I am coming today too. Just thought I would finally show some support for you and Lloyd.

Cheers
Roger

Getting passed the cumbersome method of navigating with voice (”Computer alt eff four”) wasn’t too difficult and actually became quite enjoyable.

But there were three major pitfalls.

1) Talking punctuation and style really breaks the flow of concentration. “Bob comma I computer bold really computer bold off think that you like computer italic Alice computer italic off exclamation point new line.”

2) Talking to yourslef just feels weird. It’s only socially acceptable to talk into a bluetooth headset because people know there4 a person at the other end. Try talking to your computer in a fairly public office. Even if you ignore the confidentiallity or privacy of what you’re “writing”, the social stigma is hard to bear.

3) You *have* to modulate your spoken style to make it easy to read. Just try reading some transcripts of interview or Hansard. “Yes, we’ll, er, that that that’s a pretty good, y’know kinda, point sorta about the coffee that we’re sorry tea thing that we isn’t it?”
If you’re in the same conversation as me, that makes sense to hear – seeing it written down somehow destoys all the meaning. This either means that you prepare everything you’re going to say – and sound like a twat – or never read uncorrect transcripts.

Text to speach may well be a stop-gap for searchable voice. If I’m searching for the conversation when you promised me a pony for my birthday, it’s much more powerful to have that conversation replayed rather than transcribed. I think it provides much more solid “evidence”.

What does my voice look like? A smei-coherant rambling of conflicting tenses and idea that is best understood by a human :-y

(Typed on a Blackberry while in the pouring rain. All spelling mistaked are intended ironically)

Jeb