Monday, December 05, 2005

Deutsch für alle!

German for everyone: "Apple's misstep recalled a meeting with Compaq some years back when an engineering manager suggested a money-saving shortcut to localizing laptops for Germany. Rather than translate the documentation and otherwise adapt the product to German market needs, he suggested bundling a 'Learning English' CD with each new laptop sent to Germany. [... T]here was some enthusiasm around this idea until a German member of the team suggested that BMW might do the same thing with its autos. Bundling a 'Learning German' CD with each new car could save the Bavarian automaker a lot of money in translating documentation. The Compaq idea for Germany was quickly shelved."

Too bad. I'd be all for it, for both companies.

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