The article offers a perspective on EBMT from a statistical MT standpoint, by developing a three-dimensional MT model space based on three pairs of definitions: (1) logical versus statistical MT, (2) schema-based versus example-based MT, and (3) lexical versus compositional MT. Within this space the author considers the interplay of three key ideas in the evolution of transfer, example-based, and statistical approaches to MT. He depicts how all translation models face these issues in one way or another, regardless of the school of thought, and suggests where the real questions for the future may lie.