Poll: Do you think SDL's acquisition of Trados will be good for translators?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jun 22, 2005

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you think SDL's acquisition of Trados will be good for translators?".

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A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629


 
Csaba Ban
Csaba Ban  Identity Verified
Hungary
Local time: 03:44
Member (2002)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
Initial thoughts Jun 22, 2005

To start with, I responded with a "yes" in the poll.

I have never been very keen on Trados, but I have been owning more or less the latest versions since version 3. A couple of weeks ago I upgraded to "early bird 7".
My favourite CAT tool has always been Deja Vu / DVX and I owned and used Trados only reluctantly. In most cases I worked in DV, exported the outcome, and used Trados only to polish up my work, clean the files, etc.

As far as SDLX is concerned, I only
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To start with, I responded with a "yes" in the poll.

I have never been very keen on Trados, but I have been owning more or less the latest versions since version 3. A couple of weeks ago I upgraded to "early bird 7".
My favourite CAT tool has always been Deja Vu / DVX and I owned and used Trados only reluctantly. In most cases I worked in DV, exported the outcome, and used Trados only to polish up my work, clean the files, etc.

As far as SDLX is concerned, I only saw a short presentation of it in Oxford last December on Proz.com super-powwow event, and I liked its interface that looked familar after DV. I also read very good reviews about SDLX, but I never thougt I would NEED to have it as a third CAT tool.

Now with this merger I hope outsourcers will be less dependent on Trados and they will realize there are some other CAT tools out there that are equally good, or perhaps even better.

As far as DVX is concerned: I have been an avid supporter and even a keen advocate of this tool, but recently I had to realize that a family enterprise cannot successfully compete with corporate giants.

In the long run, I hope that SDLX will gain recognition among outsourcers and I will be able to use it as my primary CAT tool - I see it as a potential replacement for my familiar DVX, and a welcome relief from the overwhelming presence of Trados.

Csaba



[Edited at 2005-06-22 20:17]
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Kevin Fulton
Kevin Fulton  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 22:44
German to English
Customer rarely benefit from mergers Jun 22, 2005

One of my banks has merged several times, and after each merger there's been a decrease in service provided to the customer along with an increase in fees (allegedly these mergers were to achieve "economies of scale). I can't imagine that there will be any tangible benefit to translators from this, apart from potentially reducing the "agony of choice" by decreasing the number of products on the market.

 
Steffen Pollex (X)
Steffen Pollex (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 03:44
English to German
+ ...
:-))) I see it the same way Jun 23, 2005

I don't expect any benefits, unless TRADOS would just disappear. It's become obsolete, looking at SDLX. But the prices will probably rise after this, be it just for paying compensations to the Directors who will be laid off because there's only one Board needed now instead of two.



Kevin Fulton wrote:

... and after each merger there's been a decrease in service provided to the customer along with an increase in fees (...). I can't imagine that there will be any tangible benefit to translators from this, apart from potentially reducing the "agony of choice" by decreasing the number of products on the market.


 


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Poll: Do you think SDL's acquisition of Trados will be good for translators?






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