[MV] Re: ViaVoice vs. iListen

[Harry Dragoni Harness]

> At 8:45 AM -0700 6/19/03, John Foster wrote:
>>>         MacVoice, Speech Recognition List Digest #686
>>> 
>>> Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 23:25:09 +1000
>>> From:
>>> Subject: [MV] Re: ViaVoice vs. iListen
>> 
>> It makes me truly sad to see Via Voice snapped up and sat on a shelf
>> perhaps to languish. Both companies involved are of course wanting
>> to sell in large quantities to major buyers, so do not hold your
>> breath for any upgrades
>> 
>> In case any of you missed it, please look at the similar situation
>> of Dragon software as described on:
>> 
>>> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.02/code.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=
>>> 
>> 
>> For as long as they can keep the struggle up, the folks producing
>> iListen seem to be the only hope for the individual user. I do hope
>> that the new Mac OS being offered this week does not require more
>> resources than Andrew Taylor (Founder/CTO of MacSpeech,
>> Inc.<http://www.macspeech.com>) can reasonably deploy and still stay
>> in business.
>> 
>> The struggle to have a software package for individual users may be,
>> at this point, somewhat Quixotic. Maybe so, But I for one have found
>> that the release of version 1.61 for Mac OSX is certainly the best
>> game in town. Give it a try if you have not done so recently. One
>> sale at a time, hey even one upgrade at a time, may just keep
>> Andrew's corporate ship afloat long enough for us all to happy in
>> the long term.
>> 
>> Have a nice day
>> 
>> John
> 
> Well, maybe it is time to "toot my own horn" (and vent a little).
> 
> [warning: Rant on]
> 
> This puts a spotlight on why speech recognition on the Macintosh is
> in the state it is in. "Big business" makes its decisions based on
> "big numbers" that they haven't found in the Macintosh market. Since
> 1993, when I got interested in speech recognition at Articulate
> Systems, this has been a passion for me. I have tried to create a
> great product that was also worthwhile for investors to invest in (no
> pay back, no money!). I learned what needed to be done, planned a
> series of products, and have been struggling against the "Powers that
> be" to get it done ever since. Name a company and they have probably
> done as much to put us out of business as they have to help
> (fortunately there were some non-obvious exceptions that made a
> difference). Net result - iListen is still not what it should be and
> not what it could have been, ViaVoice is what it is and Dragon
> Naturally Speaking was announced but never showed up on the Macintosh
> (but they certainly caused me heartburn and investment troubles for
> that time period). Despite all this, we have made progress and we
> have a product that people want to buy. There is still more to be
> done and given the opportunity, we will do it. To have that
> opportunity, MacSpeech has to sell product. So when the next "big
> company" shows up in the Macintosh speech recognition market, either
> be prepared to generate "BIG numbers" for them so they stay or ignore
> them and keep MacSpeech afloat and growing so you continue to have
> future enhancements to speech recognition on the Macintosh. Someday
> we need to be able to pay back the investors that got us this far as
> well as obtain new investment to continue to enhance our products.
> Passion for the Mac, the product and the technology is why I do this,
> cash makes it possible. It is really up to you, the Macintosh
> community, who will decide whether you want a company focused on
> Macintosh through thick and thin, or a Windows transplant that comes
> and goes, independent of your wants and needs. If you want MacSpeech
> and Macintosh focused companies like us, it would help to constantly
> make Apple aware that is preferable to a "big name Windows
> transplant".
> 
> Thanks for your support, apologies to those who feel that this post
> wasted their time. No flames to the list please.
> 
> (now back to coding!)

Thanks for reminding us - the Mac faithful to support our own - even when it
may be more convenient in the short term to use some of the "Evil Empires"
wares do to their greater R&D budget. Mac will never deliver the raw numbers
that a PC product will.

I'll give you an opportunity to build  your company and your dream, and
maybe in time when the IBM's of the world have left us for greener pastures
you'll be there for the rest of us.
Thank You
Harry