Something Lost in Translation?

摘要

Machines that understand language have been in the dreams of computer scientists for half a century. Now those dreams are close to reality, with software that can take dictation and translate (if somewhat clumsily) from one language to another. The excitement over this technology explains how Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V., a firm headquartered in leper, Belgium that is a leader in speech translation software, came to have a $5.8 billion market value. At a recent $41, Lernout & Hau-spie's Nasdaq-traded shares go for 111 times trailing earnings. Even in a bull market for technology stocks that's a handsome price.