Tuesday, August 15, 2006
US only web solutions
With the big wave of US only web solutions, the Europeans seem to have been left out of the loop and have basically become second rank web-citizens.
When a new web solution is in the makings, the authors plan a quick alpha version roll out that'll give feedback in regards to whether the product works as expected, before adding more features and get the funding needed for next rollout. If the product is a web based solution created by a US company, chances are that they'll limit their solution to US users in the first couple of roll outs. Localized services will demand US zip codes, money is $ and interface language is English.
The second, third and fourth rollout will contain bug fixes and extra features, but surprisingly internationalization never seems to be one of the prioritized features.What ever happened to the pretty story about the internet breaking down geographical and cultural barriers?
Many web solutions that launch as US-only solutions stay that way for the product lifetime. Although a few tech-hungry Europeans use the US solutions and accept that there are some features they cannot use, the products do not come close to seeing their true global internet potential.
Living in a country like France makes the effect even more obvious. As if it wasn't enough, the US solutions will never have their breakthrough on the French market if they do not add French as a choice of interface language.
How long has the Google Calendar existed? Did you know that users who have chosen French as the interface language do not even know that the product exists, since the link is not visible for them?
Cork'd is a great web solution. Use it to manage a list of wines you've tasted and manage your current collection. Share your experiences with friends and let everyone know where to get a good but cheap bottle of Bordeaux. Let me rephrase that: let your US friends know where to find a good but cheap Bordeaux in $. How can someone create a web solution for managing wine collections and recommendations without ensuring that it's usable for French users? Imagine the market potential!
I completely respect the fact that it is hard work to create a solution that can be localized for everyone, that has the major world languages for the interface and that enables the world's major currencies. I just have difficulties understanding why it seems to be such a low priority?
I know that the fact that the French still in this day and age demand French as the interface language make them somewhat exotic, but one cannot ignore the size of the French market when looking at Europe.
One thing is that the US creators of web solutions do not prioritize other markets, but how come Europeans are so slow at picking up!?
tags: europe, internationalization, globalization, internet
16:15 | Permalink | Comments (3)
3 Comments:
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Posted by
Benjamin Francisoud, at 16/8/06 11:15 -
I definitely believe that an international Cork'd solution could become a major success if it was done properly (what they have created up until now is already darn nice).
Posted by
Thomas, at 16/8/06 11:21 -
Maybe one of the reasons is that the demand for these services is less than one might expect. France has been extremely slow to pick up on the internet, partly because they developed their own system (Minitel) and simply did not accept until a few years ago that Internet was the future. Having lived here for 5 years, I can attest that computer literacy and internet presence in France is much lower than in the USA (or UK, or Canada, or Germany, etc.).
Posted by
Robert (a France resident), at 6/1/07 19:50
Let's create an international cork'd ;)
With an even more simple name! This one is hard to pronounce for a french!