Re: Mac users no longer have to be mute!

In article
<noneof-5EE046.21045021042008@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Mark Conrad <noneof@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hallelujah - Mac users no longer have to be mute!

We no longer have to use our fingers, toes, elbows,
to poke those infernal keyboard buttons.

We no longer have to memorize scores of confusing key
combination "shortcuts" to open applications, or navigate
around those applications.

Apple has long prided themselves on being the more intuitive
operating system. What could be more intuitive than speaking?

Over the years, Apple, being innovative, has made various
unsuccessful attempts to use speech, which never "caught on"
with actual Mac users.

The success of us humans as a species has been largely due to
our power of speech.

Take away speech, what do you have, just another animal
that grunts and makes other obnoxious noises.

Imagine trying to design spacecraft to go to the other planets,
before that large meteor obliterates life on earth.

Let us "sit in" on a typical muted design session:

"grunt, ugh, oof, snort, belch, fart."

Not much design will get done!


Keyboards would not help much, which key do we hit for "grunt"?


That has all changed now, thanks to MacSpeech.

We will soon be able to talk directly to our Mac, just as if it
were another person. Star Trek is about to arrive, for real.

Already, with the present beta version of "MacSpeech Dictate",
we can talk to our Mac, get it to respond to us, provided we
remember to talk to our Mac as if it were a not-too-bright
seven year old child.

That will change.

Later this year, after MacSpeech has had a chance to create the
necessary updates, we will be able to throw complex speech at
our Mac like: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis and
have our Mac comprehend that speech enough to convert it to text.

(that word represents a condition caused by
inhaling the silica dust from volcanoes)

So should we buy the present "unfinished" version of
"MacSpeech Dictate"? Being it costs a hefty $200

I think so. It will take you a while to get on board with
using speech recognition. Meanwhile, you will discover many
time saving uses for the technology, to assist you in your
everyday use of your Mac.


A very good upbeat review of MacSpeech Dictate is here:

<http://victormedina.typepad.com/>

(go about two-thirds of the way down
that page to find the "MacSpeech Dictate Review")

He even lists the bad features of the present version.

FWIW, there is a "workaround" for the bad feature he was
so concerned about, namely the bug he says:
"Specifically, it has a quirky little bug that copies text
after an insertion point somewhere higher in the document
and places it at the end of wherever you resume dictating."

If anyone is interested, I will post the workaround.

Mark-

Why not post it here?

I noticed that my frame of mind changed significantly when trying speech
recognition. You're right. We should persist. Its worth it because
you think a little differently when verbalizing compared to typing. I
think you may use more right brain (creative) side thinking as well when
freed from the keyboard more. And its possible as well that even the
mouse uses more of the right brain than the keyboard. I wonder if there
has been any test of that. I've read that many creative people have
their best ideas when using pencil and paper. Later when they are
refining their ideas they opt to use a computer. But initially,
creativity and problem solving seem to be better away from the computer.

I wonder if others have experienced the same thing: that their best
ideas rarely come when sitting in front of the monitor.
.