Whither Speech Recognition? That's the question many Mac users (especially those of us with one hand in a cast) are asking today. While we've been able to run scripts and control the Finder via voice commands for several years now, that capability hasn't improved except with the advent of faster processors; the underlying technology in the system software is essentially unchanged. And if you actually want to dictate into your Mac, you've got to buy an expensive third-party software package.

So it's encouraging to read at Mac OS Rumors that Apple is reportedly working with Dragon Systems (one of the pioneers in speech recognition technology, and the publisher of the only dictation software available for the Mac) on the next generation of Plaintalk. Or rather, they're close to working together; Apple must first resolve a patent dispute with another company before it can work on improving its speech recognition software. That dispute is apparently close to resolution in Aplle's favor, so hopefully we'll see some serious advances in Plaintalk in the not-to-distant future.

By the way, this is the first time in four years of Mac use that we've encountered a situation in which the lack of a certain kind of productivity software may have made us less productive. Following hand surgery, being able to dictate instead of having to type one-handed could have made a big impact on AtAT's schedule. There's a ton of natural speech recognition dictation software available on the PC side that's well within the AtAT budget constraints, but the only dictation software available for the Mac, Power Secretary, is much more expensive and (we're told) not terribly effective. On the other hand, Easy Access' Sticky Keys has helped tremendously, and AtAT's production relies heavily on BBEdit, Applescript, interapplication drag and drop, and other Mac mainstays, without which we'd be lost. We just wish we could throw a decent dictation package into the mix as well.