[X4U] OS X Speech capabilities question

[Randy B.Singer]

Matt Gregory said:

>I was
>wondering if the built-in capabilities of OS X could be used to get a good
>baseline document which she could then verify/modify.


No, and voice recognition products such as iListen and ViaVoice won't 
work for this application either.  The best that is available at the 
present state of technology is a digital voice recorder/online 
transcription service combination that will work with your Mac.

The Olympus AS-2000 Transcription Kit and Olympus DS 660 Digital Voice 
Recorder (or similar) are probably what you want.  You can dictate and 
transfer the file directly to your computer via a USB cable. It works 
with Windows or Mac OS 9 or OS X. The transcription kit consists of the 
software, a foot pedal, and stereo headset. 

The advantages of digital (storage of dictation, internet transfer, 
digital to digital transfer, less to break than tape 
recorders/transcribers, etc.) make this a no-brainer.

Recordings to digital are much clearer than tape-based devices, and they 
are cheaper too.

For more information see:

<http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_vr_digitalrecorders.asp>
(Note that other Olympus models of digital video recorder are 
Macintosh-compatible, including the DS-2300, which can store dictation on 
removable flash-based chips.  Memory chip readers for the Mac are very 
inexpensive, and this is a very convenient way to transfer dictation from 
computer to computer.)

DS-660 information page:
<http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?l=1&bc
=11&p=25&product=922>

AS2000 Transcription Kit information page:
<http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?produc
t=1182>

You can e-maili your digital dictation file to an online dictation 
service.  I use, and recommend, this one:

Viva
http://www.vivacorporation.com/services.html






Randy B. Singer
Co-Author of: The Macintosh Bible (4th, 5th and 6th editions)

Routine OS X Maintenance and Generic Troubleshooting
http://www.macattorney.com/ts.html