MIDI之父：不为人知的硅谷传奇

    现在整整30年过去了，MIDI还继续以1983年的技术标准广泛应用着。鉴于各类技术标准不是很快被废弃就是过时，MIDI所展现的卓越技术成就实在让人惊叹不已。现在各种乐器可能早就不用笨重的线路或插头，而改用USB线连接了，但其中所用的技术还是保持不变。而史密斯本人也在很多方面保持着本色。他还是奋战在制造业——2002年他创立了新公司“戴夫•史密斯乐器”。公司位于旧金山小意大利街区的一座两层小楼里，共有八名员工。今年5月，公司将开始销售最新产品“先知12”（1988年，史密斯把“时序电路”卖给了雅马哈公司以避免破产）。当然，他的MIDI同盟们仍然给了他一些巨大的荣誉。在今年举行的格莱美颁奖仪式上，史密斯和梯郁太郎一起，因为开发MIDI的贡献获得了个人的第一座格莱美奖。在最近一个音乐会的后台，他见到了自己最喜欢的乐队Radiohead。2月，泰勒•斯威夫特的键盘手在格莱美颁奖礼的演出中用了他的最新产品“先知12”，他也得以亲临现场观赏。

    有时候史密斯也会问自己，当时决定放弃对MIDI收取授权费做得对吗，但最终他总会回到同样的结论上。他说：“那时候这么做不是什么稀罕事，就算现在回过头看，我还是觉得这么做没错。”正是这种大度，让史密斯成为技术界里一位与众不同的传奇人物。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    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.