The Gist of Translation

Imagine if cybershoppers in Paris, Beijing and Rio could go to the Gap?s website and find a description of the clothes — and an order form — in their native language. That day isn?t far off. Machine-language translation — a process that uses computer software to translate text from one language into another — is maturing precisely at the time when the need for it, particularly on international websites, is escalating. Analysts figure that by 2005 about three-quarters of the 1 billion people communicating and doing business online will live outside the U.S., and most of them won?t speak English....