| Pages in topic: [1 2 3] > | A sort of "TranslationCoin": does it have any future? Thread poster: Nikolay Novitskiy
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Nikolay Novitskiy 
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:12
Member (2018)
English to Russian
Blockchain industry is growing. I browsed the Web and found many brilliant ideas fying around. A sort of "TranslationCoin" is supposed to be generated by human translators and, which is most important, by machine translation systems.
Do you consider accepting a sort of "Translation Token", as a payment for your services? Will you work for agencies who switch their vendors to "Translation Token" payment schemes? What brilliant prospects possible "TranslationCoin" use can offer to the... See more Blockchain industry is growing. I browsed the Web and found many brilliant ideas fying around. A sort of "TranslationCoin" is supposed to be generated by human translators and, which is most important, by machine translation systems.
Do you consider accepting a sort of "Translation Token", as a payment for your services? Will you work for agencies who switch their vendors to "Translation Token" payment schemes? What brilliant prospects possible "TranslationCoin" use can offer to the industry? Is it possible for human translators to generate more "TranslationCoins" than their artificial colleagues? ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Call me a dinosaur but… | Nov 22, 2021 |
… I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about!
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 02:12
German to English
| No cryptocurrencies | Nov 22, 2021 |
Nikolay Novitskiy wrote:
Do you consider accepting a sort of "Translation Token", as a payment for your services? Will you work for agencies who switch their vendors to "Translation Token" payment schemes?
Although blockchain does offer great potential in secure financial transactions, if I can't easily spend a token/coin/etc. at the local grocery store or pub, it's useless to me.
A number of years ago an agency floated the idea of paying translators into an account that could be accessed via a payment card at an ATM. Fees were attached to this as well as minimum withdrawal requirements. The idea went nowhere. I don't even like accepting checks (still common in the US, believe it or not!) due to the inconvenience.
My retirement fund, although not entirely risk-free, also does not invest in cryptocurrencies.
| | | | Nikolay Novitskiy
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:12
Member (2018)
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | Some ideas I found: | Nov 22, 2021 |
Ice Scream wrote:
… I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about!
Here are some ideas I found. Most of them are vague but one can imagine a future that awaits the industry.
Ofer Shoshan, CEO of One Hour Translation (OHT): “...”
Ofer sees the blockchain as an opportunity to develop a system of globally shared translation data with per-use compensation for the entity involved in the process. “I think it can make the whole industry more efficient while still paying royalties to those who deserve them.”
https://blog.taus.net/blockchain-when-the-token-economy-meets-the-translation-industry
‘Using blockchain-based architecture, it is possible for TM owners to earn income without risking their data privacy. TM owners like companies, translators, etc., will be able to share their data in a way that will only expose it once payment is made’.
https://www.vertaalt.nu/blog/the-blockchain-for-translators/
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| Name for the new currency | Nov 22, 2021 |
... and let me be the first to propose a name for the new currency exclusively designed for translators. Its name should reflect the setting and the audience where it shall be valid for, like the Euro, which was designed for the European Economic Area. Here we are:
The Peanut!
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OK, so basically it’s reducing translation to a piecemeal commodity of self-contained units (I am tempted to coin the term “words” here) that do not vary with context and can be traded like coins or stamps.
Do any of us really translate word by word, or segment by segment? It’s not the bricks, it’s what you build with them. Even in technical translations.
They can pool all the TMs they want, but nobody ain’t never gonna get me to use anyone else’s TMs but mine.
| | | | Robert Bononno
United States
Local time: 02:12
French to English
+ ...
| blockchain technology -- who benefits? | Nov 22, 2021 |
The takeaway from the TAUS article:
"I believe there are plenty of people who, instead of competing with big accounts, really want to translate to a much larger communicative community, keeping up the quality but lowering the price. Blockchain will underwrite this.”
That's the long and the short of it.
| | | | Nikolay Novitskiy
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:12
Member (2018)
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | The quality issue | Nov 22, 2021 |
Robert Bononno wrote:
The takeaway from the TAUS article:
"I believe there are plenty of people who, instead of competing with big accounts, really want to translate to a much larger communicative community, keeping up the quality but lowering the price. Blockchain will underwrite this.”
That's the long and the short of it.
It can be a shiny example of democratizing the industry. But the quality issue will arise, of course. When "translating to a much larger communicative community" there should be a kind of a feedback from the "comminicative community". Kind of a rating system used by Reddit, where common people can upwote or downvote a translation sample.
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| Communicative community | Nov 22, 2021 |
Robert Bononno wrote:
The takeaway from the TAUS article:
"I believe there are plenty of people who, instead of competing with big accounts, really want to translate to a much larger communicative community, keeping up the quality but lowering the price. Blockchain will underwrite this.”
That's the long and the short of it.
Right, I have no expenses to pay; I just spend my days floating around in a zen-like atmosphere with scented vapours and candles, meditating on how to communicate with this communicative community in a spiritual way that becomes more and more spiritual every day because my profession is a higher calling intended to lead me down a shining path to inner fulfilment, not something as mundane as earning money to pay my expenses and whatever vulgar people do with money. On Friday evenings I get together with like-minded people to drink herbal teas, eat organic seeds and sing 'om' all night. It’s cool, man!
| | | | Adieu
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Heeeeell no.
