The Big Sell March 26, 2012
Posted by Jill (@bonnjill) in Tools.trackback
I thought it might be interesting to share the advertising mails I received for translation tools in the space of one week…
3/19/2012
E-mail advertising 30% off a workgroup license for DejaVu (unsubscribe option was in French – thank heavens for Google Translate)
3/20/2012
E-mail telling me Wordfast Pro 3.0 is coming soon
3/21/2012
E-mail offering 20% off SDL Trados Studio 2011 in honor of their 20th anniversary
3/22/2012
E-mail advertising a full license and upgrade to DejaVu on ProZ, an e-mail advertising 40% off memoQ translator pro, and an e-mail offering an upgrade for Translation Office 3000
This morning I was offered a free webinar on how to use TO3000 (tips and tricks). Ah the joys of unsolicited advertisements. I’ve deleted every single one of these e-mails, but I think I’ve decided to just consequently unsubscribe from each one I receive in the future. I’m perfectly happy working with MemoQ (and to a lesser degree Fluency). If I absolutely need Trados for a job I still have a licensed version on my laptop. As for Translation Office 3000… well, I gave up working with that program years ago because I found it to be too clunky and time-consuming. Maybe I should sign up for the free webinar after all…
Musings from an overworked translator 
I, and I’m sure many others, share your experiences (and frustrations).
I have to agree with you and say that I have found memoQ to be by far my favourite CAT environment, but I can’t claim to have any experience with TO3000 past reading comments from others, which seem to suggest that they are unwilling to break their TO habit, rather than that they have not found a better alternative.
Thanks for another engaging post, Jill.
With TMX in the picture, the beginner translator I was a few months had to choose Fluency.
I don’t get all these advertising emails, maybe because I haven’t been in the business long enough to have my email address in several mailing lists.
I would immediately unsubscribe as even though I had my share of gripes against Fluency in the past, I am pleased with the experience I’ve had just today on my last project.
What I think when I see the kind of discounts offered in ad emails is that the price wasn’t fair in the first place. But that’s just me.
That’s a lot of advertisements that you are receiving, Jill! Must be a sign of the times… I’ve used TO3000 forever (it seems like it), and I completely agree that there’s room for improvement. However, after spending a few weeks getting used to it, you won’t regret having it. In spite of a few challenges (mostly UI and layout), it’s one of my favorite pieces of software.