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韩国发生的万圣节踩踏事件是个悲剧，也是个警示——活动期间，保护好自身安全！ 万圣节本来是欧美节日，但不知从何时起，亚洲也开始流行起来，甚至活动的丰富程度越来越大。 在盛产大公司的硅谷，万圣节也成了各个巨头公司竞争的方向。 硅谷大公司的万圣节装扮竞争，要从乔布斯说起。
本文选自本期TE。 万圣节装扮哪家强，且看硅谷各大公司 本文篇幅不长，结构如下：
1. Rivalry between Apple and Google has often been fierce. Sometimes it has played out in the courts. But once a year their competition has also been visible on the streets—in the form of Halloween decorations. 苹果和谷歌的竞争一向激烈，有时甚至对簿公堂。但是，每年有一次，两家公司的竞争也会出现在大街上——看谁家的万圣节装扮更具有万圣节的精髓。 2. Steve Jobs started it. In the 1990s, when Apple’s cofounder had young children, come October the front garden of his rambling English cottage in a leafy Palo Alto neighbourhood sprouted gruesome decor—not just skeletons and pumpkins but sound effects and special lighting—leading to a cauldron overflowing with dry ice at the front door. Jobs himself could be spotted handing out (now defunct) Odwalla health bars, an annual disappointment for trickor treaters who heard rumours of free iPods. The family later upgraded to goodybags that included Toblerone. 这个竞争最早是乔布斯发起的。20世纪90年代，当时还是苹果联合创始人的乔布斯的孩子还小。 十月一到，乔布斯在帕洛阿尔托的英式房子花园前就布满了可怕的景象，骷髅头、恐怖南瓜，还有各种音效和特效，还有门前喷洒着干冰的坩埚。 人们看到乔布斯给来讨糖的人发能量棒，这让大家很失望。因为有人听说，乔布斯会免费发放iPods。后来，乔布斯一家给的东西升级到装有巧克力的礼品袋子。
3. When Larry Page, cofounder of Google (now Alphabet), moved into a home on a culdesac round the corner some years later, he was not to be outspooked. His displays had themes: a carnival one year, a Little Red Riding Hood forest the next. Jobs died in 2011, but his widow continued to match Mr Page’s shows. Neighbours recall hundreds of carved jackolanterns illuminating the apple orchard outside the Jobs home, and actors dressed as monsters playing hockey in the driveway. 几年后，谷歌（如今的Alphabet公司）的联合创始人拉里·佩奇搬到此地，他决心“战胜乔布斯”，成为最恐怖的万圣节玩家。 他的装饰都是有主题的：今年是狂欢节，第二年就是小红帽的故事。2011年，乔布斯去世后，他的遗孀继续与拉里·佩奇竞争。 邻居们记得几百个雕刻好的南瓜灯在乔布斯家外的苹果园中闪烁不断，穿着怪兽服装的演员们在行车道上打曲棍球。 4. Others joined in. Not far away Yahoo’s former boss, Marissa Mayer, took to handing out kingsize candy bars and stuffed animals. 其他人也渐渐参与进来。住在不远处的雅虎前总裁Marissa Mayer给来讨糖的人发放特大号块糖和填充动物玩具。
5. The tech titans’ glitz and goodies drew growing crowds and hourlong queues. Locals have mixed feelings that a hometown tradition has become a regional attraction. “People here love community events so much that they risk suffocating them to death,” says Pat Burt, Palo Alto’s mayor, while cycling through the neighbourhood. 科技大亨们的万圣节庆典和好吃的东西吸引了人们排长队等着去“敲门”。当地人对这种家乡的传统演变成区域特色有着复杂的看法。 “这儿的人太喜欢社区活动，即使冒着被挤死的风险也来参加，”帕洛阿尔托市长骑车经过该社区时说到。 6. Some neighbours in the vicinity of the Jobs and Page homes lock their doors during the holiday, tired of bulkbuying candy for what they reckon can be thousands of roaming trickortreaters. Others a few blocks away have enhanced their own decor, in an effort to lure in those who park in front of their driveways but head straight to the Jobs house. “I tell the kids they can take two candies!” says one resident. 住在乔布斯和佩奇附近的邻居在节日当天会闭门不出，因为他们受不了几千人的讨糖大军。 而其他街区的人们则努力把自己的装饰弄的更加吸引人，希望那些停在他们行车道上的人能光顾自己的社区，而不是径直走向乔布斯所在的社区。 其中一个居民说“我会告诉孩子们，（来我们这）能讨到两颗糖。” 7. Neither the Page nor the Jobs house was yet decorated when your correspondent visited the neighbourhood this week. But Ms Mayer’s home—with pumpkins forming an archway over her front door, witches’ hats hanging from the trees, and twinkly lights—hinted at what was to come. As usual, the city has issued permits allowing Halloween activities to spill into the streets. The pandemic prompted some trickor-treaters to stay at home last year and tech moguls to scale down their displays. It seems unlikely, however, that their Halloween excess will remain merely a haunting memory. 这周，当我们的记者去帕洛阿尔托街区采访时，并没有看到乔布斯和佩奇的房子有什么装饰。 但是雅虎前总裁的房子装饰了一些，前拱门上挂上了南瓜灯，树上挂上了女巫的帽子还有暗示着恶魔来临的闪烁小灯。 像往常一样，该市已经颁发了允许街上进行万圣节活动的许可。去年因为疫情，讨糖活动成了居家活动，科技巨头们也降级了自己的万圣节装饰。 尽管如此，他们的万圣节装饰将不仅仅是一个“可怕”的记忆。 |
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