| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3 4] > | 80% of translators use Trados? Thread poster: Jennifer Forbes
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Samuel Murray 
Netherlands
Local time: 02:29
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| I'm part of the 80% | Feb 18, 2013 |
Gudrun Wolfrath wrote:
Then I belong to the remaining 20%.
I use Trados... because I have clients who use Trados. I would not use Trados for any job that didn't come with a client that required it, though. Not that I hate Trados -- I'm simply more comfortable with my other CAT tool.
| | | | Jennifer Forbes
Local time: 01:29
French to English
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TOPIC STARTER In memoriam
Nikita Kobrin wrote:
Jenny Forbes wrote:
How on earth can Proz know that?
Jenny, I think that's nothing but Trado$' promo tales... 
 [Edited at 2013-02-18 16:14 GMT]
Yes, Nikita and others, of course I know the statement is part of Trados's promotional material. However, does that make it OK to quote it in the Proz newsletter as a fact, without explanation? As I said to start with, it's a sweeping and unsubstantiated statement.
[Edited at 2013-02-18 17:28 GMT]
| | | | Rolf Keller
Germany
Local time: 02:29
English to German
| There are some open questions | Feb 18, 2013 |
ghislandi wrote:
"SDL software is used by over 80% of the translation supply chain"
What is a certain supply chain anyway? If 3 translators work for 10 agencies, does this result in 30 chains?
"The report can be found here:
http://www.commonsenseadvisory.com/AbstractView.aspx?ArticleID=2978"
So, why do I see only 10% of the report?
And why do I read there about 3000+ freelancers, while you've just stated 1500+?
| | | | ghislandi
Local time: 01:29
English to Italian
| Cmmon Sense Advisory report | Feb 18, 2013 |
Hello
We did have to purchase the report from Common Sense Advisory.
The people who answered to the question on CAT tool usage are 1500.
I am happy to post the specific piece of the report as picture.
Regards
Massi
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Michele Fauble
United States
Local time: 18:29
Norwegian to English
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The claim that 80% of translators use Trados is false if the statistics show that 80% of the translators who use a CAT use Trados. You have to include the translators who do not use a CAT to know what percentage of translators use Trados.
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 02:29
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| This thread is misleading | Feb 18, 2013 |
Jenny Forbes wrote:
The latest Proz newsletter states "80% of translators use Trados"...
No, it doesn't.
http://www.proz.com/newsletter/201302
The latest ProZ.com newsletter contains a number of *advertisements* and one of the advertisements is for Trados, and the wording of the advertisement is this:
Advertisement
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SDL TRADOS STUDIO is a translation tool used by over 80% of the translation supply chain. Organizations like the EU with 4300 translators are benefiting from the powerful productivity & project enhancing features.
| | | | Nikita Kobrin
Lithuania
Local time: 03:29
Member (2010)
English to Russian
+ ...
| Marketing games | Feb 18, 2013 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
Advertisement
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SDL TRADOS STUDIO is a translation tool used by over 80% of the translation supply chain. Organizations like the EU with 4300 translators are benefiting from the powerful productivity & project enhancing features.
I'm afraid it's an example of deceptive advertising because even according to the sources mentioned by Massimo it's not 80% but 68.47%:
ghislandi wrote:
SDL Trados: 68.47%
| | | | | As a mathematician... | Feb 18, 2013 |
...and being quite "at ease" in statistics, I think I can fairly confidently repeat the famous one-liner (don´t even know who came up with it):
One has lies, one has damn lies, and then there are statistics.
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 20:29
Spanish to English
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| We did have to purchase the report | Feb 18, 2013 |
Why?
I can tell you what it says this year, last year and next year without even reading it.
Translation = good investment, great future prospects and strong industry growth for entrepreneurs, agencies, software developers and language start-ups
Translation for translators = The end is nigh! Lots of competition from globalization, crowd sourcing entrepreneurs, fly-by-night agencies, software developers, amateur translators, machine translation, must buy Tra... See more Why?
I can tell you what it says this year, last year and next year without even reading it.
