Computer Chit Chat

Work smarter and healthier with Dragon

Friday, October 10th, 2008

I’ve had to use a computer for work for over fifteen years now. It’s become a necessity in the office, helping in productivity, accuracy and potential. While there’s not a computer in every home yet I do think we’re heading in that direction. With people like myself working at least eight hours a day on the computer, I think companies need to look into ways to make computer use safer and healthier for employees.

Here’s a quick video showing Dragon in action.

Several years ago I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in both my right and left hands. After several cortisone shots didn’t help I ended up having to have the surgery on my right hand. In the past month or two my left hand has started flaring up a lot. By lunch my fingers would be turning numb and by the end of the day my hands burning in pain. I reopened the workers comp case and the doctor asked me to try physical therapy and refitting my work station. It was at this time that I realized that the software Dragon Naturally Speaking would not only be extremely beneficial for me but it could reshape the workplace as we know it if used on a widespread basis.Dragon Naturally Speaking is a speech recognition application that works with many of today’s popular applications. When paired with a noise cancelling microphone and headset, Dragon can transcribe your spoken word at a speed of about 150 words per minute. An average person only types about 40 words per minute. On a good day when I’m not in pain I can only type at about 65-70 words per minute, so it’s easy to see how Dragon could save a lot of time in an employee’s day and increase productivity. To get a glimpse of what I mean, try taking Dragon’s typing speed test! .

Dragon Naturally Speaking has been around for years and is known worldwide. Besides being a powerful piece of software, it is also the engine underneath the Macintosh software MacSpeech Dictate. Both of these products are ready to use out of the box with no expensive training.

I think that if companies offered use of a product such as Dragon they would end up saving money over time, not only because employees would be more productive but also because they could save money on some workers comp related expenses. Dragon would be a very useful tool for home computer users as well. Bloggers are a perfect example. Many bloggers such as myself spend a lot of time online - their blog is an online home of sorts and the internet and other bloggers are neighborhoods and communities.If a blogger used Dragon they’d be more productive, leaving them time to do other things (or blog some more). I’d save hours if I used this to work on my blogs. I can only imagine how nice it would be to sit back and talk instead of type. Check out video of Brett, a fellow blogger, using Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 outside. How cool is that!

I’d give just about anything to use Dragon. My Compaq desktop can’t run it, but my MacBook Pro could run the MacSpeech Dictate. Now all I have to do is save up the money.