable-phone system that is expected to cover a wider area,connect to a greater variety of services and be cheaper to operate than conventional cellular.
這是極先進的移動式電話系統(tǒng)，可望能比一般的移動電話覆蓋更大的面積，接通更多種類的服務(wù)，成本也更低。
6.In perhaps the most ambitious project of all,Motorola plans to launch a wireless system called Iridium,
野心最大的計劃可能要屬摩托羅拉正在規(guī)劃推出的銥計劃無線通信系統(tǒng)，
which will consist of 66 satellites orbiting about 500 miles above the earth.
要動用到66枚衛(wèi)星在約500英里的高度環(huán)繞地球運轉(zhuǎn)。
The satellites would link together a network of special pocket phones,personal computers,fax machines and pagers
這批衛(wèi)星可以串聯(lián)起龐大的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，包括口袋型電話、個人電腦、傳真機與呼叫器，
anywhere in the world-all for a subscription rate of $3 a minute.
不論在世界任何角落——使用費一分鐘3美元。
Iridium,which is also backed by Sprint and Raytheon,as well as companies in Canada,China,Japan,Italy and Russia,
銥計劃的后臺有史普林特公司與銳喜安公司，以及分布于加拿大、中國、日本、意大利和俄羅斯的一些公司，
is expected to begin operation in 1998.
預(yù)期在1998年可以開始運營。
It already faces competition from rival global-communications systems,
現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)面對全球通信系統(tǒng)業(yè)對手的競爭，
including Comsat,Globalstar and TRW's Odyssey,
像是通衛(wèi)系統(tǒng)、環(huán)星系統(tǒng)與TRW公司的奧迪賽系統(tǒng)。
American Mobile Satellite Corp.,for instance,plans to use satellites to reach customers in regions not served by cellular.
例如美國機動衛(wèi)星公司就計劃利用衛(wèi)星來接通移動電話無法覆蓋區(qū)域的客戶。
7.Anticipating the wireless world,
為了適應(yīng)未來無線世界市場的需求，
computer makers,like Apple,AT&T,IBM and AST Research,
電腦廠商像蘋果電腦、美國電話電報公司、IBM公司與AST研究公司，
have recently introduced personal digital assistants,or PDAs,
最近都推出了個人數(shù)位助理——
hand-held pen-based computers
這是掌上型、使用電腦筆的電腦，
that can send wireless faxes,electronic mail and,in many cases,make phone calls.
可以傳送無線傳真、電子郵件，而且其中有好幾型都可以打電話。
For the most part,though,many of these technologies will be overlapping,incompatible and,in some cases,even irrelevant.
但是，大致說來，這些技術(shù)之中有許多互相重疊，又不具相容性，甚至有些種類根本無足輕重。
Says Clifford Bean,a wireless analyst at Arthur D. Little:
亞瑟·立德公司的無線通信分析家比恩就說：
"PCNs,PDAs and now SMRs.Consumers are going to face a maddening menu of choices.
“PCN，PDA，現(xiàn)在又來一個SMR。消費者面對的將是一份會讓人暈眼的菜單。
Many are going to get lost in the gobbledygook."
許多人看到這一堆新名詞會無所適從。”
8.And many companies that have gambled on the wrong technological standards,
許多公司押賭押錯了，選擇了沒有前途的技術(shù)標準，
and invested billions trying to develop the same markets,
投資數(shù)十億美元來開發(fā)同樣的市場。
will undoubtedly lose a great deal of money before the shakeout is over.
這些公司勢必要遭到巨額虧損，然后霸主才會出現(xiàn)。
says Nextel chairman Morgan O'Brien,
“暴發(fā)戶”董事長歐布萊恩說：
"The winners will be those who can make the choice for consumers easy."
“誰能讓消費者容易選擇，誰就能勝利。”
With all the anticipated confusion-reminiscent of the early years of personal computers-
可是普遍預(yù)期的是混亂的局面——類似個人電腦初期的情況——
it is likely to be years before anyone calls the purchase of wireless products an "easy" choice.
所以很可能要過若干年才會有人覺得買無線通信產(chǎn)品是一項“容易的”選擇。
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