1999: One of the greatest programs developed for the Windows platform is Voice Dictation. Voice Dictation is a program that types what you’re saying when you talk into a microphone attached to your computer. There were many programs on the market that do this: Dragon Naturally Speaking, ViaVoice, and many others. However, none of these programs had a Macintosh counterpart – until now.

Recently, IBM released its ViaVoice software for the Mac. Now we Mac users can have voice dictation! This nifty program comes with everything you need. It even comes with a microphone in all of the iMac colors! It’ll be sure to match your iMac.

ViaVoice is a very simple program too. At first, it won’t recognize every single word you say. You need to work with it for a while. But give the program time, and before you know it, it’ll understand you better than anyone else. ViaVoice has two built in features to get it to know you better. “Analyze my voice” lets the program learn your voice, while “analyze my documents” analyzes your documents to learn your writing style.

However, this program isn’t exactly cheap. If you want to order it off of IBM’s website, it costs $89.95.* It might not be the cheapest, but compared to other applications, it’s cheap when you consider what it comes with.

This program is a very useful one for many reasons. First, it’s good for people who are “hunt and peck” typists. Also, it can be extremely useful for people with limited use of their hands (people with carpal tunnel or arthritis, for example). Lastly, the coolest reason to have it is because it’s just plain cool!

Whether you’re buying ViaVoice for it’s coolness or helpfulness, it’s still a great buy.

For more information check out IBM’s site.

* ViaVoice is also available from Outpost.com for US$79.95

keywords: #viavoice #voicedictation #dictationsoftware