Useful for the Japanese Olympics
But supposedly it will be with us much earlier
A lot of people have complained about the direction the advert took
But I am not
For me it is one of those borderline techs
It could be useful but could be useless
We must think
Why create a translation device in the first place
And we already have translation devices
Aka our brains
And for a product supposedly about helping people connect it didn't show that in the ad
Because a translator is not for connecting its for demands wants and whims
When you learn a language you learn the history
The concepts
And contextualisation of what at first are foreign sounds
How good you are in the language is down to your determination
I've always said tech without soul is a dangerous thing
The advert clearly shows who this product is for
Tourists
With the fondness due to their level in the language for an infantile relationship
It also brushed over its actual functions
Like does it need wifi
How much battery power does it have
How many languages is it linked with
How good is its voice recognition
Is it google translate but portable
Also it alluded to but brushed off the other important part of active language
The listening part
The big fail of guidebooks in the past
What's the point of asking questions if you don't know what answer to expect and cannot understand the answer anyway
Also can it hear a multitude of voices
Then there is the question of how it will be used
Can it block out offensive words
Imagine a bunch of drunk uncultured fools who are too lazy ignorant and many other things shout obscenities but you don't know what they are saying so you ignore it but now
now with this device and whereas before you know what they are saying
You didn't ask for this
True this could happen without the translator but those other people are either natives or will know enough of the language to understand your discontent
Also can it interpret computer voices such as the other device wearers
Would it change ungrammatical sentences and make them understood
Can it only understand people talking in their first language
Would it further alienate journey goers into an easier distinction of tourist and traveler
How wouldn't that device with the mechanical voice not make you are target for theives and such
Also another facet to this device is
Will it change the world
Could it
Would it
It could change certain professions or professional spaces
Such as airports with airport staff given these devices
Or the police for foolish tourists
Another thing it didn't allude to was the price
How much would it cost and is it waterproof and is it made of durable stuff
Will it affect other professions such as teaching will it stop students wanting to learn and government funding
Will they be banned in certain areas outside of tourist zones
Will there be as I said before targeting of people with the device for their property of their presence
Which will defeat the purpose of a translation device
My verdict is no it won't have such a far reaching impact but the gimmick has some bigger issues and goals behind it
Such as skipping journeys for goals
It could be the start of the building of bridges
It could get us to think about language and culture and if they can exist without one another
Also do we want that world
Is it or could it be the first step in diminishing the idea of a global language and usher in wearable tech
Could it bred a new kind of traveller and travel experience a new kind of network
But what people must not forget
If you are for this is that you don't have language knowledge only mimcry of such but you can just turn off the device when you no longer wish to be understood
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