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Thursday, May 14, 2009

Twitter

Where have I been for the last month? No Blogos postings? Been on Twitter, that’s where. You can reach out to me (if it’s really me, or just me, which it might not be) at @localization. If you don’t know what Twitter is, then it’s a kinda cross between making a long-distance telephone call in the 1980s and hanging up after 10 seconds and a bunch of drunks screaming into the night at their “friends.” Er, I mean, it’s a social media micro-blogging tool.  It’s the latest thing. Or was, given the pace some people tire of social media. Multilingual is there too, tweeting away (@multilingualmag).

Anyway, after about a month, and picking up about 180 “followers” hanging on every letter of the @localization wit, wisdom and erudition encapsulated in those 140 character “Tweets”, I can say I really like the medium. Besides the directness implicit in making comments on just about anything in 140 characters or less, there’s something refreshingly honest and a lot more robust about Twitter communications. Unlike blogging-which for the most part is really a load of guys with beards moaning about stuff, making contrived pronouncements about subjects they haven’t really a clue about, or suits scratching each other’s backs now, anyway, isn’t it? Unless it’s been written by me, of course.

In the localization/internationalization space (I refuse to use the word “globalization"), I can see a number of possibilities for Twitter, some of which we’ve explored already in the past month’s exchanges (and some are being implemented as cloud or collaborative customer solutions by enterprises already, by the way):

* Cloud service and solutions - vendor feedback, terminology queries, internationalization issues ("my Tweetdeck don’t work with Japanese characters, what’ll fix?"), location of resources, tools support ("how do I do X or Y in Trados?"), and so on. Real time and searchable knowledge.

* Communications, marketing and promotion - announcements, headsups on events, soliciting submissions, calls for papers, making time-bound offers, spreading the word virally, and more. Although I certainly want more from Twitter than just reading Tweets about what conferences and reports are for sale, directing me to the standard press releases for more details. If you’re using it for that, don’t be surprised is somebody asks you for a discount. Or a hard question about the content. You’ll have to respond. Great way to build a network of contacts, gather market intelligence, too.

* Information filtering by peers - gathering information, links, opinions, survey responses, obtaining recommendations, and so on. Using the intelligence of your followers to mine raw data for you.

* Real time commentary and feedback on events, products, services - for example, using hashtags to track webinars, or conference presentations as the event occurs. Come to think of it, why even bother going to the conference at all to obtain the real time feedback? It’s all there on public view as it’s recorded (for example, the Twitter “hashtag” #DuLu.) Listening to customers, users, and so on.

There are all kinds of possibilities, admittedly low-level at present, and non-revenue generating. You can get a flavor by looking at these Twitter hashtags: #l10n, and #i18n.

I can see some limitations at present, namely the lack of any supporting metadata around Tweets which would allow analysis, but I am sure that can be dealt with over time.

Anyway, all I can do now is encourage you to come on over to Twitter and hook up with us @localization and @multilingualmag.  10 minutes a day is all you need to join in the fun.

I’ll get back with more Blogos stuff as soon as the beard grows a little more.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Back to School Time! Here's Some Reading...

With a timely release for the oncoming academic year and conference season (though you can enjoy it regardless of whether you’re an MBA student or not) me old mate from Silicon Valley, Dr. E. S. Wibbeke (whom some of you might remember as the Eileen from Web of Culture) has just published a timely new book called Global Business Leadership.

The book is now available from Amazon.com, and like all the best it has an accompanying web site: http://www.globalbusinessleadership.com

No less a culture expert than Geert Hofstede says about the book:

One of the pernicious problems of globalization is that leadership exists only in the eyes of the followers - and followers are always local. Dr. Wibbeke undertakes the immensely important task of preparing American businesspersons for their culture shocks in trying to lead abroad.

It’s brilliant to see yet another person you know in the industry striking out like this, doing what they love with such passion, and then seeing their efforts come to fruition in material form. I’m looking forward to reading this (I’d better since I took part in the research survey).

An inspiration to us all, I must get around to writing my own book shortly (ahem).

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Commonsense 2.0 in Poland

Those of you who cringe at those sad people so keen to embarrass themselves in New York, San Francisco, Dublin, or London by being shown in the media as a “first” iPhone purchaser after waiting outside the store for a significant percentage of their life to buy the thing will be heartened by this bite of reality from Poland.

Seems like Orange in Poland (the carrier for the iPhone there) has had to hire professional actors to stand in the queues outside stores before the launch.

Now this could be due to a number of reasons: economic conditions/marketing mismatch in trying to position the “Jesus“ phone in a country that takes its religion seriously/difficulty in finding somebody in Poland who doesn’t have a job/life/partner/clue what a “pub” is…

Speaking of those who walk on water, I haven’t enjoyed a story so much since the collapse of U2 sales in Dublin. The guilt!

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

MySpace and Facebook: Lessons from Japan

Good article on techcrunch.com called Taking social networks abroad - Why MySpace and Facebook are failing in Japan reminds us not to get too caught up in all this Web 2.0 hype and remember some localization and internationalization basics.

