The cloud, our friend and enemy

Online file conversion via Kilgray’s Language Terminal, sending huge files via WeTransfer or sharing translation memories via Dropbox: we all use online services regularly to improve our work and communication and to avoid huge costs. Indeed, most of these services are free with some limitations, made possible by use of the newest technologies and by the acceptance of some adverts. But no matter how great all these tools might be and no matter how they improve our lives, they have one major disadvantage: they are all hosted in the cloud and are thus the product of third parties, each with its own commercial interests. In this article I will list some implications of using the cloud for translation matters.