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The future of language online

Thursday, May 20th, 2010 | located in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Our planet is made up of a vibrant mix of cultures and languages – and several decades into its existence, the web is finally catching up. For a long time, English was the dominant language of the web – if you wanted your work to be read, you had to write in English or risk obscurity. But times, they are a-changin’.

I was inspired recently by one of my favorite NPR shows, On the Media, when I heard a fascinating episode called: “Bridging the Online Language Barrier.”

The show, hosted by Mark Phillips, suggest that the way language is evolving on the web is similar to what happened during the Renaissance, when Latin was the primary language for writing and reading. That began to change when people began to write for their local audiences.

That same phenomenon is now happening online; according to the show, over 400 million Chinese are using the internet, Arabic internet users have increased by over 2,000 percent in the last decade, and – perhaps most tellingly – only 27% of today’s internet users speak English.

Which language is ultimately dominant – or if one will even be a dominant – is less interesting to me than the notion that many different languages can thrive online. I’m excited by the idea that people who don’t speak the same language can still understand each other, share ideas, and communicate meaningfully.

Here at Ribbit, we think of voice as an object much like any other data object. It powers workflow, initiates and modifies business processes, and affects outcomes. Though embedding voice into workflow is very much in its infancy, it has the potential to dramatically change the way business gets done. What if technology could help your business move fluidly across language barriers, opening whole new markets and opportunities that were never possible before? What if voice and language were simply flavors, like colors, that enhance what you do but don’t prohibit knowledge from flowing freely?

It’s a whole new way of seeing the world – and who knows what could happen as a result? I personally believe that we have so much to learn from each other… and I’m pretty excited about being able to tap into knowledge from other cultures and create business models that aren’t possible today.

What interests you about the ways language is evolving online?

VoiceCon Roundtable: Cloud Computing’s Role in Enterprise Communications

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 | located in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Join Ribbit’s Greg Goldfarb tomorrow, November 5th, at the VoiceCon conference in San Francisco (at the Moscone North Convention Center) where he will join some fine folks in a roundtable discussion around the role of Cloud Computing in the world of Enterprise Communications.

The roundtable will start at 10am <tomorrow> in room 131.

Panel summary:

It seems as if the whole IT industry has its collective head in the “cloud” these days. Cloud Computing is all the rage and is being portrayed as the technical silver bullet to just about any IT-related problem. To be sure, the idea of reducing IT expenditures and headcount sounds compelling, particularly in tough economic times. But where – and how — does enterprise communications fit within the emerging framework for Cloud Computing? Does it portend a new set of options for delivering and managing voice, video and data communications, or is Cloud Computing for communications not much more than Centrex dressed up in 21st century buzzwords? Does the undeniable trend toward more mobile communications capabilities create the foundation for bringing together communications and Cloud Computing, or is it just the next iteration of heretofore unsuccessful initiatives like Application Service Providers (ASPs)?

This VoiceCon Summit will examine the promise, today’s realities and the possible future scenarios for marrying enterprise communications with Cloud Computing.

Hope you will join Greg and his fellow roundtable moderators as they share a variety of viewpoints and hear some of yours as well!

Moderator(s):

• Eric Krapf - Program Co-Chair, VoiceCon - Editor, No Jitter
• Zeus Kerravala - SVP Enterprise Research - The Yankee Group
• Panelist(s):
• James Urquhart - Marketing Manager, Data Center Solutions - Cisco
• Chris Moore - Senior Product Manager - Skype for Business
• Joe Weinman - Strategy and Business Development VP - AT&T
• Greg Goldfarb - VP Enterprise Applications - Ribbit
• Mike Palmer - Executive Director for Global Delivery - Verizon