Voice activated software – programs that type what you speak into a microphone – saved me from embarrassment. A strange thing happens when you become used to writing with a computer with spell check, or at least it happened to me. My spelling skills went straight to perdition.
Spell checkers don't catch all mistakes, in fact, far from it. I was becoming more embarrassed at things that slipped through. And remembering all the rules for comma placement just ticks me right off.
So I got hold of a nifty program called Dragon Naturally Speaking made by Nuance Communications. I've used this kind of thing before, notably, the one that comes onboard Windows XP and, let me tell you, the frustration of teaching a piece of software to speak, from scratch, was way over my limit. I disconnected that quicker than a gigabite download. Having read the marketing info from Nuance, I was intrigued.
The Manufacturer Says
Dragon NaturallySpeaking never makes a spelling mistake, and it actually gets smarter the more you use it! You'll be dictating letters, documents and e-mails by voice right away! No script reading required to get started. We even include a full set of on-screen tutorials, and a Nuance approved noise-canceling microphone. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking Standard you can talk to your computer and watch words quickly appear in documents, e-mails, instant messages and even surf the web simply by speaking! It's amazingly accurate - up to 99% - and really easy to use. There's no script reading or "voice training" required, so you can get started dictating right away. Perfect for the whole family - busy parents, kids just learning to type, and even grandparents!
My Take On It
That isn't 100% true. I had to do some configuring. It asked questions in a wizard-like way. I had to read several short paragraphs into the microphone that came with the software. They were nothing like the reams of reading to be done with older generations of speech activated programs.
I knew quickly I'd probably never need a spell checker again. The thing really learns as I go, and I can add specific personal vocabulary pretty easily. It's user friendly and intuitive.
When I use Dragon, I mostly dictate, but sometimes just type in a sentence or something that is a bit out of the ordinary. I developed a rhythm, that works well for me - a combo of type and talk. I find, as time goes on, the program gets a little flakey.
It doesn't make mistakes, but it can start hanging for no particular reason that I can detect, and it's tough to get tech support from the maker. But if I reboot when the Dragon gets off track, I'm ok. I'm wondering if the sheer volume of use I give it is causing the trouble.
Noodling Around
Here's a paragraph I actually dictated with Dragon - its errors are in parentheses:
As a writer who writes thousands of words (za) day, I decided to polish my work with automation. I talk fast. I've been dictating into machines on-and-off for 30 years, back to the old Dictaphone('s). The Windows program was messed up, but Dragon seems pretty clever. It's intuitive - often the mistakes it makes come from confusion between my voice and loud, (shark) background noise. Once, it typed my dog barking when I sat quietly thinking about my next sentence. It didn't hear my voice, so it typed "art art art" - the sound it heard when my Yorkie went off.
Pretty much, the errors come when I slur words, run them together or mispronounce them. If I speak at a normal, unhurried pace, Dragon gets it. The only spelling errors I make now are when I choose to type. The program comes with text-to-voice capabilities, as well. It can read text aloud to you in a somewhat annoying voice – great for visually impaired users.
There are other programs, bu