Translation = good investment, great future prospects and strong industry growth for entrepreneurs, agencies, software developers and language start-ups
Translation for translators = The end is nigh! Lots of competition from globalization, crowd sourcing entrepreneurs, fly-by-night agencies, software developers, amateur translators, machine translation, must buy Trados, must buy Trados, must buy Trados, must not charge for repetitions - agencies should earn all profit from new technologies, lower your rates now if you want to survive!
There I just saved you $500.00.
ghislandi wrote:
Hello
We did have to purchase the report from Common Sense Advisory.
[Edited at 2013-02-18 21:15 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | statistics need to be interpreted correctly | Feb 18, 2013 |
Hi,
I'm from Kilgray I just looked up this report from Common Sense Advisory, and I believe that CSA won't be mad at me if I just republish their table with the percentages here if Massimo published the sheer numbers:
CAT Tool Name Number of Times Cited
(N=1554)
Freelancer Response Percent
SDL Trados 1064 68.47%
Wordfast 435 27.99%
MemoQ 186 11.97%
... See more Hi,
I'm from Kilgray I just looked up this report from Common Sense Advisory, and I believe that CSA won't be mad at me if I just republish their table with the percentages here if Massimo published the sheer numbers:
CAT Tool Name Number of Times Cited
(N=1554)
Freelancer Response Percent
SDL Trados 1064 68.47%
Wordfast 435 27.99%
MemoQ 186 11.97%
SDLX 128 8.24%
Across 99 6.37%
Star Transit 67 4.31%
Idiom WorldServer 55 3.54%
Omega T 47 3.02%
Déjà Vu 34 2.19%
XTM 16 1.03%
As you see, the percentages don't add up to 100%, so SDL's total technology count is probably somewhere between 69% and 80% - yet I feel it closer to the lower number, as most probably those that use Worldserver or SDLX also use Trados (according to the survey, a third of translators use more than one tool).
Statistics are never straightforward and actually CSA is stronger in North America where they come from. In this sample 33% did not use translation tools, so the 69% in reality is ca. 46%. This does not change the relative strength of tools, but gives a more unbiased view.
There was another relatively large survey carried out by Joanna Gough from the University of Surrey (of former TAUS fame, so similar league to CSA) whose findings are here: http://pierrefuentes.info/2013/01/25/tao-petit-tour-dhorizon/ . Unfortunately the findings were taken over in French, I don't see the actual results published on the web in English.
Please see http://www.proz.com/forum/cat_tools_technical_help/241939-results_of_joanna_gough_survey.html
Joanna's sample was primarily from Europe, probably this is why memoQ and Déjà vu are stronger, while Wordfast is weaker. I think the interesting figure is how many translators don't use certain tools: for SDL Trados it is 197 out of 540 responses, so about 63.5% use it, for Wordfast it's 381 out of 540 responses (29.4% use it), for memoQ it's 377 out of 540 responses (30.1% use it).
Both surveys are from December 2012, so relatively recent, with a sample that can tell something. Unfortunately it's impossible for all sources to establish a definitive figure... (Maybe Proz has a better number, but again, many of our users don't have memoQ in their profile, for example.)
I guess this all tells us that SDL has a large user base - and I would not dispute that they have more translator users than other companies, especially because they don't provide so-called mobile licenses to translators that companies can buy for giving to their translators temporarily -but it's not 80% of all translators or all agencies or all end-users out there. However, the advertisement only claimed it's a tool used by over 80% of the translation supply chain, but what the translation supply chain means... I personally have no clue
Best regards,
István Lengyel ▲ Collapse
| | | | Vito Smolej
Germany
Local time: 02:29
Member (2004)
English to Slovenian
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER | I am among the 80% too - because of legacy stuff aka the TagEditor | Feb 18, 2013 |
Samuel Murray wrote:
I use Trados... because I have clients who use Trados. I would not use Trados for any job that didn't come with a client that required it, though. Not that I hate Trados -- I'm simply more comfortable with my other CAT tool.
... and to join in the chorus with Sam, I am more comfortable with other CAT tools (two).
Except when it's a TTX, I switch into Mr Hyde mode and use TagEditor. I know, I could use Studio, but then Dr. Simpson just does not feel like it.
