I think we'd all agree that if everyone was fluent in sign it would be superior. But for folks who are (also) part of the hearing community they're going to have to interact with non-signers regularly. Having some tech to support those kind of interactions would be great.
I agree that meaning can get lost using an app/service like that, and sign can convey more, but it's just not always a possibility. It takes time to learn, and a long time to become fluent. Something like this would be a great stop-gap, or useful when communicating with non-signers who rarely communicate with Deaf.
