Are you only considering investing in translation memory software or translation management system? Have already bought some of the solutions on the market?Β The following information will be of great value to you.
After 15 years in translation management technology business I have a confession to make:
TECHNOLOGY ITSELF DOES NOT BRING VALUE.
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TRANSLATION TECHNOLOGY ALONE DOES NOT BRING VALUE.
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and logically enough…
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TRANSLATION MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY DOES NOT BRING VALUE ON ITS OWN.
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What does it mean for you?
- You can translate without translation technology, and without technology at all. You can make handwritten translations and send them via carrier pigeon.Β Well, messenger pigeons needΒ training and can be considered a technology, so walking is the most straightforward way of getting translation to the clientΒ π
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- You can issue invoices without translation management software, and without any software at all. You can write the total on the paper or tell in person when you will beΒ near client’s premises.
Technology can only bring 3 extras into our regular life:
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Automation of operations |
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Acceleration of operations |
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Constraints (!) |
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Or, down-to-earth, there is a human inside every technology.
The car is not absolutely necessary to move from point A to point B. It simply accelerates the way we move, automates our decision to move forward or sideways, and… constrains us! We should use roads now!
What does it mean for translation technology makers like us?
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We should not provide translation technology users with ‘features’. Instead, we should concentrate on:
helping translators get from point A to point B faster, better, with more comfort
Providing word count estimate at an instant. Delivering translation faster. Sending accurate invoice in time.
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What ‘roads’ do you regularly travel in your typical translation day?
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What A to B tasks would you like to automate?
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Please, comment below.
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Comments
Posted On
Nov 18, 2011Posted By
Claudio PorcellanaI was forgetting another thing:
a way to zoom in/out the GUI with mouse roller, that is a lot easier/cosier than Settings>Personal>Font and Sizes etc
clearly, it would be great if zoomed GUI remained in every kind of screen resolution as my 1024×768 monitor for example, i.e. if the GUI zooming was autoresizeable
Posted On
Nov 18, 2011Posted By
Claudio PorcellanaWhat A to B tasks would you like to automate?
sure 3 things that I already asked in the past …
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1 – Schedule>Selected period automatically synchronized (i.e. linked to the PC clock), without having to setup it all the time
2 – an exchange rate calculator, or better an automatic one, that puts automatically the rate during invoicing and payment, as in Italy if you invoice in dollars, for example, the accountant wants you show both currencies with the current exchange rate, that will be easily different in the moment you invoice and the moment you cash the money
3 – A Client Web site field that accepts https
I don’t know if I explained both better, so let me know
Posted On
Nov 18, 2011Posted By
ΠΠΊΠ°ΡΠ΅ΡΠΈΠ½Π°ΠΠΎΡΠΎΠ³ΠΎΠΉ ΠΠ»Π°Π΄ΠΈΠΌΠΈΡ!
Π― ΠΏΠ΅ΡΠ΅Π²ΠΎΠΆΡ Ρ ΠΈΡΠΏΠ°Π½ΡΠΊΠΎΠ³ΠΎ ΠΈ ΠΏΠΎΡΡΡΠ³Π°Π»ΡΡΠΊΠΎΠ³ΠΎ ΡΠ·ΡΠΊΠΎΠ² Π½Π° ΡΡΡΡΠΊΠΈΠΉ. ΠΠ½Π³Π»ΠΈΠΉΡΠΊΠΈΠΉ ΠΏΠΎΠ½ΠΈΠΌΠ°Ρ ΠΏΠΎΡΡΠΎΠ»ΡΠΊΡ-ΠΏΠΎΡΠΊΠΎΠ»ΡΠΊΡ (Π² ΠΎΡΠ½ΠΎΠ²Π½ΠΎΠΌ, ΠΎΠ±ΡΠΈΠΉ ΡΠΌΡΡΠ»).
Π ΡΠ²ΠΎΡ Π²ΡΠ΅ΠΌΡ Ρ Π½Π΅ ΡΡΠ°Π»Π° ΠΏΠΎΠΊΡΠΏΠ°ΡΡ Π²Π°ΡΡ ΠΏΡΠΎΠ³ΡΠ°ΠΌΠΌΡ, ΠΏΠΎΡΠΎΠΌΡ ΡΡΠΎ, Ρ ΠΎΡΡ ΠΎΠ½Π° ΠΈΠΌΠ΅Π»Π° ΠΈΠ½ΡΠ΅ΡΡΠ΅ΠΉΡ Π½Π° ΡΡΡΡΠΊΠΎΠΌ ΡΠ·ΡΠΊΠ΅, Π²ΡΡ ΡΠΏΡΠ°Π²ΠΊΠ° Π±ΡΠ»Π° Π½Π° Π°Π½Π³Π»ΠΈΠΉΡΠΊΠΎΠΌ. ΠΠ½Π΅ ΠΈ ΠΏΠΎ-ΡΡΡΡΠΊΠΈ Π±ΡΡ Π³Π°Π»ΡΠ΅ΡΠΈΡ Π½Π΅ ΠΎΡΠ΅Π½Ρ ΡΡΠ½Π°, Π° ΠΏΠΎ-Π°Π½Π³Π»ΠΈΠΉΡΠΊΠΈ – ΡΠ΅ΠΌ Π±ΠΎΠ»Π΅Π΅. ΠΠ΅ ΠΏΠΎΡΠ²ΠΈΠ»ΠΎΡΡ Π»ΠΈ Ρ Π²Π°Ρ ΡΠΏΡΠ°Π²ΠΊΠΈ Π½Π° ΡΡΡΡΠΊΠΎΠΌ, ΠΈΡΠΏΠ°Π½ΡΠΊΠΎΠΌ, ΠΏΠΎΡΡΡΠ³Π°Π»ΡΡΠΊΠΎΠΌ ΠΈΠ»ΠΈ Ρ ΠΎΡΡ Π±Ρ Π½Π° ΠΈΡΠ°Π»ΡΡΠ½ΡΠΊΠΎΠΌ ΡΠ·ΡΠΊΠ΅?
ΠΠ΅ ΠΏΠΎΡΠ²ΠΈΠ»ΠΈΡΡ Π»ΠΈ ΡΠ°ΠΌ ΠΎΠ±ΡΠ°Π·ΡΡ Π΄ΠΎΠΊΡΠΌΠ΅Π½ΡΠΎΠ² (ΡΡΠ΅ΡΠΎΠ², Π΄ΠΎΠ³ΠΎΠ²ΠΎΡΠΎΠ² ΠΈ ΠΏΡ.) Π½Π° ΠΊΠ°ΠΊΠΈΡ -Π½ΠΈΠ±ΡΠ΄Ρ ΡΠ·ΡΠΊΠ°Ρ , ΠΊΡΠΎΠΌΠ΅ ΡΡΡΡΠΊΠΎΠ³ΠΎ ΠΈ Π°Π½Π³Π»ΠΈΠΉΡΠΊΠΎΠ³ΠΎ?
Posted On
Nov 18, 2011Posted By
Monica MontanariWell written! I will talk about the same issue at Com&Tec Open House in Bologna Italy, on November 24th.