[urejeno ob 2013-02-18 21:18 GMT]
| | | | | There is no such thing as "just Trados" | Feb 19, 2013 |
It makes no sense to lump the old Trados up to version 2007 and the new Trados Studio into the same category. These are two very different products. While the old one was rightfully called the gold standard of CAT tools for its excellent usability, the new one is merely one of many similar CAT tools of today, fairly good but by no means outstanding. Even the means of compatibility between the two are merely a kludge.
In my work, very few clients tell me what to use, so I use the old Trado... See more It makes no sense to lump the old Trados up to version 2007 and the new Trados Studio into the same category. These are two very different products. While the old one was rightfully called the gold standard of CAT tools for its excellent usability, the new one is merely one of many similar CAT tools of today, fairly good but by no means outstanding. Even the means of compatibility between the two are merely a kludge.
In my work, very few clients tell me what to use, so I use the old Trados (Translator's Workbench, to be exact) for most of my projects. If I were to pick another CAT tool, I'd most likely be choosing between Wordfast Classic (not Pro!) and Anaphraseus, which continue supporting the user interface paradigm lost by Trados. A detailed analysis of what's right and what's wrong in different paradigms is beyond the scope of this forum, but I may be persuaded to write a paper or give a public lecture. ▲ Collapse
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Trisha F
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:29
English to Spanish
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I use TRADOS when it is a requirement (i.e., when the client specifically demands it), otherwise I'd look at other alternatives. It is quite helpful when working with large, particularly technical or legal, texts but so are other CAT tools. On the other hand, it is a very expensive toy that is constantly used to lower translators' rates, even if the pre-translation is sometimes inaccurate to the point that one must practically start from scratch.
It is a bit off-topic but I do not ... See more I use TRADOS when it is a requirement (i.e., when the client specifically demands it), otherwise I'd look at other alternatives. It is quite helpful when working with large, particularly technical or legal, texts but so are other CAT tools. On the other hand, it is a very expensive toy that is constantly used to lower translators' rates, even if the pre-translation is sometimes inaccurate to the point that one must practically start from scratch.
It is a bit off-topic but I do not understand the principle of translators having to charge less for working with TRADOS. To my understanding, an architect won't lower his rates for using AUTOCAD, neither will a designer that relies on Photoshop or other specialised software. Doctors don't see their salary expectations lowered for manipulating equipment that will help them diagnose an illness either. It's just a thought, of course. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Claudia Cherici
Italy
Local time: 02:29
Member (2010)
English to Italian
+ ...
| HAPPY WITH IT | Feb 19, 2013 |
I use Studio and am happy with it
I don't know about percentages of use, but it has increased my productivity and generally made my life easier
I use it whenever a text is suitable for it, I'd say 80% of the times in my (highly technical) specialisation fields
I do not understand why fellow translators seem to take special pride in saying they never use it and even piling abuse on it: I will not take part in the "knock down Trados" game. It's not the Holy Graal but it's a usefu... See more I use Studio and am happy with it
I don't know about percentages of use, but it has increased my productivity and generally made my life easier
I use it whenever a text is suitable for it, I'd say 80% of the times in my (highly technical) specialisation fields
I do not understand why fellow translators seem to take special pride in saying they never use it and even piling abuse on it: I will not take part in the "knock down Trados" game. It's not the Holy Graal but it's a useful, clever tool to use in our profession, much more complete and versatile than other similar tools
Just wanted to make my point... ▲ Collapse
| | | | Radian Yazynin
Local time: 04:29
Member (2004)
English to Russian
+ ...
Claudia Cherici wrote:
I do not understand why fellow translators seem to take special pride in saying they never use it ...
This is because, as you put it:
Claudia Cherici wrote:
It's not the Holy Graal ...
And when you mentioned this:
Claudia Cherici wrote:
... much more complete and versatile than other similar tools ...
maybe you didn't investigate this matter thoroughly?
And we are speaking not about how to avoid Trados, many of us (including myself) do use it, but there is something more in this topic as you may see.
[Edited at 2013-02-19 06:13 GMT]
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