DRAGON DICTATION

I know that this topic is not really about the law, but what you learn from this article can certainly be helpful to attorneys and non-attorneys alike. I recently read an article in the ABA Journal which talked about the top ten apps (for those non-technologically advanced - this is an application that can be used on most smart phones) for attorneys and learned that there was an app out there called Dragon Dictation. Now, for those of you who have immediately turned your nose up at the notion of using any product that is evenly remotely similar to Dragon Speak (a difficult and time-consuming computer software that is supposed to allow you to speak into a microphone and have the software type as you speak), let me tell you I understand your hesitation... my nose also went in the air the moment I saw that Dragon Dictation was created by the same developers as Dragon Speak (Nuance). My curiosity, however, got the better of me and I went searching in the Itunes App Store on my Iphone for Dragon Dictation. Once I found it, I was surprised to see that it was a "FREE" application. Of course, I also thought it was probably FREE because it was horrible.

Well, I am here to tell you that I was wrong! The application downloaded quickly and the interface was simple. I did not need to read any directions on how to use it; use was self-explanatory. I simply pressed the "dictate" button and starting talking. I said the proper punctuation at the end of sentences and the Dragon Dictation program was smart enough to realize that it was punctuation and not a word. On the first try, my sentence was perfect. Once I was done, I pressed a button to the right of the screen and up popped my choices of what to do with the perfectly punctuated sentence... my choices were sms (text message), email, Twitter, Facebook, etc. I chose "sms" for my first try and up popped my text message screen prompting me to choose the recipient of my first ever Dragon Dictation text message. After choosing a recipient, I pressed "send" and away my message went.

This app is great. I would highly recommend it. Since installing it last week, I have used it for text messages, emails and I even dictated a short client letter and emailed it to my secretary for final review and sending.

I'd say give it a try, it's FREE and it works like a charm.