Video Translation: Opportunity and Challenge

Abstract

My smartphone has made my daily life easier. I now have an easy way to keep contact information, take down information on bulletin boards, look up medical and other information, get a map wherever I need one, take pictures whenever I want, have a ready alarm clock, keep track of weather (a big need in Texas), and do many other things. My phone also enables me to listen to the radio or to my own music; it even lets me watch videos. But none of this revolutionized my life. Before my smartphone I also had a place to keep contact information and do all those other things; my phone just makes it easier.In the ethnic groups where most translations are being done, however, a smartphone is much more than a convenience; it is a revolution. In much of the world, people who couldn’t afford to own one book now have access to the largest encyclopedia ever written. People who treasured the rare snapshots of family members can now own both a camera and a camcorder, and pictures are free. For the first time, those people have maps of their areas, in fact of all parts of the world. Radios, music players and video players are now part of daily life, as are contact lists, maps, alarm clocks, document scanners, crop prices in various towns, first aid and other medical information and many other things previously inaccessible.