Issues like cultural misalignment, lack of localized features, dismal translation quality, wrong platform emphasis, and more, are all covered.  For example, the writer, Serkan Toto laments the lack of optimized versions of MySpace and Facebook for Japanese mobile users:

Millions of Japanese are accustomed to using one thumb, a dialpad and a jog dial on their phones when accessing the web during their commutes to school and work. In this country, the mobile web is bigger than the PC web.

And again, we hear about the presence of a local offering that’s holding its own: Mixi

Mixi, the country’s biggest social network, positioned itself as a tool for communicating at a distance through diaries and communities to meet like-minded members. It doesn’t primarily exist to make new friends (poking is restricted) or as a platform for public self-presentation.

A basic reading of the Pew Internet and American Life Project tells us that American boys and girls don’t even use social networking the same way, so why would people in different countries be expected to behave the same, without even a pause for thought?

Why companies continue to make such mistakes amazes me.

Friday, July 18, 2008

China Leads Web 2.0 Usage Say BCG

"China’s digital and online communities are the world’s leading users of mobile communication, instant messaging and web 2.0 applications, according to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG)” says China Daily.

The report is well worth a read, ‘though some of it is not that surprising given the size of the market and what we know from other developing nations about the “bypass” impact of cell phones and how other phenomena of technology adoption can change communication and business patterns:

“Where most American netizens still rely on emails to communicate with each other, their Chinese counterparts use IM and web 2.0 applications.”

It appears there are three categories of Chinese user: little emperors, reform beneficiaries, and frugal middle-agers (this stuff must have lost something in translation).

However, the report is largely business driven (Really? The BCG?). Despite claims that with “many activities such as IM and blogging, China is more advanced than the United States and other Western economies” we’re not told about how the participative social side of Web 2.0 and what the French call “contenu auto-créé” are impacted by the state’s censorship.

And I’ve love to know how many of those “web 2.0 applications” (it would be more helpful if they were named) are localized and to what extent. I am guessing quite a lot, and that as we have seen from search engine market growth in China, local app offerings rule the day.

See also John Yunker’s posting on iPhone localization opportunities, by the way.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Chief Semiglobalization Officer ™, Anyone?*

OK, been waiting 6 or 7 years for that particular slice of the boloney roll to land in the dirt. Been reviewing the book “Redefining Global Strategies: Crossing Borders in a World Where Differences Still Remain” by Pankaj Ghemawat. 

It’s based on the fact that the world ain’t so “flat” (in the Friedman sense) or “borderless” after all, and that political, cultural, and economic differences abound and will continue to do so for a long time. There’s a lot going in the the book that I’ll cover in the published review in Multilingual.

But is this “semiglobalization” really a revelation to anyone? The people who will read this book will be aware of the semiglobalization (semi? You’re joking) premise already. None of the fancy terminology or models will cut any ice in the boardroom when it comes to obtaining budgets for localization anymore than a PowerPoint slide that says “Pope Not Protestant” and “Bears Spurn J C Decaux Stock Issue”. Does anyone really buy into that EEC/EC/EU old guff about eliminating restrictions on movement of labour and capital and the equalization of taxes and removal of barriers to competition anymore?

Ever tried buying a car in the UK and importing it into the Republic Ireland because it was cheaper to do so? You’re hit with a massive vehicle registration tax by the Irish government. Or try buying an iPhone in the Republic of Ireland and then the same phone 10 yards up the road in Northern Ireland, or in another EU state. Or buying songs from iTunes in different parts of Europe. Consider what’s being revealed by the Tolkienesque Olympic Torch garbage. Or what’s still going on in Balkans. Or what Bono and Bob Geldof are always banging on about.

I was reminded of all this globalization stuff yesterday as my hired car took me to Rajiv Ghandi International Airport in Hyderabad. Passing thousands – and I mean thousands – of people living like dogs on the side of street in cardboard boxes and abandoned earthmover tires is something I’ll bear in mind the next time I’m told the world is “flat”. I’ll remind the source that anyone who calls a spade a spade should be compelled to use one (apologies to Oscar Wilde).

Watch out for my review of Ghemawat’s book in the magazine soon.

* © Copyright 2007, 2008, kisstheblarneystone productions

Friday, March 28, 2008

Basque Language Craiglist On The Way

Craig Newmark from Craigslist tells us that a Basque version is on the way. 

Craigslist is already available with Spanish, French, Canadian French, Portuguese, Italian and German language versions.

As for Klingon...

Friday, March 21, 2008

Localization Project Management Blog Of Interest

I met John White of 1-for-All Marketing Inc , based out of San Diego, at the Localization UnConference. John reminded me about his localization project management blog - he’s been maintaining it for a few years now.

You can check out John’s blog here.

If there are other blogs of interest, then let me know.

