[euralex] Re: [asialex] Re: [afrilex] Re: Re: Re: [DSNA] RE: End of print dictionaries at Macmillan
- From: "Dr. Nazih Kassis" <nazih@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <david.joffe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <ettiew@xxxxxxxxx>, <volker@xxxxxxxxx>, <gillesmaurice.deschryver@xxxxxxxx>, <mmasibidisetaka@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2012 10:25:39 +0200
Dear All,
Change and development is inevitable in our progressive world! There is no
harm in having digital dictionaries online! They will be available all over
the world simultaneously on the Internet. Our students in the future will be
happy to have them, as they will be available to them (on their mobile)
wherever and whenever they need them. Bilingual and multilingual
dictionaries will be also available. I suppose all the information in the
present paper dictionaries will be uploaded also online! The user will have
access to any dictionary in seconds! At home, we will have them on our
computers! They are friendly and do not cause strain to the eyes (as we can
enlarge fonts!), while paper dictionaries are in small script, which is
tiresome!
The only worrying thing is if these dictionaries will be available through
paid subscription or free of charge! The students buy a paper dictionary
once in a few years, but they will have to pay for subscription to more than
one dictionary every year, which will be very expensive to them!
Don't worry! Be happy to have digital dictionaries online, if they are free
of charge!
Dr Nazih Kassis, lexicographer,
The Academic Arab College for Education,
Haifa,
Israel
+ 972 4 9884843
+ 973 507 665668
============================
Original Message-----
From: euralex-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:euralex-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of David Joffe
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2012 1:57 PM
To: ettiew@xxxxxxxxx; volker@xxxxxxxxx; gillesmaurice.deschryver@xxxxxxxx;
mmasibidisetaka@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: <Lexicophile@xxxxxxx>; <euralex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <DSNA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
<lexicographylist@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <asialex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
<afrilex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <lexicografie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>;
<ishll@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [euralex] Re: [asialex] Re: [afrilex] Re: Re: Re: [DSNA] RE: End of
print dictionaries at Macmillan
On 7 Nov 2012 at 5:10, mmasibidisetaka@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> This is a very interesting debate I must say, however the first thing
> that we need to establish is a dictionary culture which I believe is
> not strong enough (especially in South Africa)before we could
> celebrate the end of print dictionaries and the beginning of a new era
> of online dictionaries. Secondly we need to consider the dynamics of
> the widening gap between those who have and those who don't, because a
> very small percentage of people have access to computers.
Hmm, a little perspective here perhaps: Smartphones *are* computers,
and the *cheapest* smartphone is a FAR more powerful computer than
the computer I first learned to program on. I recently took an
R80/month contract here (approx $10/month), and for that I have a
portable computer/cellphone in hand that compares as follows to the
computer I learned to program on:
- 832MHz process vs 2 MHz processor
- Size:portable vs Size: Large heavy desktop
- Screen: 240x320 256K colors vs screen: 320x200 16 colors
- Internet vs: No Internet
- Advanced HTML5 Web browser with built-in JavaScript programming
language, vs: No Web browser
- 3GB storage vs: 20MB storage
- Built-in camera vs: No built-in camera
Yes, the poorest can't afford R80/month, but surely even someone of
relatively modest income could afford that? Also, we're only at the
start of the smartphone trend, they are still dramatically falling
in price and becoming more commonplace/popular (the main impediment
is probably the mess that is the patent system), so I must admit I
don't think the depiction of the majority lacking access is entirely
fair, at least regarding South Africa, Internet coverage via the
mobile networks reaches over 90% of the population already, and with
several new African under-ocean fiber cable projects and massive
investments in terrestrial bandwidth infrastructure prices are still
falling ... imagine what it will be like in just another 10 years.
(Regarding the gap between haves and have-nots, global income
inequality has also actually been improving more or less
consistently for about five decades now, even though it might not
always feel like it and is 'contrary to popular belief'.)
That said, I hope paper dictionaries never go away entirely. I find
myself approaching this question from the perspective of a new
parent, asking myself 'would I prefer my child[ren] growing up in a
household with paper dictionaries around', and the answer is an
absolute 'yes' ... I remember also as a child enjoying just browsing
through dictionaries just for interest, and while you could possibly
replicate this to some extent in software, I'm not sure you can ever
do so entirely. But, this may also be partially nostalgia, and
today's generation grow up in an environment of 'continual
technological distraction' so they might not find
dictionary-browsing as interesting.
Also, myself, I rarely consult paper dictionaries nowadays, and if
so, it's usually for dictionaries that I don't have in
online/electronic format.
- David
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