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A little help froID our friends
W
hile no profession has been
spared the impact of the technological
revolution, it seems to
have burst upon translators with peculiar
virulence. We seem to have gone direct­
Iy from the horse-and-buggy days of the
fountain pen and manual typewriter to
spaceship-ready computers, intelligent
terminais and modems.
Ten of fifteen years ago, translators seemed
to view encroaching technology with
horror: some considered electric typewriters
alienating. Certainly it was fashionable
to claim the least possible mechanical
"interference" with the translation
process. Now the trend toward electronic
assistance is unstoppable - and once
they have actually experienced its benefits,
most translators would give up their
dictionaries long before they would allow
anyone to take away their ward processors.
What the effects of this revolution will be
on future generations of translators is
hard to predict. The impact on those of
us lucky enough to experience the transition
is more evident. Translators have
gone from people whose eyes would
glaze over at even the slightest mention
of computers to people anxious to find
the best communications package for
their PC, exchanging details of laser
printers and split screen programs with
on-line glossaries, and l, for one, have
found this emergence into the main
stream of modern technology exhilarating.
Instead of feeling disadvantaged at a
career day presentation, when a Webster's
3 rd International could hardly compete
with the RCMP's display of crooks
and the technology used to catch them,
today's translator can show up with portable
terminais, cali data bases in California
and transmit text over thousands
of miles. Translators no longer have that
musty air of introverts lost in library
stacks: if the electronic cottage industries
can be said to have inventors, sure­
Iy translators have a claim on the
title! We are part of the future instead of
relics of the past, and what a heady feeling
it is!
If there has been any drawback to the
transition, it has been that we've had to
do it ail ourselves, individually. Translation
programs had hardly prepared us to
make the choices we ail now must make,
while the computer industry has failed to
see us as a market worth courting. The
result is that each of us has had to try to
answer the questions that a brand-new
technology poses on our own - perhaps
with a little help from our friends.
Weil, the time has come to get a little
help from our friends' friends. There is
enough expertise among members of the
STa (and readers of Circuit) to answer
many questions. The problem is getting
the people who know together with those
trying to find out. A logical beginning is
to inventory our strengths. A questionnaire
will be sent to STa members (and
others are invited to contribute the information)
asking for details of what equipment
you use, are familiar with, have
found useful or wanting. On the basis of
what we learn, informai user groups ­
APPLE users, IBM PCers, MICOM or
AES proponents, KAY-PRO believers,
etc. - can be arranged, so that relevant
experience can be exchanged and deadends
avoided. Where solutions are still
being sought, a larger group has more
clout with a manufacturer or service company
than a confused single customer.
Electronic bulletin boards for translators:
why not? When enough STa members
are on-Iine, what better way to distribute
information or send out urgent
inquiries? The image is usually of computers
isolating and alienating users.
Whatever the case in other fields, my suspicion
is that by simplifying communication,
technology will ultimately bring us
closer together. In the meantime, be prepared
to contribute to the First Technological
Survey. The modem you save may
be your own... ~
B. H.
Technology
inVienna
by Mary Plaice
W
ith
justifiable pride, the Congress
organizers pointed out
that the very latest in interpreting
equipment was being used: portable
booths (courtesy Messrs. SVOENT, Austria),
and a two-way infra-red transmission
system (SIEMENS AG Osterreich).
The portable booths were an innovation
that premièred at the Congress. Conforming
to ISO Standard 4043, along with the
new transmission system, they are
designed to simplify the interpreters' and
conference organizers' lives. Two-way
infra-red transmission (first used for the
UNISPACE Conference in 1982) offers a
number of advantages:
• translation possible for up to
12 languages,
• no wiring of microphones or receivers,
• greater mobility for both delegates
and technicians,
• no interference in adjoining rooms.
The Iightweight, comfortable headsets
were a boon to delegates, not only when
thE1Y depended on the interpreters to follow
one of the official languages they did
not know, but also when they wished to
concentrate on a speaker's address,
somewhat distorted by imperfect pronunciation
of his third or fourth working language
or muffled by excessive environmental
noise.
Despite considerable reticence on the
part of some speakers, particularly with
regard to machine translation per se, it
was obvious that FIT recognized the
growing importance of new technology.
Pursuant to one of the workshop r8'30Iutions,
the Council announced that a special
committee had been set up to deal
with the matter, headed by none other
than Canada's Brian Harris.
A lootnote ta Betty Howell's description (in
the last issue 01 CIRCUIT) of the use 01 microcomputers
by conference interpreters: Brian
Harris clearly demonstrated the versatility and
efficiency 01 such tools lor conference delega-'
tes. Preparing and last-minute editing of a
report, and keeping notes on proceedings, the
comp~ct unit was a distinct improvement over
more traditional means and the resulting mass
01 illegible notes ta be silted throught.
CIRCUIT - DÉCEMBRE 1984· 31