Windows 2 Apples Episode 13

Windows 2 Apples Episode 13

Good morning, good afternoon or evening as the case may be. This is Sam Caldwell with the Windows 2 Apples podcasts episode 13.

Today, I’ll revisit iListen speech to text software and reveal a compelling reason to install Vista on your Mac.

In episode 11, I offered my impressions of the Mac based iListen and compared it to DragonDictate from Nuance. Dragon sets the bar for consumer speech recognition software but unfortunately it’s not available for OS X. Chuck Rogers, the "Chief Evangelist" for MacSpeech, Inc. responded with a comment now posted in my blog. Rogers claimed that iListen "can be every bit as accurate” as Dragon but "it takes more effort to get there.”

He graciously offered to replace the defective handset shipped with my iListen software and recommended I contact MacSpeech support for tips on training iListen. In the pursuing e-mails I offered to continue training iListen. Training speech to text software requires the user read a series decidedly boring “stories” back to the program.

Nuance claims version 9 of DragonDictate requires very little training for it to be useful. This is very significant advancement given the real investment in speech recognition software is the time spent training and learning to use the product. I had invested well over a week training iListen without any noticeable improvement.

After completing all but the last training session, I reported to Rogers I saw no improvement. His e-mail reply was "believe it or not, the lack of accuracy is probably at least partially due to having read most of the training stories". My blood boiled as I read his words. I had spent a great deal of time training iListen only to discover that it was waste of time and possibly counter productive!

I expressed my anger and frustration to Rogers who replied "there is no need to get angry - it is just software." This added fuel to the fire. The major cost was not in the software but my time. To Rogers' credit he offered the services of his support team with the assurance iListen could in fact become a useful tool.

Shortly after contacting MacSpeech a new headset and USB interface arrived along with detailed instructions on how to record data to be analyzed by the Mac speech support team. The USB interface is the same device shipped with the original package. The headset appears to be higher-quality than the original.


When the replacement headset arrived, I was snowed under with work and had returned to using DragonDictate on my XP computer. Quite frankly, I was not anxious to read any more stories to my Mac but decided to give it one more chance to prove its worth. After forwarding the test data to the MacSpeech support team I was congratulated on achieving 92% accuracy and assured accuracy would be enhanced by reading the last and longest story.

Another hour spent reading to my Mac and MacSpeech support said the second test sample showed I was now achieving accuracies of 95%. I did notice some improvement and was encouraged; unfortunately, this new found hope evaporated quickly when I discovered whatever gains I made disappeared the next time I picked up the headset. Granted, DragonDictate is not 100% accurate however it is consistent in the kinds of mistakes it makes. I have not seen this kind of consistency in iListen.

I am far too spoiled by DragonDictate to continue investing more time in “training” iListen. After all, the purpose of speech to text software is to enhance productivity and I feel an additional investment of time would be wasted. I wish MacSpeech well in refining their software but after experimenting with the speech to text engine bundled with Vista I now realize I have new options.

Let me explain:

On a lark I decided to tinker with the voice recognition software shipped with Vista and to my surprise I was extremely impressed! Did I say extremely …no, let me make that profoundly impressed as in blown away. Not only is it intuitive and easy to use but it is almost as accurate as my well trained DragonDictate. I had heard this was a hidden gem in Vista and I agree.

Training Vista to type as you speak is extremely simple and for a Microsoft program the interface is uncharacteristically intuitive, beautifully designed and user-friendly. Imagine that, an intuitive Microsoft application that just plain works. I'm sure Apple users would feel very comfortable with it. One can only fantasize how the world would change if the Vista speech recognition development team were allowed to reengineer the operating system.

The sophistication and exquisite implementation of the Vista speech recognition software is only superseded by Microsoft's negligence in not taking advantage of it to promote Vista. A demonstration of the software illustrating how easy it is to take control of your PC, using a simple headset, would make one very impressive commercial. I'm sure, even if the potential customers had no intention of using speech recognition technology they would be impressed. It definitely has the cool factor so characteristic of Apple products.

If Microsoft ever decides to really market this technology, they could become the company setting the bar for speech recognition. The folks at Nuance should be sweating blood but I suspect they are relieved most Vista users don't know they no longer need DragonDictate.

