12 Sep 2009

Translation Technology Can Open Your Eyes to a Global Social Web

As more of us around the world join the web, a lot content is going to start to be produced in non-English languages. This hasn't been a factor for a lot of us, but I suspect it will as we begin to discover content-rich resources and individuals we want to interact with. 

Case in point. Recently I started reading a German blog that covers technology. It has a lot rich content, like for example the latest build of a portable version of Google Chrome - but it's all in German.

I was delighted to discover that not only can Google Reader translate RSS but it remembers this setting on a feed-by-feed basis. Even though the translation is Yoda-like it's incredibly handy and is opening up my eyes to new voices. I hope that the big social networks like Twitter and Facebook can one day follow suit.