MIDI之父：不為人知的硅谷傳奇

????現在整整30年過去了，MIDI還繼續以1983年的技術標準廣泛應用著。鑒于各類技術標準不是很快被廢棄就是過時，MIDI所展現的卓越技術成就實在讓人驚嘆不已。現在各種樂器可能早就不用笨重的線路或插頭，而改用USB線連接了，但其中所用的技術還是保持不變。而史密斯本人也在很多方面保持著本色。他還是奮戰在制造業——2002年他創立了新公司“戴夫?史密斯樂器”。公司位于舊金山小意大利街區的一座兩層小樓里，共有八名員工。今年5月，公司將開始銷售最新產品“先知12”（1988年，史密斯把“時序電路”賣給了雅馬哈公司以避免破產）。當然，他的MIDI同盟們仍然給了他一些巨大的榮譽。在今年舉行的格萊美頒獎儀式上，史密斯和梯郁太郎一起，因為開發MIDI的貢獻獲得了個人的第一座格萊美獎。在最近一個音樂會的后臺，他見到了自己最喜歡的樂隊Radiohead。2月，泰勒?斯威夫特的鍵盤手在格萊美頒獎禮的演出中用了他的最新產品“先知12”，他也得以親臨現場觀賞。

????有時候史密斯也會問自己，當時決定放棄對MIDI收取授權費做得對嗎，但最終他總會回到同樣的結論上。他說：“那時候這么做不是什么稀罕事，就算現在回過頭看，我還是覺得這么做沒錯。”正是這種大度，讓史密斯成為技術界里一位與眾不同的傳奇人物。（財富中文網）

????譯者：清遠

????Now 30 years later, MIDI continues to operate the same way it did back in 1983, a jaw-dropping feat considering the rate at which technology standards are scrapped or eclipsed. Instruments may be connected by USB cables now instead of bulkier cords and plugs, but the technology inside remains unchanged. Smith, too, remains unchanged in a lot of ways. He still works in the manufacturing business -- his new company, Dave Smith Instruments, started in 2002 and has eight employees in a small second-floor office in San Francisco's Little Italy neighborhood. They begin shipping their newest product, the Prophet 12, in May. (Smith sold Sequential Circuits to Yamaha in 1988 to avoid bankruptcy.) Of course, his MIDI connection still offers a few significant perks. Smith, alongside Kakehashi, received his first-ever Grammy at this year's awards ceremony for his creation of MIDI. He met his favorite band, Radiohead, backstage at a recent concert, and even watched on as Taylor Swift's keyboardist used his new Prophet 12 during the singer's Grammy performance in February.

????Smith at times questions his decision to forgo licensing fees for MIDI, but ultimately comes back to the same conclusion. "It seemed like an obvious thing to do at the time," he says, "and in hindsight, I think it was the right thing to do." In the world of technology, that makes Smith a different kind of legendary.