OT Spam about speach recognition program Naturally Speaking

Have you had good luck with that program? My record in using dictation software is uniformly dismal. Every few years I buy one and go through the 'training' process. The programs always produce great quality gibberish. I speak with a midwestern USA'n accent that works good on the phone with others so I don't think it's me. (But I wouldn't of course.)

Don't worry, it will be soon.

--Winston

The new one is a whole lot better. I've used 6.0 and 9.0. You don't even have to teach 9.0 much at all.

-- Ed Huntress

I just ordered the program on line with the free shipping. So it will be a few days before I can report on how well it does with my drawl.

Dan

(Stuff about Dragon Dictate software)

Ed, can I safely leap to the conclusion that 9.0 is usable?

• Captures speech to text with a minimum of errors?

• If given multiple choices, inserts the word that makes sense in the syntax of the balance of the text?

• Provides a useful alternative to the keyboard?

--Winston

I look forward to your review!

Thanks.

--Winston

• Yes

• No, in my limited experience with it

• Yes

I'm waiting to upgrade my computer before installing it. I used the earlier version for a year and liked it quite a lot. I have used the new version only on my wife's computer, where she loaded it only in order to do a research paper on it.

The new one made *very* few errors, right from the start. I articulate fairly well but I get the impression from other people who have used it that it doesn't depend upon careful articulation like the earlier versions did.

The big variable in terms of usefulness is what you intend to write with it. If it's simple or formulaic notes, letters, and so on, it is very useful. I find that it takes a lot of practice to be able to speak in a way that produces articles for publication. Other people who write commercially and use speech recognition disagree; they got used to it in a month or two and now write with it. I just go back and forth too much for that, which I can do easily with a keyboard.

People with disabilities learn to use its many features and have as much control as you and I have with a keyboard. If you don't have a handicap that makes it hard for you to type, you'll probably arrive at a hybrid process of speaking text and editing at the keyboard, as I did with the earlier version.

It will pay you back for the effort you put into mastering it. If you want it to work and you have some patience, it will work. If you're a skeptic and you wait for it to prove itself to you, it probably won't.

-- Ed Huntress

(...)

Thank you, Ed.

--Winston

Ed Huntress wrote: ...

Well put. I don't know if it's true or not, but it's very nicely written. The whole reply was nicely written - it's a pleasure to read a reply like that, especially in this time of lazy writers whose text is a struggle to just understand.

Thanks Ed, Bob

I don't remember which program it was, but about five years ago one of the speech recognition programs came with my new computer. I was quite surprised how accurate it was after about ten minutes of training.

However, I found that I could type as fast as I could talk, and had to do spelling checks in EITHER case. The program was not smart enough to recognize which homonym was which based on context.

I ordered it online yesterday, around 3:30 EST - it just arrived! Wow - that's MSC-class delivery speed. Now to play with it.

Bob

(...)

That is still a huge improvement over my experience with speech recognition software.

--Winston

According to the on line tracking, my package was at the local UPS at

Dan

We had a thread within memory on sci.language.translation, a group whose trade is words. The drift was very positive--and that from people who deal in more than one language with the complexity that entails.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

Before anyone runs out for the Staples $50 rebate, it is only available to upgraders---which the ad failed to mention.

Regards,

Edward Hennessey

Why do you say that? I have the rebate form in my hands and it doesn't say that.

Bob

I played with it on a 75MHZ OS/2 box years ago. It was workable then so I have to believe it has improved over time.

'Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing' might have similar benefits. I'm stuck at 36 WPM.

Wes