James Bryce Clark (clark@sposil.com)
Tue, 7 Sep 1999 12:04:23 -0700
>43% OF INTERNET USERS CAN'T READ ENGLISH
>
>Forbes has an interesting article "E-Business - Lost in the
>translation 0" which discusses language translation technology for the
>web. [http://www.forbes.com/tool/html/99/aug/0827/feat.htm] It gives
>an intriguing fact that "80% of the Internet's content is in English, but
>43% of Internet users today can read no English at all." * * *
Can this be even faintly true? The article sources the factoid in question
to "Global Reach, a San [Francisco]-based international online marketing
firm." Are these folks hired by eLingo, the company whose translation
services are being shilled in the article, to prop up their business plan?
I would be delighted to believe the assertion, but it doesn't fit with other
anecdotal evidence -- a regular drumbeat of concerns about (i) the thinness
of international backbone pipes, (ii) perceptions of disenfranchised
non-English-speaking communities, etc. Remember the global coverage maps
in the back of each edition of the ISOC magazine? For years it looked like
a bare tree in late autumn -- looked like the only way into most countries
on the map was BITNET through a string and two tin cans. Is there reliable
evidence that the language mix of users has actually changed this much?
Jamie Clark
Spolin & Silverman LLP Santa Monica
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