"Translation in the
cloud" is another process that seems to be infecting the perception of
translation in the minds of translation buyers. The concept seems to be that
you just throw a document to the cloud and there it will be machine translated
and then lots of translators are sitting “out there” waiting to proofread the
result without charge or for minimal amounts of payment. It relies on the controversial
notion that speakers of two languages are also natural translators.
However, professional
translators are not sitting “out there” or anywhere else, just waiting to do
work for free or for peanuts. Generally, if they are professional, they will
refuse to work on MT output because they will not put their name and reputation
at risk for the inevitable substandard results. That will leave cloud
translation to hobbyists and amateurs, and the results of that certainly are
predictable.
Nothing replaces a competent
translator and editor team working with quality tools and an experienced,
professional Localization Industry Project Manager (remember those people?) to
coordinate the various process and keep the projects on track and compliant
with QA guidelines and client instructions.
Nothing has replaced the
industry standards for processes that generate quality translations in a
reasonable time frame, and those companies who stick to such tried and proven
industry standards will be the ones who succeed in maintaining a satisfied and
loyal customer base.
At the end of the day, all the
client wants is a quality translation of his documentation, software, website,
etc. at a reasonable price and in a reasonable time frame.
Oh yeah, and you better not cheap out and use students either.
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