Earlier this week China Real Time asked whether Apple Inc. could launch a new product without incident. The answer Friday morning was a quiet "yes."
本周早些时候,"中国实时报"栏目曾提出这样的问题,苹果(Apple Inc.)能否在发售新产品时不出现任何闪失?周五早上,我们得到了一个肯定的答案。
Apple's latest iPad model went on sale quietly on Friday at a retail location in Beijing where unruly buyers and sullen crowds had marred past releases. Roughly 40 customers quietly lined up Friday morning outside the Apple Store in Beijing's high-end Sanlitun shopping and restaurant district. They waited within a cordon surrounded security personnel and reporters. Store doors opened at 8 a.m. without disturbances.
周五,北京的一家苹果零售店在安静的气氛中开始发售最新款iPad。这家店过去每次开始发售新产品时,都会被不守规则的购买者和愤怒的人群搞得一团糟。周五上午,大约40名顾客在位于北京三里屯高端购物和餐饮区的苹果店外安静地排队。他们站在警戒线之内,警戒线之外是安保人员和记者。苹果店8点准时开门,没有出现任何混乱场面。
The first customer, 34-year old Ye Huafei, said that he had come to get the new iPad because his mother had appropriated his to watch television shows. He said he was busy over the weekend, so he decided to get it on the first day of release.
排在第一位的顾客名叫叶华飞(音),今年34岁。他说,因为他的母亲 看视频霸占了他的iPad,所以他才来买个新的。他说,自己周末很忙,所以决定在发售第一天就来购买。
Sales at Apple's other four company-branded retail stores in Chinaalso appeared to go smoothly.
苹果在华另外四家官方零售店的发售工作似乎也进行得十分顺利。
The orderly opening was a far cry from previous new product releases at the Sanlitun store. In January, the company briefly stopped selling its new iPhone 4S at its China Apple Stores after unruly customers led police to seal off part of the mall at the location.
这个井然有序的发售日与苹果三里屯店之前的新产品发售场面形成了鲜明对比。今年1月,由于顾客排队的秩序陷入混乱,警察不得不封锁了购物中心的部分区域,苹果也被迫立即停止了新的iPhone 4S的销售。
In May 2011, customers who lined up for new white iPhones scuffled with employees, leading managers to lock the doors.
2011年5月,排队购买新的白色iPhone的顾客与苹果店员工发生扭打,苹果店不得不暂时关闭。
For the launch of the new iPad, Apple instituted a system new to the location in which buyers were required to take reservations beginning on Thursday, the day before the launch. Customers were then given a set time to pick up their devices.
这次发售新iPad之前,苹果店启用了一个新的系统,购买者必须从发售日前一天(也就是周四)开始在系统中提前预定。消费者可以在指定的时间内取货。
Wang Qin, the chief executive of application development company Xia Yi Zhan, said while waiting in line for his new iPad that he thought the new system helped make the situation at the store smoother.
应用程序开发公司Xia Yi Zhan的首席执行长王勤(音)在排队等待购买新iPad时说,他认为新的系统让苹果店的秩序好了很多。
"But from what I read I didn't expect it to be as crowded," he said. "IPad launches haven't been as bad as iPhone launches."
他说,根据我掌握的信息,我预计今天不会有很多人。iPad的发售场面不像iPhone那样可怕。
He also complained about the how long it has taken for the new iPad to come out in China. The new iPad, which has improved screen resolution and faster data-connection capabilities, was unveiled in March in the U.S.
他还抱怨了等待新iPad在中国发售的时间太长。新iPad今年3月份就在美国发布了,这款设备的屏幕分辨率更高,数据连接速度也更快。
Though it debuted late in China compared with many other nations, the product has been available in China's gray markets, where vendors have them shipped in from places like the U.S. and Hong Kong.
尽管新iPad在中国发售的时间晚于其他国家,但在中国的灰色市场早就可以买到这款产品了。那里的新iPad是从美国和香港等地运来的。
Mr. Wang blamed the delay on a recently settled lawsuit between Apple and a Chinese company over the iPad trademark, but wasn't overly downbeat.
王勤认为新iPad在中国迟迟不发售的原因是苹果与中国企业的iPad商标权诉讼案。此案最近刚刚了结。但他并未对在中国迟迟拿不到新iPad感到过分不满。
"I wasn't expecting to get the iPad, but I got an email at 8 pm," he said, explaining that users had to wait to find out if they had secured a time.
他说,我并没指望自己能买到新iPad,但是昨天晚上八点收到了邮件。他解释说,用户在预定后需要等待确认信。
Wu Xinfang, a 43-year old stay-at-home mother of two, said her sister called her excitedly at 4 p.m. Thursday once she got confirmation she could purchase an iPad. From Datong in Shanxi province but visiting Beijing for the summer with her children, Ms. Wu said that she would pick up the iPad for her sister and bring it back to Datong in August.
吴新芳(音)是一名43岁的全职主妇,有两个孩子。她说,她的妹妹周四下午四点就兴奋地打电话给她,告诉她自己收到了购买确认。吴新芳的家在山西大同,这个夏天,她是带着孩子们来北京旅游的。吴新芳说,她来帮她妹妹买iPad,八月份时会将买到的iPad带回大同。
Ms. Wu said she arrived early because she was worried about the crowds. Still, it was more out of duty to her sister than love for the product that she came out.
吴新芳说,由于担心人多,她早早地就到了。她来到这只是想给妹妹帮忙,并不是因为自己对iPad有多么热衷。
"I like things that are more practical," she said, flashing her old-style keypad phone. "The iPad is for playing, watching TV and playing video games, but I don't like to spend more than a few hundred yuan on products."
她说,我喜欢更实用的东西,并向记者展示了自己的老式全键盘手机。她说,iPad是用来娱乐、看电视和玩游戏的,但我不喜欢花上千块钱买数码产品。