英语翻译Do you remember Berkey or Ampex?Gablinger or Chux?Perhap

英语翻译
Do you remember Berkey or Ampex?Gablinger or Chux?Perhaps you should,because each of them occupies an important place in the history of product innovation.Berkey produced the first hand-held electronic calculators,Ampex the first video recorders,Gablinger developed the first low alcohol lagers,Chux sold the first disposable nappies.
Or perhaps you should not,because none of these companies made a commercial success of their innovations.Today the calculators we use are probably made by Casio,our video recorder comes from Matsushita:our low alcohol beer is Miller Lite,our diapers are made by Procter and Gamble.In each of these markets,the innovator was swept away.
Xerox looks like an exception to this sorry catalogue.The company was first into the photocopier market,and even if its dominance was ultimately challenged by Canon it remains a large and successful company today.But Xerox was also a pioneer in fax machines and personal computers.Each of these products eventually proved to be a major success – but not for the Xerox Corporation.
As we all know,it was to be Apple which developed the personal computer market (although the first computer I bought,back in 1982,came from Sirius,an Exxon subsidiary.Where are they now?) But Apple’s leadership quickly disappeared when IBM came on the scene.Still,Apple then jumped ahead by introducing the graphical user interface.Their windows and mice brought personal computing within the reach of anyone.But it is Microsoft who do this for us now.
The business world is not very kind to pioneers.Even if you know how a market will develop,timing is a matter of luck – or of quite exceptional skill.
There are two closely related lessons.One is that being first is not often very important.The other is that innovation is rarely a source of competitive advantage on its own.Individuals,and small firms,can make a great deal of money out of good new ideas.The success of large established corporations – Matsushita,Philip Morris,IBM or General Electric – is generally based on other things:their distribution capability,their depth of technical expertise,then marketing stalls.And time and again these characteristics enable them to develop the innovative concept far more effectively than the innovators themselves.
This is not to say that there is no role in business for the great innovator.After all,General Electric was built on the extraordinary fecundity of Thomas Edison’s mind,the Ford Motor company on the abilities of its eponymous founder.The imagination of Walt Disney created a company which is still without parallel or rival.Perhaps Akito Monta of Sony occupies a similar place in the annals of modern business.

你还记得Berkey 或Ampex吗?还有Gablinger和Chux吗?也许你会记得,因为在历史的产品创新上他们每一个人都占据了重要的位置.Berkey发明了第一个手持电子计算器,Ampex发明了视频录像机,Gablinger 发现了低酒精度啤酒,Chux 卖出了第一个一次性尿布.
也许你不会记得他们,因为他们中没有一个人的创新产品获得了成功.今天我们用的计算器通常是卡西欧,我们用的录像机是松下,我们喝的低酒精度啤酒是 Miller Lite,我们用的尿布由保洁公司提供.在每一个领域,创新者都没有了一席之地.
Xerox 似乎是个例外,他的公司是第一个进入复印机市场的,即使它的优势被佳能挑战,它仍然是一个很成功的公司