I recently had the opportunity of meeting some colleagues in Europe to discuss
various business opportunities. One of the barriers that we recognised was
language, a disadvantage for me who didn't speak German. While being a native
English speaker does help, (English is the second most widely spoken language
in the world after Mandarin), there are a number of subtleties which are lost
when people are communicating in languages other than their mother tongues.
Futurists have spoken about devices that will translate your speech as you are
talking which will allow you to carry out a conversation in two different
languages. While this might be a few years away, AltaVista have included an
innovation on their search engine that translates web pages on the fly. While
not perfect, it certainly breaks through the language barrier when you come
across pages that haven't been written in your mother tongue.
In addition to translating web pages, you can also enter plain text which, it
will translate for you one the fly (see my wishes at bottom of this article).
Appropriately named BabelFish the service adds a whole new dimension to
browsing the web for both English and non-English speakers alike. Interesting
to note is that it places in jeopardy those firms that have set themselves up
offering a multi-lingual translation service for web sites.
Another breakthrough, which I came across this week, was the Audible web site.
Building on the growing demand for audio books, Audible offer the ability to
download audio programs in many different categories from best sellers and
fiction to personal development, spirituality business and finance.
The audio programs can either be played back on your computer, if you have a
soundcard, or you can purchase an Audible Player for US$199. This Walkman type
device holds two hours of audio programs and allows you to listen wherever you
are. Coming soon the ability to play RealAudio files on the Audible player.
Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a fantastic end of year holiday
season. Thank you for your support over the past year. I do appreciate all the
positive feedback that has been sent to me over the past months. If you
celebrate Christmas then all the best and may 1998 be prosperous and
successful for all.
All the best from sunny Cape Town
Tous les meilleurs ensoleillé du Cap
Alle besten von sonnigem Kapstadt
Todos los la mejores de ciudad asoleada del cabo