I am reconsidering my options. Perhaps, I will simply purchase Parallels or Fusion and install Vista on the Macintosh. This is a particularly attractive option now that I no longer feel the need to install Dragon as well.


On a related topic:

I’ve recently discovered the New York Times technology columnist, David Pogue, felt DragonDictate was such an exceptional product that he highlighted it at the Technology Entertainment and Design conference (TED) in 2006. I highly recommend you visit the TED site at http://ted.com and watch his informative and entertaining presentation.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/7

Windows 2 Apples Episode 12

Windows 2 Apples Episode 12

Since my 1st few episodes, I’ve been complaining Apple took the only external WebCam for the Mac off the market, leaving many of its customers shackled to the built-in cam or no cam at all. No more iSights to be found … except on eBay - at eye-popping prices.

A few days after un-boxing my Mac, I began my search for an external webcam. I wanted the flexibility I’ve had with all of my PCs. I can almost guarantee when you walk into your favorite technology store and read the labeling on the 10 or 15 different WebCams crowding their shelves, you’ll not find that Mac friendly logo anywhere. A quick web search proves I am not alone in this quest.

Microsoft to the rescue! For several weeks forum postings suggested that the $40 WebCam designed for the Xbox 360 was compatible with Macs running OS 10.4. I didn’t run out and buy because I was still mystified why this device would work when none of the other three or four USB WebCams laying around me have never been recognized by my iMac. But …the testimonials proved very persuasive. I knew I could lay my hands on an XBox WebCam at my local Circuit City and in 30 minutes was back home staring at their packaging … wondering if I would be shedding blood over this one.

I’m not really violent by nature. But I do think I could get close to being driven to murder each and every time I try to open one of those hermetically sealed, heavy plastic packages that almost invariably put me at risk of stabbing myself as try to cut, hack or saw my way in to retrieve what’s rightfully mine. If you are able to hack your way into one of these packages from hell you have to be able see the sense humor of final coup de grace when you read the fine print on on the warranty “return in original packaging”!

Once into the package and camera retrieved, I simply plug it in to my external powered USB hub, click on iChat, and then the camera icon and presto I have two options … built-in iSight or video camera. My iMac has eyes! Of course the Microsoft XBox webcam follows the design convention of the day with a circular green LED light at the base of the lens which glows when active. I’m pleasantly surprised at the quality of the video, even though it has that familiar ocean wave distortion of the picture is you move the camera.

When testing the manual focus of the XBox Live Vision, I noticed I was seeing a mirrored image of the keys on my keyboard. I rub my eyes surely this can’t be true. Now I’m swamped with fear I’ve screwed up some mysterious iMac setting. To my great relief I realize I have my trusty external FireWire backup. I boot from my relatively pristine disk image and still find iChat and Skype images are mirrored! To make sure I’m not losing it, I turn on my trusty XP focus the Logitech cam on text and keyboard … no mirrored image here. By now I’m breaking out in a sweat. How could you use a camera when the image is mirrored? What a mess it would be trying to show or capture a PC board layout or heaven forbid part number!

Luckily, I have a long time Mac user only a few houses away. I put on my shoes and tramp down to his house where he quickly demonstrates when using his external iSight cam the text is also mirrored. He assures me this is so the person on the other end viewing your cam will see the picture correctly. He even made an iChat call to demonstrate his friend could read his business card. The work around for this problem is found on the ecamm website and comes to you as a little application called iGlasses.

This has never been an issue in the PCs I’ve used. The image was always correctly presented on my end as well as the receiving end. Back home now, I go immediately to the ecamm website and download the trial version of iGlasses. Just as advertised, it not only allows me to flip my mirrored image so that it’s correctly displayed on my screen but also to adjust color, white balance, hue and even zoom in and out. I recommend the $9 iGlasses utility to all Mac owners frustrated with the lack of control over internal camera settings. It is a must have, if you are using an external USB cam.

