Dragon Dictate: making blogging possible

As many of you may know blogging is not as easy for me as it used to be. Hopefully it’s not forever, but in the meantime Dragon Dictate is making it possible for me to continue to blog. It’s actually faster. Finally there’s a specific program for Mac that allows me to do this. So I thought I’d let you in on the secret.

Until recently using word recognition software on a Mac was chancy at best. The best in the business was Dragon NaturallySpeaking but that was just for PC. MacSpeech came close, but not close enough. It’s one of the reasons I always shied away from speech to text programs. But Nuance Communications, has come out with a program which is really an upgrade of MacSpeech called Dragon Dictate. I can’t speak for how it compares to Dragon NaturallySpeaking but for me it works great. After just a little bit of training about 5 min. the program works almost flawlessly. This post for instance, was dictated using Dragon Dictate 2.0. While for some it’s pricey (between $150 and $200 depending on where you buy), for me it’s well worth the price.

I thought you might want to read a portion of this review from wired.com. It pretty much sums up how I type, how I think when I write, and what it takes to adjust this kind of style to Dragon Dictate. Surprisingly it does a pretty good job of that.

Other than the odd transgression back into keyboard territory, how did I fare using Dragon versus manually typing? Well, one thing I discovered is that it’s difficult to undo several decades of conditioning. My creative process seems to be tied into the keyboard to a certain extent. If I’m at a loss for words while writing, I often simply start typing away with some nonsense and either the words start flowing, or I pick up on a thought, delete what I’ve written and start over. Not exactly efficient, but that’s how I roll. I found it less natural to dictate off on a tangent and that part of the creative writing process never really caught on. I’d just clam up and stare into space rather than engage in what felt dangerously like talking to myself. But when I came in with a definitive sense of what I was writing, with Dragon Dictate I could blow past my typing speed and churn out accurate copy remarkably quickly. The accuracy of the voice recognition really was quite impressive and one of the bonuses is that so long as the software guesses the correct word, it’s going to be spelled correctly. I’d often go a page without having any typos to correct and based on several months of use, I found that the claimed 99 percent accuracy rate wasn’t blowing smoke. The only time it would trip up for me was on the occasional “ladder” versus “latter” and other close sounding words. It did remarkably well with proper names (even the uncommon ones used in the manuscript) and acronyms, which is likely because I took the time to train the software with the manuscript that already contained instances of those words and letter combos. Basically, if I sat down and spent a few hours with the software, the dictation process became more natural, the commands became more natural and it hummed. Even when I’d start rapidly spitting out long and complex sentences, I never left the software behind. And I’ve really come to enjoy being able to sit comfortably in my chair, tilted back, hands behind my head, feet up and working productively. So much more relaxing than being hunched over a keyboard.

If you’re interested, Steve has provided us with the links to Amazon.com where I bought my DragonDictate. I’m still learning different commands, such as how to capitalize and how to delete text, but my guess is with a little practice I’ll be able to do this with lightning speed, which of course means I have more work ahead of me. I just thought you’d like to know.

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Jim Vicevich

Jim is a veteran broadcaster and conservative/libertarian blogger with more than 25 years experience in TV and radio. Jim's was the long-term host of The Jim Vicevich Show on WTIC 1080 in Hartford from 2004 through 2019. Prior to radio, Jim worked as a business and financial reporter for NBC30 - the NBC owned TV station in Hartford - and as business editor at WFSB-TV in Hartford for 14 years while earning six Emmy nominations and three Telly Awards.

7 Comments

  1. johnboy111 on March 26, 2011 at 10:36 pm

    new software seems to be working quite well for you..good luck and God bless



  2. Shared Sacrifice on March 26, 2011 at 11:04 pm

    The posts were so improved- and you credit software?? Seems like the work of a Springer Spaniel to me!



  3. winnie888 on March 27, 2011 at 12:32 am

    Great news, Jim…it's obviously working out quite well & it's super to have you posting again!  I'm guessing that it is not quite capable of the Vicevich spelling of "mobstahs" yet.  hee hee.



  4. Dimsdale on March 27, 2011 at 3:45 am

    Congrats, Jim!  It appears to be working nicely.

     

    Does it automatically edit out expletives when you drop a book on your toe?  😉



  5. RoBrDona on March 27, 2011 at 5:59 am

    A shining example of American ingenuity leading to both freedom and enhanced productivity.  It makes me happy, and I am glad for you, sir.



  6. Tim-in-Alabama on March 27, 2011 at 10:27 am

    Do they a version that dictates southern English.



    • winnie888 on March 28, 2011 at 12:20 am

      Tim, if not, they need to get right on that & git 'er done.



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