Dragon Naturally Speaking — Part II

Like others, the earlier versions of Dragon left me complacent. I type very quickly and feel I have greater control using the typing modality.

However, I recently went to version 8 (standard), purchased a much better microphone (AcousticMagic) for about $250 and engaged a consultant to set up the system for me. Voila! Everything works nicely now. The real issue is the training of the system with your voice. And this is an on-going process. The more perfection you want, the more time you must spend in the training process. The more you are willing to accept the result as either a draft or as a version that your secretary can clean up later, the more pleased you will be with less training effort.

The total out-of-pocket cost, including the consultant, approaches $2,000. Well worth the cost. The real cost, however, as always, is your time in the training process. No one can do this but you …. And whether this is a valuable use of your time is dependent on the factors mentioned above as well as your own personality, your need for this modality and your level of patience/perfection.

Categorized in: Management