YouTube acknowledges foreign countries Last week, it was Flickr. This week, it’s YouTube. Following in the footsteps of Yahoo!’s Web 2.0 poster-child, which just announced versions of its photo-sharing service in seven new languages, Google’s video-sharing outfit has unveiled localized versions in nine new countries, including Brazil, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, …
"...we are tailoring the YouTube experience to speak your language."
So Google have finally managed to create the Universal Translator as featured in Star Trek, have they? Or are we all going to have to put Babel fish in our ears for it to work?
I can imagine something like SysTran bolted on to ReadPlease... wel-com-too-yoo-toob...
Are we to expect a snide sub-heading every time Cade Metz writes an article about the US? Firstly the FCC are derided for not involving the rest of the world in its plans (the clue is in the first letter of the name) and now YouTube is derided for localising its product! Heads I win, tales you lose...
Ever had the situation where you install a program, and get offered the chance to install a different language? My fingers tremble with anticipation at the prospect of changing it from English (US) - and then to be met with no other option. Blinkered thinking from our friends across the pond, some may suggest it smacks of elitism.
Fine, offer us just plain old English. Don't offer just US English as if that's all there is to offer in the US-centric online world.
As for translation of words like flavour, colour, grey ... the list goes on. Let's hope they offer truly localised versions or it will simply go down as one more vacuous statement from an online company.
Perhaps I'm just a pedant ;-)
Yep - we in the civilised world can all agree that American butchering of the English language is both annoying and upsetting.... but this isn't the way to deal with it!
Just change the spelling of the site to proper English, and all will be fine. While we are at it - stop selling us software that has English as an option, then give us American. I once considered learning French just to get around that problem, but learning American was easier sadly. When writing in C# I have to remember two sets of spellings, one for the code, the other for the comments! :)
My bet is - language is just a front for what is probably going to be censoring of content based on local laws. Mark my words!!
PS - I don't really care about the language thing... but censorship does bother me...
While on the subject, how's about an option to correct the spelling of "Favorites" in Windows... it seems to be the only thing in Windows that you can't modify with a simple registry hack!!! Why give me the option of "UK" English if they're not going to GIVE me English English!
I hope that doesn't mean I will get a bastardized "Spanish Spanish" version as I get in other places!!!
I *hate* Spanish Spanish!!! They talk like they're always lisping, use words like they still lived in the 16th century, call computers "orderers" (ordenadores) and translate every freaking thing into translations that might've been translated by a comedian (File system in "Spanish Spanish" sounds in concept, like "Rolodex System").
At least some sites acknowledge the difference between "Spain" and "Latin American Spanish"...
Anyway, I might get some kicks from this, like Facebox's fuzzy translation. Especially that "1,000 izquierda" (1,000 left [direction]) translation...
I'm curious to see whether the localisation of youtube.ie means youtube with the site's text as Gaeilge, as one poster claims earlier - in direct contradiction of the story, which basically claims the .ie version is just English language.
As far as I can see, clicking on any of them returns the exact same page-blocked-by-websense that our lovely security people put in place... :)
MikeC
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