Customer Reviews

ViaVoice Millennium Ed./Mac

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While Apple has offered ambitious attempts of its own at system-level speech recognition on the Macintosh for several years and even at present, it has been wise to promote IBM's entry into the Mac space. IBM has renowned chops in the voice rec department and proves it admirably with ViaVoice for Mac 1.0.

Initial training of the application requires a certain amount of diligence but is eventually rewarded by a remarkable accuracy and flexibility in the transcription process. It will require some patience and a conscientious effort by the user to accommodate the very complex nature of computer-based voice recognition. We may be but a year from 2001, but ViaVoice will not turn your computer into 'HAL' by any estimation. A combination of careful speech and fingers close to the keyboard may prove to be the most practical strategy when using this product.

It should also be noted that--as is ever the case with CPU-intensive applications such as ViaVoice--current-generation, high-performance hardware is recommended if not realistically required for optimal results.

No doubt ViaVoice will be improved in future versions, but this initial effort is already a marvel of software engineering. And it's a true 'Mac-savvy' product. I commend IBM for some fine work.

I found this software beyond reproach. In only one day I was writing letters to people with about 95% accuracy. Since then it has improved to about 99%. This is a very smart piece of software that improves itself constantly, becoming ever more accurate. The secret is to put on a voice like that of a documentary host, speaking clearly and learning to accentuate your words properly. Since getting this software I have increased my own linguistic ability. Unless you like to speak gutter slang and slur your words you will find this software to be a real time-saver.

Why is this application not in headlines everywhere? It is absolutely astounding, almost like magic. Like the box says, "revolutionary, not evolutionary." I decided to give it a try after seeing that it won Macworld 2000 "best of show" this year.I think this product signals the beginning of a whole new era in user interface. Just amazing.

This software was useless to me. I am handicap but with `good' speech. It could not recognize my speech.

The headset which comes with this product is made in China. It is too small for a `average sized' American male with average length of hair.

All sound functions of the Mac are disabled by this software.

Native Spanish speakers were able to use this [speaking English].

It came on time but doesn't work on my computer. The software is either defective or damaged. It won't go through the set up prompts.