Journalist Michael Kinsley famously defined a political gaffe as when a politician tells the truth - some obvious truth he isnt supposed to sayy. Satya Nadella, Microsofts (MSFT) neophyte CEO, might just be giving truth-telling by public figures a good name by turning Kinsleys dictum onits head. Nadella is developing a specialty in the highly unusual practice of answering questions directly and truthfully. 记者迈克尔金斯利曾有一句著名的论断，他说，政客的失态就是“说了实话而且是一些不该说的大实话。”这句话现在可以套在微软（Microsoft）新任CEO萨蒂亚o纳德拉的头上了。如今的人们难得从公众人物口中听到一句大实话，但纳德拉在回答问题时“不走寻常路”地坦率和真诚颇有些特立独行。 A case in point: Asked at an industry conference Tuesday night why Microsoft has issued a touch-enabled version of Microsoft Office for the iPad but not yet for Microsofts own Surfacetablet, Nadella chose candor. We wanted to make sure we have full-touch Office on the platform with the most market share, he said. 比如在上周二晚上的一次行业会议上，当被问到微软为什么选择在iPad上发布全触屏版的微软Office软件而不是选择自家的Surface平板时，纳德拉坦率地承认：“我们想确保把全触屏版的Office软件发布在市场份额最大的平台上。” That statement is startling only becauseof the departure it represents from Microsofts past. Of course Microsoft needs to be on the iPad, far and away the tablet market leader. In fact, it raises the question of what took Microsoft so long. Amazon (AMZN), for instance, understands the importance of its Kindle app on the iPad. Years ago, Apple figured out how critical it was to produce a version of iTunes for Microsofts Windows operating software. iTunes may have been created for the Macintosh, but the Macs share was tiny compared to Windows-enabled PCs. So Apple (AAPL) went where the users were. 这句话之所以让人惊讶，只是因为它代表微软终于不再沉醉于过去的辉煌。微软当然需要把自家软件放在iPad上，毕竟iPad在平板电脑市场上的领军地位无人可及。实际上，令人费解的是，微软为什么花了这么多时间才想明白这个问题。亚马逊（Amazon）早就明白了把Kindle应用放在iPad上的重要性。另外早在几年以前，苹果（Apple）就明白了发布一款兼容微软Windows系统的iTunes有多重要。虽然iTunes是专门为Mac系统开发的，但Mac电脑的份额还是远远比不上安装Windows系统的电脑，因此苹果选择了“跟着用户走”的战略。 Nadella isnt for abandoning Microsofts devices. He said Microsofts software needs to work on all devices, including its own. But, he said, we want to get usage. 纳德拉并不是要放弃微软的自家设备。他表示，微软的软件需要在所有设备上都能工作，当然也包括他们自己的设备。不过他也说：“我们希望的是我们的软件有人用。” Nadella spoke some truth in other areas as well. Grilled by veteran journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the new version of their old industry event in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., Nadella said Microsoft builds devices to help create demand - not because it wants to be a device manufacturer. Software is the most malleable resource, he said, an interesting word choice. In order to be in thehunt you need to build devices. You need to be all in. He also didnt mince words on the failures of Microsoft and its partners compared with Apple. The PC ecosystem needs new innovation, he said. In fact, he thinks Microsoft needs to build the next new thing. Thats a tall order, but a good aspiration. 纳德拉在其它一些领域的问题上也说过一些实话。在这场于加州派洛斯福德庄举办的行业会议上，经验丰富的记者沃特o莫斯伯格和卡拉o斯威舍轮番发问，从纳德拉口中榨出了不少“干货”。纳德拉表示，微软之所以生产硬件设备是为了建立需求，而不是因为它想当一个设备制造商。他的用词也非常有意思：“软件是最有可塑性的资源，为了参与到打猎中，你就需要制造硬件。需要全力参与进去。”他也丝毫没有掩饰微软及其合作厂商相对于苹果的失败。他指出：“PC生态系统需要新的创新。”他认为微软需要创造出“下一个新产品。”这是个很高的要求，不过算是一个很好的目标。 The Microsoft CEO revealed no new strategic initiatives. He defended Microsofts commitment to search and to its recently completed acquisition of Nokia, calling the first core technology and the latter a means to an end, namely a toehold in mobile software through ownership of a big device maker. He unveiled a nifty product called Skype Translate that enables callers on the Microsoft-owned Skype service to speak to each other in their native language and have their dialogue translated by a computer and spoken out loud. (The demo was conducted in English and German.) 不过纳德拉没有透露微软下一步有哪些战略举措。但他为微软在搜索方面所做的努力以及最近完成的收购诺基亚（Nokia）的案子做了辩解。他把搜索称为一项“核心技术”，把收购诺基亚称为“达到目的的一种手段”，也就是通过收购一个大型设备厂商，在移动软件领域建立一个立足点。另外他还公布了一款叫做“Skype翻译”的产品。两个不同国家的用户通过Skype服务互相用母语打电话时，他们的对话会自动经过电脑翻译向对方大声念出来。（现场展示用的是英语和德语。） The CEO, whose demeanor is the polar opposite of his predecessor, Steve Ballmer, spent some time telling his personal story. Two of his three children have special needs, he said, one being a quadriplegic. He said he struggles all the time with work-life balance. An only child, Nadella credited his economist father and literature-professor mother with not pressuring him to succeed academically and professionally, an unusual posture for middle-class Indian parents of his time, he said. 纳德拉的个人风格可以说与他的前任史蒂夫o鲍尔默截然相反。纳德拉在会上也讲述了自己的人生经历。他的三个孩子有两个患有残疾，其中一个患有四肢瘫痪。纳德拉表示，他一直都在努力寻找工作和家庭的平衡。纳德拉小时候是家里唯一的孩子，父亲是位经济学家，母亲是文学教授，但是他们并没有强迫纳德纳必须获得什么学业上或职业上的成就，这一点也和同时代的许多印裔中产阶级家庭的父母截然不同。 A truth-teller thoughhe may be, Nadella isnt above the occasional chief-executive-level platitude - or outright whopper. Asked to assess the latest Surface tablet, he called it promising, acknowledging that thats what you call a product that hasnt succeeded yet. On the subject of assessing Google, Nadella sounded like his peers in CEO-land. I dont know what Googles strengths and weaknesses are because I dont think about that, he said. That one is tough to believe, a