Of course, Apple assumes you are quite happy with the internal iSight camera and don’t give you the option to choose from multiple sources of webcam video in many of their apps. You have to trick the iMac by first running a program like Photo Booth to tie up your iSight cam before using your external cam in iMovie 08 or 6 …. annoying, but at least a simple workaround.

iSight forums postings claim the current crop of WebCams specified as UVC compliant are plug and play compatible with most of 10.4 Macintosh video capture programs. I’ve not tried this with the UVC cams from Logitech but may check one out and report back on my adventure. So thank you Microsoft for filling in the gaping hole left by Apple when it pulled the iSight.

Windows 2 Apples Episode 11

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Before commenting on a few of the new iLife applications, I want to take a few moments to express a frustration I'm sure I share with many other Windows users who are shifting to Mac.

As I look at the options available to me in the Mac world I’m constantly confronted with the reality that many of the applications and programs I have become dependent upon are simply not available or are in very early stages of development. Hopefully, the new-found popularity of the Apple brand in computers will help reduce this divide.

Case in point ... Over the years I have experimented with voice recognition software and until the last year or so have always been frustrated by the very poor performance of speech to text products. Finally, when version 8 of Dragon Dictate was released for the Windows platform I felt I had finally found a product that was reliable enough to use on a daily basis. Version 9 is has proven to be in exceptional improvement over the previous versions and I have become dependent upon it it. Dragon not only saves me and others from my poor typing but also allows me to proof read using the built-in text to speech synthesizer.

When I purchased the iMac one of the first programs I looked for was an equivalent to Dragon Dictate. The only application that seemed to offer similar functionality was iListen marketed by MacSpeech. I have been spoiled by Dragon and find using iListen reminiscent of the early days struggling with Dragon Dictate as it evolved into a useful and reliable product. iListen is so inaccurate and poorly implemented it is almost useless. On top of that the headset is poorly constructed with the microphone constantly falling off the headset. For those of you considering iListen, I would recommend postponing your purchase until a product at least as good as Dragon Dictate becomes available for the Mac platform.

Webcams Revisited :

Some of you may remember my early rants about the lack of external webcams available for Macintosh. My concern was in locating one that would enable me to record scenes not directly in front of the built-in iSight Webcam. While listening to a recent Leo Laporte tech podcast, a caller complained that his niece had broken his only external iSight webcam and he could not find a replacement webcam that was guaranteed to work with the iMac. Laporte suggested a creative labs model that was known to work with some Macs and in the same breath suggesting there could be issues in using it with Macs already equipped with built-in webcams.

I still don’t understand why Apple removed the iSight from the market given the limitations of the built-in webcam and the need to support users who’s external iSight cameras die. This continues to be the major issue for me and I live in hope that Apple will offer a replacement for the now prematurely extinct external iSight cam.

Too much of furry and rattling of chains for me not to make a few comments on last weeks unveiling of new iPods and the infamous iPhone devaluation!

When the iPhone was released I was more impressed by the iPod than cell phone features. I rarely need or use my cell phone. I have never sent or received text messages , never used it to bore my friends the latest photos of my beloved cat nor used it to play games. Perhaps you can understand why I found it hard to imagine paying $600 for a phone and many hundreds more over a two year contract with AT&T. However, I suspect I am not your typical cell phone customer.

The decision to drop the price makes excellent business sense but $200 did seem a bit much given it had only been in folks pockets two months and the unique historically rock solid price stability of other Apple products. iPods have traditionally maintained their introductory price much longer than products from competitors. I have never seen significant vendor to vendor discounts on iPods. In deed, the almost total lack of price differences between retailers has the look, smell and feel of good old fashion price fixing but I assume there is simply no incentive to discount iPods while they dominate and to a large extent define that market.

The day the new iPod Touch was introduced, I immediately placed an order assuming I could use it to test our video podcasts and get a feel for how they would play on iPhones as well as the new iPod. However, after the impressive and precipitous price drop in the iPhone I pulled my order ... preferring to wait and see. In the mean time I will survey friends with iPhones and Touch iPods to get feedback on our video netcasts.

Now to iLife 08 ... I continue to be an enthusiastic fan of GarageBand. The Magic GarageBand feature is to me more educational than truly useful. I have created several projects just to examine the final mix and to experiment with a few tweaks. Perhaps, one day I will plug in my Yamaha Electric cello and have a go at creating music with a more personal touch. The ability to easily save files in MP3 as well as the Apple ACC formats is worth the price of admission. GarageBand continues to set the standard for an easy to use, yet “well endowed” audio recorder and mixer. Excellent for producing netcasts ... both audio and video.

