FRANKENSTEIN MANNER 科學怪人的方式

字彙

appalling

meticulous 

blunder 

renowned for

functional

being cobbled together

overseeing design

well-calibrated eye

carbuncle

protrusion

sleek exterior

to accommodate

camera nubbin

to shave a fraction of... 

to shoehorn the oversized module  

case

to take knocks

sheesh

to fill it with helium for all I care

to whack a pustule on it

to be bolted on

a Frankenstein manner

文句

Apple's appalling iPhone 6 camera compromise

Summary: Apple is typically a company that puts an enormous amount of meticulous thought into the aesthetics of its products, which makes this iPhone 6 design blunder even harder to understand.

Apple is a company renowned for making products that are not only functional, but also beautiful. When you buy an apple product you're buying something that's been crafted as opposed to being cobbled together. Overseeing design at Apple is Jony Ive, the London-born designer who has worked up the ranks at the company since 1992 to take the post of senior vice president of design.

Given Apple's design heritage, and Ive's customarily well-calibrated eye, I have to wonder how this carbuncle came to adorn the iPhone 6.

I'm talking about the protrusion from the otherwise sleek exterior of the iPhone 6 to accommodate the camera lens, something that from this point on I will call the "camera nubbin."

It's clear why the "camera nubbin" exists. Apple wanted to shave a fraction of a millimeter off the thickness of the iPhone, but at the same time wanted to upgrade the camera. But it seems that Apple could make the iPhone thinner than it could make the camera module, so shoehorned the oversized module inside the otherwise svelte iPhone.

This is ugly. Really ugly. Not only that, but I can already see it making the iPhone 6 hard to use on a hard surface without some sort of case because without that it won't lie flat. Not only that, but it puts the camera's lens right out in front, ready to take knocks and such.

Forget about putting the iPhone down on a table to tap away.

I understand that "thin and light" is important to Apple, but this seems to have taken the concept of a compromise to crazy heights. Rather than having that ugly, annoying "camera nubbin," why not make the iPhone fractionally thicker, and use that space to give the handset an even bigger battery? Or if the battery would have added too much weight, just leave it empty. Sheesh, fill it with helium for all I care, just do something better than make an already small dimension even smaller, but then have to whack a pustule on it.

I understand why Apple wanted to fit a better camera into the iPhone 6 – the shots I've seen from it so far look spectacular – but I don't understand why it needed to be bolted on in such a Frankenstein manner.

（來源）

解釋

iPhone 6 推出後，批評的文章一篇接著一篇，似乎期望太高失望也就越大。本文章的作者，針對相機鏡頭太凸出，超過手機厚度的設計深表不滿。文中的英文表現手法，活靈活現，頗具樂趣。

appalling 很糟糕的；駭人的

meticulous 仔細的，細心的

blunder  錯誤；措施失當

renowned for  （在某方面）有聲譽

functional  功能性強的

being cobbled together  修補，拼湊成的

overseeing design  監督設計（者）

well-calibrated eye  有校準精確的好眼力

carbuncle  紅玉；紅寶石

protrusion  突（凸）出的部份

sleek exterior  時尚的外表、外觀

to accommodate  配上；配合

camera nubbin  小塊狀的照相機。nubbin 本指「小瘤」

to shave a fraction of... 削掉、去除分釐間的（厚度）

to shoehorn the oversized module  硬將過大的組件塞入...

case  外殼

to take knocks  遭到碰撞或不好的影響

sheesh  不滿或不同意時發出的聲音；嘖

to fill it with helium for all I care  就算將（空間）都裝滿氦氣也都好

to whack a pustule on it  在（手機）上頭打成一個膿胞

to be bolted on 被拴在上頭

a Frankenstein manner  很醜陋的方式。 "Frankenstein" 是科學怪人，他的相貌醜陋駭人