So I've been away from this blog for a while. I had pretty bad Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand. I've had it for about 12 months or so, with no sign of it really getting any better, despite various therapies such as physiotherapy, acupuncture, shiatsu massage and many other probably slightly crackpot therapies that I don't really care to mention.
In any case, several weeks ago I was at the local supermarket and his kid behind the counter who couldn't have been more than about 17, asked me what was wrong with my hand. When I explained to him what Carpal Tunnel was, the kid said that he got sore thumbs often from playing computer games. Of course, I gave him a big ‘mum’ lecture about how he only has two hands and he should really reconsider his compulsive computer game playing.
The kid asked me what I did as a job, and I quite dismally answered I'm a writer so this is pretty much the worst thing that could ever happen. So the kid looks at me and he says “Are you kidding, I mean, nobody types anymore!' And I'm thinking ‘Nobody types anymore?” Are YOU kidding!? So then this kid tells me about this voice recognition software called Dragon.
He says all you have to do is turn on your computer and open Microsoft Word and start talking and the computer starts typing words for you. Now I’d already heard about this kind of software. In fact, my brother was investigating for me at the time. But to hear this young kid spout about it like it was the new ipad, really gave me hope.
Fast forward one month and here I am sitting at my computer with a headset on dictating this to you in my first use of the Dragon Software. I've got to admit it really is pretty amazing. It's going to take some getting used to and looking back on this document I can see a few mistakes and a few assumptions the programs made about my speech patterns and vernacular. But I'm here blogging and writing - not in the traditional way but hey, I'm all into folding. Oh - the program seems to have typed I'm into folding as opposed to evolving.
Well, you know what they say, practice makes perfect.
So what about you? Are you one of those plebs who still uses your hands to write? Because if that kid behind the supermarket checkout counter is right, spoken word is the new written word, and that just might be the kind of world that I'm prepared to live in.
& my not-so-secret plan for world literary domination
oh wow...i need to find this...how cool is that...save the hands!
ReplyDeleteI've often thought it would be interesting to work with something like that. Speed up the prose work no end. Thanks for the pocket review...information useful!
ReplyDeleteHow cool is that - haha - I knew there was some software out there but not sure what. In the autism world the kids who can't speak at all are typing in their ipads and the spoken word comes out, which is the opposite of what you are talking about. These new technologies are fantastic for people with disabilities.
ReplyDeleteThe world turns. Faster, it seems, all the time. We are experiencing, no, living, a revolution in language, an evolution in thought. We are creating a bridgework of new synapses everyday. I think we are lucky, no…given a gift.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've seen it in schools for students with writing/hearing problems and it's pretty impressive. I imagine editing with it could be fidgety?
ReplyDeleteHaha, when I first got this laptop I was so excited about the voice recognition software. My housemate and I spent fifteen minutes shouting "dildo" at it and it just wouldn't compute.
ReplyDelete