Seems Apple can produce boos as loud and frenetic as the wows. The new iMovie has heated up more than a few blogs, product reviews and podcasts. I had waited to edit videos on my Mac until the release of the 08 version assuming it would be an enhanced iMovie 06. Of course it is no such thing but rather an effort to create a simple, user friendly tool for quickly assembling compilations of home video clips.

My first attempt at using it were frustrating and I was almost ready to delete it. After listening to a few podcast reviews and watching the on-line tutorials, I gave it another shot and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to splice together a video. I exported it to GarageBand to gain greater control over audio. Within 40 minutes I had uploaded to Viddler a few quickies spliced together using clips from tapes of my last trip to New Zealand.

True, it is not a full featured video editor and has all the failings, such as no time line, documented by countless others but in my opinion meets its goal of making home movies a reality for the great unwashed movie producers among us. I rather like it and know of no competitive product in the Windows world. However, I have taken the wrappers off of iMovie 06 and I am evaluating it as a tool for producing video podcasts. Will update on that when I have had enough time to experiment.

I truly don’t understand or appreciate iPhoto. I would rate it as a un-remarkable photo viewer with some impressive photo editing capabilities. It still does not seem to support the very simple and often used overlay of text. I really don’t understand this ... seems so obvious and so simple to implement an option to label photos or add graphic overlays. I will give it another chance to impress me ... perhaps I will be pleasantly surprised given more time with it but I am not the kind of photographer it seems to be targeting. I rarely touch up my photos but do add overlays of text and graphics. So far it simply takes up hard drive real-estate.

I am getting used to the quirky and lame project management limitations of iWEB and have been experimenting with using it to develop web sites on hosts other than my .mac account. The ability to splice in my own html is a welcomed enhancement. I have also experimented with RapidWeaver, often touted as a better way to get a WEB on line without hand coding your site, and find I prefer iWEB. Both RapidWeaver and iWEB suffer from the same major limitation of requiring all development and changes to be made on your Apple computer. Unlike FrontPage, there is no synching between changes made on the external web host and the domain on your Mac.

I also must admit I find most of the canned RapidWeaver web templates ugly. This is of course strictly personal opinion, but, the RapidWeaver site is a example of one I find difficult to spend much time at because it is so esthetically unappealing. I tried to create a RapidWeaver site I could feel good about but gave up. The iWeb templates are far more appealing to me and the program more intuitive. A product like RapidWeaver would make much more sense than iWEB for commercial sites but I am afraid they would look a bit dated and less finished than iWEB sites. I do like the almost seamless integration of the other iLife applications with iWEB ... an excellent and unique way to get your personal web on line replete with slick photo and video presentations. And, you have the added comfort of expecting the site to look good as well. Apple does have a knack of helping folks make things look good.

A few passing comments on iWork ... I am writing this using Pages 08 and I am beginning to make the psychological shift away from Microsoft Word on my Mac. The interface is intuitive, the templates nice and I don’t feel as if I need to spend the next year learning to use features I may never need.

I have also experimented with Keynote 08 and am very impressed. It to is intuitive and the special effects exceptional. I was able to quickly put together a short, professional looking presentation, convert it to a Quick Time movie and up load to Viddler and a audio/video blog. Definitely a winner and as expected integrates well with other Apple applications. In one of my 1st podcasts I mentioned the lack of a word processor and spreadsheet shipped with new iMacs. True there was a trial version of iWork o6 on my machine but no equivalent of Microsoft’s Work suite. Now most can, for a paltry $79, purchase iWork 08 and forget the $400 Microsoft Office. Bravo Apple!

Although the Mac and Mac applications are not crash or bug proof as Apple’s adverts might want you to believe, they are generally easy to use and do allow you to become productive with less hair pulling than similar Windows based products. I am convinced that Windows apps could be just as intuitive and as easy to use if it were not for the long tradition of adding features for the sake of sounding as if your product will meet every possible need ... especially those you never knew you had nor will ever see the light of day.