Dragons Easy to Use but Dictation is an Acquired Skill

After upgrading my Mac with Snow Leopard, the first application I installed was Dragon Dictate.

I was poised to reanimate my writing, inspired by those Dragon TV ads that turn creativity's steep, craggy path into a flume ride of imagination.

The truth is, speaking requires less energy than typing and voice recognition gets words down faster. But dictation proficiency takes time.

I learned this last month when interviewing Colleen Hendry, a senior product manager for Nuance Communications. Hendry, who develops both Dictate and NaturallySpeaking, called dictation a "new paradigm;" one that's improved her writing by forcing her to think before she speaks.

I thought using Dragon would be easy. I often ramble into my Victor Reader Stream, excising exuberance during transcription. But seeing words words appear as I speak raises the bar.

I simultaneously feel less humble in my musings, while a gnawing responsibility quells me into mild mutterings.

I saw immediately what Colleen Hendry meant. I look forward to increased productivity from Dragon, but getting comfortable with dictation is step one.