好英语网硅谷真人秀未播先红
SAN FRANCISCO — Silicon Valley is finally getting the treatment once reserved for rowdy housewives and excitable chefs: its own Bravo reality series. But the tech world is not quite ready for its close-up.
旧金山——硅谷终于得到了曾经专属泼辣主妇和暴躁大厨的待遇：Bravo电视频道的真人秀。不过，这个高科技世界还没有对特写镜头做好准备。
When details about the show, tentatively titled “Silicon Valley,” first seeped out, many here were offended, saying it would trivialize the difficult and important work being done in the valley. “Yuck, please stay in LA,” Kevin Rose, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, messaged his million-plus Twitter followers.
这档暂名“硅谷”的真人秀节目的细节刚一曝光，就让硅谷很多人感到不快。他们说，这档节目会琐碎庸俗地呈现硅谷里正在进行的困难而又重要的工作。企业家和风险投资人凯文·罗丝(Kevin Rose)在Twitter上给100多万粉丝留言称，“呸，请留在洛杉矶。”
The valley may be even more upset when it sees how well the final product captures the raucous reality of the tech industry in 2012.
如果硅谷人看到最终播出的节目精准捕捉到2012年高科技行业的喧嚣现实，他们也许会更加郁闷。
The series, which is now being filmed and is scheduled to be broadcast this winter, shows hard-partying youngsters vying to start companies in a frenzy reminiscent of the dot-com peak of 2000. It is a world where everyone seems to think that a good idea can lead to instant success and untold riches, because, after all, it has so many times before. It is a place where you feel like a failure if only one investor offers to finance you, instead of many begging to get in.
这档节目目前正在拍摄中，计划在今年冬天播出。它叙述了一群热衷于派对的年轻人竞相创立公司，其狂热程度不禁让人联想起2000年互联网泡沫的顶峰时期。在这个世界里，每个人似乎都认为，一个好点子就能让人立即获得成功，享有数不尽的财富，因为，毕竟这样的事情已经发生了很多次。节目里的硅谷让你感觉，如果只有一个投资人提出资助你，而不是有一大堆投资者央求着要向你投钱，你会觉得很失败。
“Silicon Valley” the show was in part inspired by “The Social Network,” the 2010 film about the founding of Facebook. Silicon Valley the place did not like “The Social Network” because the film said Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook as a way to impress girls instead of changing the world.
《硅谷》的部分灵感来源于《社交网络》。这部2010年的电影讲述了Facebook的创立。硅谷人不喜欢《社交网络》，因为根据这部电影的情节，马克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)创立脸书是为了取悦女孩，而不是改变世界。
The fact that Mr. Zuckerberg’s sister Randi is an executive producer of the series has therefore rankled. Ms. Zuckerberg, an executive at Facebook until last summer, declined to be interviewed, but defended her show on Facebook. “Inspiring more people to pursue an entrepreneurial American dream can only be a good thing,” she wrote.
因此，人们对扎克伯格的姐姐兰迪(Randi)担任这档节目的执行制片人颇有微词。直到去年夏天，兰迪还是Facebook的一名高管，她不愿接受采访，但在Facebook上为这档真人秀节目辩护。她写道，“激励更多人追逐企业家式的美国梦，只能是一件好事。”
Not everyone agrees. One former Facebook colleague of Ms. Zuckerberg’s took to Twitter to say she was “terrified” that the series would turn Silicon Valley “into a laughingstock of an industry.”
并不是所有人都同意她的说法。曾和兰迪在Facebook共事的一名人士在Twitter上说，让她“害怕”的是，这档节目会把硅谷成为“行业的笑柄”。
“Trust me, enough people in this industry make laughingstocks of themselves,” Ms. Zuckerberg replied. “We’re just capturing reality!”
兰迪回应道，“相信我，这个行业有足够多的人让自己成为笑柄，我们只是在捕捉现实！”
As the cameras rolled the other day, Ben and Hermione Way, a photogenic brother-and-sister team from England, discussed the $500,000 they got to develop a fitness app. “Four noes and one yes,” Ben said, sadly. “Not exactly people throwing money at us.” He added that he developed the idea for the business while drinking in a bar.
