[MV] Re: Panther, ViaVoice & iListen

[JSenecal at aol.com]

>I appreciate this list, and I'm sure that iListen is doing their best. I am
>sorry to hear that iListen customers are still having a tough time with
>dictation accuracy, (personally that's what I care about - over commands).
>Since ViaVoice is in dire need of an upgrade, simply to keep up with new
>operating systems, this means that iListen seems to be our only hope for the
>future at this point.

I was using ViaVoice to write programs. Over time, I developed a large 
number of custom macros to make this posible, and then more and more 
convienent. ViaVoice worked, and worked well. But when iListen 1.6 was 
realeased, I switched to using iListen, even though it meant I had to 
create a different large set of custom macros. This was before ViaVoice 
stopped working on my machines, so it wasn't a forced switch.

What made the difference for me was the abilty to correct in any 
application. With ViaVoice, I either had to dictate into Speakpad, then 
cut and paste (which had some problems with code) or dictate straight 
into the program, and make frequent corrections for the mistakes. I did a 
mixture of both, plus "training sessions" where I'd say the same word or 
phrase into speakpad over and over again till it could recognize it. 
Being able to combine training with coding has been valuable.

For me, iListen's correction is predictable. Sometimes I know that 
correction is going to scramble text slightly, because of extra 
characters added by my editor. I just apply the correction, then fix the 
scrambled text. But I found that I no longer need to commit corrections 
before before moving the cursor and dictating somewhere else, I just need 
to be careful to make any corrections to the just dictated text before I 
move the cursor. And with all the cursor movement macros I've added, 
moving the cursor (in command mode) works well. I can't say select <text> 
like in speak pad, but I can say things like "Up 3 lines", "Left 2 
words", "Select Right 4 words".

I haven't noticed any significant difference in accuracy between the two 
programs, however iListen has been learning while I work, where ViaVoice 
I had to go out of my way to train. But then I'm using a microphone that 
neither lists as supported, and to make it worse I have it plugged into 
the keyboard. One of these days I'll get a supported Microphone and see 
how that works.

Now my experiences are different than most, programming is very different 
than normal dictation, and is not something that either program is 
desigend for. I occasionally use dictation for text messages, but usually 
just type those.

Joe Senecal