In the world of translations – just as in life – you get what you pay for...

One of the main factors in our life is economics, the main thing in economics, regarding services, is to produce something in exchange for a certain amount of money.

Part of the game is trying to get the most out of our money, but this line has twisted into paying less whilst sacrifycing the quality of the service.

Translation is a very valuable activity that enables people to communicate their ideas into a different language and ranges from the trivial to the most important matters; the undeniable fact is that translation has played a vital role in mankind´s progress; I do not think I have to explain this fact, I can sum it up with a quote from Giordano Bruno “From Translation all science had its offspring”

One of the biggest pushes of economic activities is to reduce costs, which means getting the most out of our money. In order to do this companies try to get cheaper and cheaper translations to the point where they push to pay less sacrifycing the quality of the service.

The truth of economics is that you always get what you pay for. If you pay for an excellent translation, that is what you get and if you pay for a cheap translation, that is also what you get.

The idea has been for some time – since computers can do smart tasks – automate the translation process, then reduce the expenses to a point where there is almost no pay, the dream of any investor, frequently those dreams become nightmares.

The fact is that the translations done by a computer are just gibberish, something that no one understands. Cheap translations are better but still don't make the grade.

Translations have a value in themselves, and this will remain simply because translation is a human activity, which can of course be aided by a computer, but this does not make the translation cheaper, you are not paying the computer, you are paying the human being getting your ideas across another language.

Just remember that if a professional translation is what you need, you will get what you pay for.