Friday, March 14, 2008

The Future For Local Startups Includes Globalization

Great article on TechCrunch called Global Or Die: Is There A Future For Local Startups? by Michael Arrington, featuring his friend Loic who writes about the necessity for startups to avoid the lure of focusing only on local markets. 

If you’re in the Internet business, then there’s some good advice for you. I particularly liked:

Create an application that lets your community translate the site by themselves

the way Facebook translated its site in many languages using an application where members could do inline translation and then vote when there was a discussion on the best term to use. This was a brilliant way to come back with high quality and fast translation. It also helps you have languages you would have not even thought of launching. Do not forget what it takes to maintain them though.

Hat tip: Shawna Wolverton

Friday, December 28, 2007

Why There is No Starbucks in Italy

According to the Financial Times, Starbucks has bowed to the Italian baristi.

This is an interesting case study for students of global business (or people stuck for a blog entry over the holidays.) Starbucks appeared in six more countries this year, including Russia and Egypt, bringing the total to 43 countries. But they have no presence in Djibouti, Mongolia - or Italy, claims the FT. I wonder about this claim. Is there really a Starbucks store in India? I couldn’t find any when I was there.

Anyway, in the case of Italy, it seems that factors like pricing, customer impatience, and obtaining the necessary planning permission for a chain of stores are major factors in keeping Starbucks out. But wait a minute, wouldn’t McDonalds have the similar problems with planning and pricing, and there are plenty of McDonalds er, “restaurants” in Italy selling cheap food and competing with local vendors offering great fare of world renown? I don’t understand the logic here. Plus the Starbucks product line is a lot more diversified than just coffee. There’s got to be some other major factor at play here. According to the FT, Starbucks say the lack of an Italian presence is “more out of humility and respect” and “it’s not for business reasons and Italy is not less of a strategic priority.” I suspect it’s because Starbucks can’t source those tiny little cups with a big enough logo.

Personally, I think Starbucks would do well in Italy - even if its only from tourist business. I’ve always been irritated by those tiny little cups of coffee the Italians drink. For me, if it ain’t in a 20 ounce cup, then it’s not a proper drink. And coffee needs to be drunk sitting down. Can you imagine if the Irish decided that Guinness should be drunk out of tiny little glasses, standing at a bar? Ridiculous.

Oh well, I am off to Firenze shortly to buy shoes, so I shall try and ascertain the opinions of the locals. I’m bringing my 20 oz travel mug with me though.

More: Starbucks Geek (Il weblog per i veri amanti di Starbucks)

Monday, November 19, 2007

China Launches China Cyber Recreation District

China has launched the China Cyber Recreation District (CRD), an ambitious virtual business world akin to SecondLife, in a bid to capitalize on their fantastic economic growth, intending to cater for 150 million Chinese people and companies by 2010. According to the Irish Times (reg. req.), its backers include heavy hitters like Rupert Murdoch.

The CRD web site tells us:

“‘China Virtual Economy District’ it will play the leading role of virtual economy industry in the world. With a series of trading rules and data exchange standards, virtual enterprises with different resources and advantages can cooperate and help each other raising their abilities in doing business. ‘China Virtual Economy District’ creates a wide and whole new platform for traditional enterprises, internet companies and individuals to participate in.”

According to one of the chief scientists behind the project:

"A shirt is $1 when we make it in China. When it goes into a department store in Europe or the USA it will be $20. If we can get more of that $20, and we need to get $4 or $5, then China will be up there with developed countries. We know that $19 goes on design, marketing, advertising, but virtual worlds change that. In the virtual world, population counts for more than in the real world… we will convert the whole nation to virtual commerce so they can be in line with developed countries."

But will it succeed? There are already serious issues with the nature of trust and security that determine consumer’s adoption of Internet transactions, so what challenges must the virtual environment hold in this regard is anyone’s guess. The EU has just launched the “Howard“ online consumer shopping assistant to help address this issue.

And the CRD folks are certainly not doing themselves any favors in addressing concerns over the quality of Chinese products with that dismal translation.

However, it is an interesting development, worth watching closely. On a related subject I’ll be reviewing Ian Bogost‘s impressive exploration of procedural rhetoric and electronic gaming in “Persuasive Games: The Expressive Power of Videogames “ in a forthcoming issue of Multilingual.

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Japan v Google

The Financial Times is reporting that “Tokyo, alarmed by the global dominance of Google and other foreign internet services, is spearheading a project to try to seize the lead in new search technologies for electronic devices.”

Accordingly, partnerships have been fostered by the Japanese government with such players as NTT Data, Toyota InfoTechnology Center, and Toyota Mapmaster as well as NEC, Hitachi and Sony Computer Science Laboratories. A budget of up to Y15bn (120bn USD) has been allocated to the project.

It’s going to be a interesting cultural as well as technological experiment to see if this will work. All the evidence of such attempts to catch US search innovation so far haven’t been anything to write home about. The money might be better spent elsewhere…

Meanwhile, anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area interested in search technology should check out the upcoming IMUG meeting with Peter Linsey of Ask.com called “Challenges of Searching the Global Internet."

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