Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Vive la France?

Okay so recently I've read a bunch of articles about how France is becoming relaxed about the rise of English. It appears however this is just a front to make us relax so we won't see the real goal.

Unfortunately I've unearthed this plot via Apple, looking at the MacPro and going through the "HOW much could I spend on a PC?" test. I saw the following

See it?

What about now? Seriously its there in black and white

Yes you get a British keyboard, but you have to learn French to understand the instructions. This is a truly nefarious plot.

Now this actually has a good point from a globalised project perspective. You can't assume what language people are going to speak so you need to be very clear about what you are going to support (i.e. keyboard in English, but instructions in French) otherwise you can end up in a hell-hole of trying to support every language in existence.

Fortunately English in general remains the lingua franca ;)


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Yes you get a British keyboard, but you have to learn French to understand the instructions."

Steve, this is a typical UK-centric interpretation! In fact, the option addresses French people who prefer (or are condemned to) using an English keyboard.
Maybe unconsciously you anticipate your French company imposing this option on you... You'd still be better off than if it imposed using a French keyboard as well!

Steve Jones said...

Ahhh AZERTY how I miss you so.

As a touch-typer its a nightmare to sit down at a non-QWERTY keyboard.

Anonymous said...

Steve you clearly have too much free time

Colin