Of Dragon, MacSpeech, and Dictation

by Bakari Chavanu Feb 24, 2010

Over a year ago, I wrote a review of the speech recognition program, MacSpeech. The review was fairly favorable, and I’ve used the program off and on, but not nearly as much as I would like to. I’ll explain why in a minute.

Whatever criticism one may have of MacSpeech, it has consistently grown and expanded, now in it’s 1.5 version. It’s heavily marketed on websites and the company and product earned the coveted Macworld Best of Show Award in 2008. However, almost anytime you read a critical review of the program it’s usually compared to the similar Window’s program, Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The Window’s program has consistently gained high marks. The prolific writer and New York Times columnist, David Pogue has said many times how he uses the program to get most of his writing done.

I’ve never tried the Window’s version of Dragon, but I have downloaded and successfully used the FREE! iPhone/iPod touch versions of the program, Dragon and Dragon Search. And I have to say that both are awesome. I use Dragon to quickly dictate/write short emails and instant messages on my iPhone. It works faster than trying to type out text. And if you really must type something on your iPhone while driving, Dragon is the safest option. 



Dragon Search works similar to Google’s Voice search but it has expanded options for searching. When you launch it, you simply speak your word search and Dragon provides results on Google, Wikipedia, Twitter, YouTube, and the iTunes Store. The program includes the option for “Detect End-of-speech” which means after you speak your search will automatically begin without you having to tap the words. Done.  The mobile program is for English speakers only, but since Nuance provides its desktop version for different languages, I’m sure there will be in the near future updates to the mobile apps for other languages.

Nuance Acquires MacSpeech
Well, the good news announced this week is that Nuance, the makers of Dragon, has acquired MacSpeech. The latter program uses "Dragon’s speech recognition engine at its core,” but for some reason people who have used both programs have consistently said that Dragon is the superior program. If the iPhone version of Dragon mirrors the accuracy of the desktop version, then I would have to say that the comparison is warranted.

So it will be interesting to see what this acquisition will mean for the MacSpeech program. Will it be updated, overhauled, or totally replaced by Dragon? Nuance in its press release said that with the popularity of the forthcoming iPad and the proliferation of App Store apps, “It’s a perfect time for us to open Dragon’s doors to the Mac community!”

Speech recognition really is the next surge in computing, in my view. Download the Dragon apps and play with them for a few minutes and you’ll quickly see why speech recognition and navigation commands should be an integral part of the operating system for the Mac and Apple‘s leading portable devices. Apple has moved into the direction already, but with Nuance becoming part of the community, perhaps speech recognition and voice computer navigation will become as easy or easier than typing. MacSpeech doesn’t has the same or better command/controls for the Mac operating system, so I‘m sure that Nuance will be bring that technology to the program.

Bugs vs. Dictation
If you visit the MacSpeech support forums or read the reviews of the program on Amazon.com, you will notice that most of feedback and comments are critical of the program, while others have great success using it. In my experience, I’ve found MacSpeech to be buggy. I would love to write entire articles using the program, but it’s hard to edit writing using voice recognition and commands. You can become very frustrated when the program doesn’t recognize specific words, even after you attempt to train it. And there have been times when it wiped out entire paragraphs before I was able to save the document.

On the other hand, I‘ve learned that part of the problem is my lack of dictation skills. With voice recognition and dictation, you have to speak clearly and precisely in order for the program to work effectively.

Voice recognition can be extremely fast for typing and making commands on your computer. An entire dictated sentence can be typed in about a second. No problem. But you’ll find that your ability to process what you want to say may take time. Typing with your hands provides the opportunity to think as you write. With voice dictation, you need to think before you talk, not while you talk.

 There’s also other versions of MacSpeech designed for medical, legal, and international language users. So if you’re thinking about dropping $150-$200 go ahead, as long as you don't expect perfection.

Comments

  • He is just happened to be the wrong man in a wrong place to me. I am sure he did not mean to be that way, but the facts are he’s being such a difficult person to deal with and this may related with him being so arrogant person when he’s mad.  Adventure Travel

    MojakoLie had this to say on Jun 17, 2011 Posts: 2
  • I know that he must have been considered very successful for the role he has been playing as a good pianist. And this shows in the appreciate shown by Sony Entertainment which offers him a good long term contract.  Used wedding dresses

    JamuraNerk had this to say on Jun 18, 2011 Posts: 1
  • I want to improve the distribution information and make sure the deserved to be informed will be well versed with all possible information related with this bird flu disease. H1N1 is something we have to deal with carefuly.  molduras de fotos

    SolaniPola had this to say on Jun 19, 2011 Posts: 1
  • I can see this could also a good chance for people or bloggers in many other countries to learn on how to deal the best webhosting providers in the world. All these things can be done through online services. Office Furniture

    KanyaDews had this to say on Jun 20, 2011 Posts: 1
  • I wish there is another comprehensive explanation and outline for us to understand in much more simple way and terminology for common people who do not have medical education background like us would be able to understand the content.  water bottle labels

    MarikaDeso had this to say on Jun 21, 2011 Posts: 1
  • The storage is important for any database which is dynamic and growing. Without proper storage, the database will be flown up with so many information and this can get the system properly hang.  premature ejaculation treatment

    MikahPolia had this to say on Jun 23, 2011 Posts: 1
  • I wish that I can join the parade of bloggers who have been using this webhosting for their main purpose. I have read many good things about them and I feel that we can make things even better with their support.  sexshop

    AlbertDiaz had this to say on Jun 23, 2011 Posts: 1
  • Internet has been so important for today’s marketing because there are more and more people looking for information in the internet rather than in conventional media like newspaper anymore and this creates huge numbers of opportunities.
    Corum

    LovingYo had this to say on Jun 23, 2011 Posts: 2
  • I know there are things we can do to improve the quality of the product. I think there are many things we can do to improve the quality. I do hope there are more innovations in the short coming future.  Afghanistan

    RudolphAlpa had this to say on Jun 23, 2011 Posts: 2
  • I do wish the senat and house of representative would be given clear mind before they take any important decision related with the things we have this time. I know there are things to do here.  Miami rhinoplasty

    NamarJong had this to say on Jun 24, 2011 Posts: 1
  • One may need to have adequate knowledge in medical to be able to stay a bit longer in this website because of the heavy uses of medical related terms, terminologies and jargons. This should be improved by translating to plain english.  ping online accounting

    BingoJerk had this to say on Jun 24, 2011 Posts: 1
  • I have been read your review on MacSpeech and this review was really great and from then I was looking for your another post.Today I have got it.I think this is as good as the previous and for that a special thanks from the director of sundance spa covers

    bandor had this to say on Jul 09, 2011 Posts: 5
  • He is just happened to be the wrong man in a wrong place to me. I am sure he did not mean to be that way, but the facts are he’s being such a difficult person to deal with and this may related with him being so arrogant person when he’s mad Pass4sure F50-533 , HP0-J39 , Pass4sure HP0-M36 , HP2-H08 , 000-037 , 000-119 , 000-152

    Mathew david had this to say on Jul 17, 2011 Posts: 37
  • He is just happened to be the wrong man in a wrong place to me. I am sure he did not mean to be that way, but the facts are he’s being such a difficult person to deal with and this may related with him being so arrogant person when he’s mad buy discount watches | cheap designer watches|

    Mathew david had this to say on Jul 26, 2011 Posts: 37
  • Thanks for sharing! I’m glad to see all the efforts being put in place! website design orlando

    Orlando Golf Club had this to say on Aug 03, 2011 Posts: 8
  • Page 1 of 2 pages  1 2 >
You need log in, or register, in order to comment