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"I went [to the top of] Vehicle Assembly Building and looked down, and tears burst from my eyes. The size of this cathedral where the Rockets take off to go to the moon is so amazing."
- Ray Bradbury

Computer Translator  
  A computer translator; software that provides automatic translation when jacked into a data port.  

In Idoru, Chia journeys to Japan to meet with the fan club of her favorite musician. She overcomes the language barrier by using her customized computer (Sandbenders) and a variety of software and services.

Chia used a public dataport in the deepest level of the station. The Sandbenders sent the number they'd given her for Misuko Mimura.. A girl's sleepy voice in Japanese came from the Sandbenders' speakers. The translation followed instantly. "Hello, yes?"

"It's Chia McKenzie from Seattle."

"Are you coming here now?" The voice began to explain the route.

"It's okay," said Chia, "my computer can do it. Just give me your address."

"Addresses in Japan are difficult." "I've got global positioning." The Sandbenders, working the Tokyo Telco, was already showing her Mitsuko's latitude and longitude.

Technovelgy from Idoru, by William Gibson.
Published by Putnam in 1996
Additional resources -

She leaves her bag partly unzipped to follow its prompts. As she continues in her journey, her computer translates what she hears around her like station announcements, demonstrating the capacity for speech recognition and translation.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Idoru
  More Ideas and Technology by William Gibson
  Tech news articles related to Idoru
  Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson

Computer Translator-related news articles:
  - LingoPhone Provides Mobile Translation

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