After Reading How Fluent is your Interface? I was intrigued in looking at how different symbols have such different meanings in each country. From this article I realized that there is a need for a universal language of meanings in the world of computers. By universal language I do not mean changing languages or making a new language, but it seems that there is a need for a set standard of words that can be translated and used with no offense anywhere in the world.
I was unaware that the symbol of a stork in Singapore meant maternal death and that the symbol OK was considered vulgar in both Germany and Brazil. Or that there are numbers that are considered unlucky in different countries. There should be an easier way in the begining of the process of creating programs to unversially assign a language that can be used for all countries. It seems as though we are up to date on technology of the programs but not up to date on their language. It is interesting how there are not simultaneously in tune.
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2 comments:
I found myself surprised at the cultural differences. I knew they were there, but this article showed just how dramatic these differences can be.
It would be good if there was a more "universal" language of symbology that we could use.
Yeah it's pretty scary what one thing in one culture can mean in another. When I did study abroad, I had a hard time in a Beijing internet cafe. Not only was the yahoo and google interfaces in Chinese but so was the keyboard. I had to go by memory from our American setup. Needless to say, it took me awhile to write and send one email back home!
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