前几天，在摄像机镜头前，来自英格兰的兄妹组合、上镜的本·韦(Ben Way)和艾尔米奥娜·韦(Hermione Way)谈到他们为开发一款健身应用程序而得到的50万美元。本沮丧地说，“四个拒绝，一个支持，算不上人们向我们砸钱”。他补充说，他是在酒吧小酌时想到这个商业创意的。
In another scene, at a sleek office where budding entrepreneurs rent cubicles, Kim Taylor described her start-up as based on personalized content in the luxury market for women. It is a little undefined, even to Ms. Taylor, who came here two years ago from Chicago. But then, her start-up is only a few days old.
另一个场景是在光鲜的办公室，崭露头角的企业家们在这里租借隔间。金·泰勒(Kim Taylor)介绍说，她的初创企业是基于女性奢侈品市场的个性化内容。这个定位有点模糊，即便对两年前从芝加哥来到这里的泰勒本人也是如此。可话说回来，她的初创企业只存在了几天。
“This is something I’m figuring out in real time,” she told her mentor, explaining that she has no background in either coding or product development, traditional paths to success in the valley.
她告诉她的导师，“这是我在一边做一边捉摸的东西。”她解释说，她在编码或产品开发方面没有任何背景，而这两者是在硅谷取得成功的传统途径。
The show first floated into consciousness last fall with a Craigslist posting by a casting director. “As long as you’re living life in the fast lane, we want to hear from you,” it said. But it was a brief trailer, released by Bravo in April, that really set people off.
这档节目最初引起公众的注意是在去年秋天。一名选角导演在克雷格分类广告网(Craigslist)张贴信息称，“只要你在人生的快车道上，我们期待听到你的消息。”不过，4月Bravo播出的一段简短预告片真正激怒了硅谷人。
One line, delivered by Ms. Taylor, seemed to provoke special ire: “Silicon Valley is high school, but it’s only the smart kids and everyone has a lot of money.” (Later, she qualified her remarks on Twitter. “Apologies that I said Silicon Valley was like high school. I meant middle school.”)
泰勒说的一句话似乎尤其触犯了众怒：“硅谷就是一所高中，但里面都是聪明的孩子，而且每个人都很有钱。”（随后，她在Twitter里修正了她的评价，“我说了硅谷就像高中，我为此道歉，我的本意是说它像初中。”）
Denunciation was swift — on Twitter, Facebook and blogs.
谴责之声很快在Twitter, Facebook和博客上爆发。
“On behalf of all the entrepreneurs who’ve risked it all to build something, I am offended,” wrote Francisco Dao, the founder of 50 Kings, a private community for technology and media innovators. One blog put it like this: “The Horror of Reality Television Comes to Silicon Valley.”
科技和媒体创新者私人社区“50 Kings”的创始人佛朗西斯科·达奥(Francisco Dao)写道，“我代表所有豁出一切献身事业的企业家说一句，我被冒犯了。”还有一个博客写道，“电视真人秀的恐怖终于来到硅谷。”
Frances Berwick, Bravo’s president, said that despite the provisional title, the series was not intended to capture the mood of the entire valley or depict the humdrum aspects of reality. “In the editing process, we try to get rid of everything that is going to be a snooze,” she said.
Bravo电视台的总裁佛朗西斯·贝里克(Frances Berwick)说，尽管节目暂名硅谷，但它并不打算捕捉整个硅谷的情绪，或描绘枯燥的现实。她说，“在剪辑过程中，我们会试图删掉所有让人昏睡的情节。”
The valley has generally been forbidding territory for Hollywood, at least until “The Social Network.” “We’re so bland,” said Jamis MacNiven, whose restaurant Buck’s is a popular valley gathering point. “People spend their weekends taking out last year’s incredibly energy-efficient bulb and screwing in this year’s even more energy-efficient bulb. No one ever dresses up except at the Burning Man festival, where they take off their clothes.”