I smell a scam.
Also, блестящий isn't "shiny" in this context. It's "brilliant" (or would be, except that it really, really isn't).
Or maybe you meant яркий? But that isn't ever shiny, not in any context.
[Edited at 2021-11-22 17:52 GMT]
| | | | Nikolay Novitskiy
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:12
Member (2018)
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | Quite upsetting | Nov 22, 2021 |
I understand that the very idea sounds upsetting to you, but talks about applying blockchain to translation industry are common. You can find the idea here
http://kv-emptypages.blogspot.com/2021/02/building-equity-in-translation-workflow.html
And there are some other links at the end of the post.
Adieu wrote:
Heeeeell no.
I smell a scam.
Also, блестящий isn't "shiny" in this context. It's "brilliant" (or would be, except that it really, really isn't).
Or maybe you meant яркий? But that isn't ever shiny, not in any context.
[Edited at 2021-11-22 17:52 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-11-22 18:41 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-11-22 18:52 GMT]
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The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If this concept is so fantastic as some will have us believe, it will outcompete all those of us who don't embrace it wholeheartedly. If you believe in it, by all means go ahead and implement it.
To me, it sounds like a load of hogwash and it's not because someone posts an article and some links with hogwash on the web that it becomes anything else than hogwash.
This all-digital solution notably fails to take into account that people do business with people and that a good business relationship is stronger than all your 'equitable' principles.
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Nikolay Novitskiy
Russian Federation
Local time: 11:12
Member (2018)
English to Russian
TOPIC STARTER | I'm not advocating or opposing the concept | Nov 22, 2021 |
I'm not advocating or opposing the concept you called "a load of hogwash". I got to know this very idea recently, made some research and realized that it's discussed in the web, and that there are numerous actors (including TAUS) looking on how to implement it. The goal of my posting this topic is to inform the audience about the issue - that's why I would kindly ask you to restrain from what is called "toxicity", though I uderstand how unpleasant the idea may sound to you.
A real p... See more I'm not advocating or opposing the concept you called "a load of hogwash". I got to know this very idea recently, made some research and realized that it's discussed in the web, and that there are numerous actors (including TAUS) looking on how to implement it. The goal of my posting this topic is to inform the audience about the issue - that's why I would kindly ask you to restrain from what is called "toxicity", though I uderstand how unpleasant the idea may sound to you.
A real problem is that often something we call fantastical or, better to say, "impossible" to implement, becomes real soon or later.
Thomas T. Frost wrote:
The proof of the pudding is in the eating. If this concept is so fantastic as some will have us believe, it will outcompete all those of us who don't embrace it wholeheartedly. If you believe in it, by all means go ahead and implement it.
To me, it sounds like a load of hogwash and it's not because someone posts an article and some links with hogwash on the web that it becomes anything else than hogwash.
This all-digital solution notably fails to take into account that people do business with people and that a good business relationship is stronger than all your 'equitable' principles.
[Edited at 2021-11-22 19:31 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-11-22 19:42 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | The ISO Code of the new ... | Nov 22, 2021 |
... currency (the "Peanut", see above) shall be PE, and in its fully (for Peanut Monetary Translation Currency), you guess it: PEMT.
| | | | | Not unpleasant | Nov 22, 2021 |
Nikolay Novitskiy wrote:
I'm not advocating or opposing the concept you called "a load of hogwash". I got to know this very idea recently, made some research and realized that it's discussed in the web, and that there are numerous actors (including TAUS) looking on how to implement it. The goal of my posting this topic is to inform the audience about the issue - that's why I would kindly ask you to avoid toxity in your answers, though I uderstand how unpleasant the idea may sound to you.
A real problem is that often something we call fantastical or, better to say, "impossible" to implement, becomes real soon or later.
It's not toxic to call hogwash hogwash. Let's not be such snowflakes. And I think you misunderstand the reactions if you think we consider the idea "unpleasant".
You said: "I'm not advocating or opposing the concept. The goal of my posting this topic is to inform the audience about the issue."
In your first post, you said: "I browsed the Web and found many brilliant ideas fying [sic] around."
To me, "brilliant" sounds like advocating it, but if you say that's not what you meant, then it's good to have that clarified.
It just seems that the idea totally fails to take into account how humans interact socially and it also underestimates the role some agencies play in the whole process of coordinating large volumes of tasks. Then there is the massive IT infrastructure that would be needed, not to mention the hurdle introduced by a complex process and concept.
The reasoning is also flawed. It mentions that Maersk and IBM are looking into blockchains. Maersk also uses container ships, but that doesn't mean that a container ship would be useful to a translator. And it's not because some complex concept may be useful to huge multinational corporations that they will automatically be suitable for translation.
Yes, a few ideas called "impossible" succeed, but must fail.
For a professional translator running a successful business with good business relationships, I don't see any advantage in such a system.
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