硅谷总体上是好莱坞(Hollywood)的禁区，至少在拍摄《社交网络》之前是这样。哈米斯·麦克尼文(Jamis MacNiven)说，“我们的生活实在是太乏味了。”麦克尼文经营的餐厅Buck’s是硅谷人气极高的聚会地。他说，“人们花周末的时间拧下去年令人难以置信的高能效灯泡，然后拧上今年更高能效的灯泡。除了在‘火人节’(Burning Man Festival)上把衣服脱掉，人们平时从不打扮自己。”
Before Ms. Taylor signed on to the show, she was working at a local media company that developed Facebook ads. The other cast members include the Ways; Dwight Crow, who started Carsabi, a Web site for selling used cars, in a Mountain View apartment that is messy enough to qualify as a toxic waste zone; and David Murray, who is developing a weight loss app (“In a really successful scenario I have a million active users by the end of the year”).
泰勒签约加入节目之前，曾在本地一家为Facebook开发广告的媒体公司工作。其他出场人物包括韦氏兄妹；在山景城一间公寓里创立了销售二手车的网站Carsabi的德怀特·克罗(Dwight Crow)，他的公寓极为脏乱，堪称一个有毒废物区；还有正在开发一款减肥应用软件的戴维·默里(David Murray)（“在最成功的情景下，到年底我将拥有100万活跃用户。”）
The barriers to starting an Internet company have never been lower. Technology is cheap. All but the most important jobs can be outsourced, saving on costs ranging from salaries to office space.
创办互联网公司的门槛从未如此之低。技术设备很廉价。除了最重要的工作外，其它职能都可以外包出去，以节省从工资到办公面积的各项成本。
Only the idea counts. When it goes viral, the company can quickly be worth hundreds of millions if not more. Yammer, a social network for companies, started in late 2008. Last month it was sold to Microsoft for $1.2 billion, and no one batted an eye.
只有创意才是重要的。当一个创意像病毒般扩散开来，公司的价值很快就会涨到数亿美元，甚至更多。Yammer是一个面向企业的社交网络，成立于2008年末。上个月，微软(Microsoft)斥资12亿美元买下这家公司，对此人们连眼都不眨一下。
“If you’re a first-time entrepreneur, this is a phenomenal time,” said Zaw Thet, a successful entrepreneur who is an adviser to Ms. Taylor.
泰勒的顾问、成功的企业家梭·德(Zaw Thet)说，“如果你是初次创业，那么这是个非凡的时代。”
The Ways are skilled enough in media to have been contemplating their own reality show before Bravo came along. They know what it takes. Listen to Mr. Way working out with their trainer in front of the cameras, and you can hear the reality show buttons being pushed:
韦氏兄妹高超的媒体技巧，足以让他们在Bravo的节目上马之前就酝酿过自己的真人秀。他们知道这种节目需要什么内容。听着本·韦在镜头前与健身教练一起健身时说的话，你就知道他真的很会配合真人秀：
“The thing about Silicon Valley is it forgives failure — but not as many times as we’ve failed.”
“硅谷的真谛在于它原谅失败—但次数不能多到我们所经历的失败次数。”
“I can’t believe how many entrepreneurs commit suicide.”
“我简直无法相信有这么多企业家自杀。”
“Last night, there were like four of my ex-girlfriends in the house — and I’ve only been here a year.”
“昨晚，我们家来了我的差不多四个前女友，而我到这里才一年。”
Their house is a $17,000-a-month crash pad with an outdoor pool — very unusual for chilly San Francisco — and three levels of decks from which to admire the excellent view. If you divide by the five roommates, Mr. Way said, it is not so much money.
他们每月花1.7万美元租下的住处带一个室外游泳池（这在气候偏凉的旧金山非同寻常），还有三层露台可以欣赏壮观的景色。本·韦说，考虑到有五个租客分摊租金，其实也不算太贵。
To defray expenses, his sister sold $50 tickets to her birthday party. She also lined up sponsorships for the villa from a potato chip company and a coconut water supplier. The house has its own Twitter feed, which it uses to promote the chips. In Silicon Valley, the opportunities to be an entrepreneur never stop.
为了应付开支，他妹妹对参加自己生日派对的人收取50美元门票。她还找来薯条公司和椰汁供应商为自己的别墅做赞助。这所房子有自己的Twitter账号，目前用来推广薯条。在硅谷，成为企业家的机会永不停息。