 |
 |
My name is Bruce Anderson, I'm 52, I was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1987, and I'm dictating this message using DragonDictate. I hope this doesn't sound like a spam, but I want to urge everyone who has difficulty typing to consider this product. With the nausea that hits first when I take Sinemet, the tired and drained sensations that hit when the Sinemet wears off, and the physical pain I suffer from sitting rigid at the computer when trying to work while "off", I have a limited number of hours per day that I can do computer work. (Don't we all?) During these hours, I try to do my work-work (i.e., earn my living) and my hobby-work (I'm trying to write a book). DragonDictate allows me to make the most I can of these hours. DragonDictate comes in three versions. Its starter version lists for $400. Its regular version (which I use and really like) lists for $700. It also has a power version that costs $1700. These prices include everything but the sound card. However, all it needs is is a Sound Blaster 16, which is a (perhaps the) standard sound card these days. For what it costs, I think it's spectacular! DragonDictate is produced by Dragon Systems, Inc. 617-965-5200. Their URL is: http://www.dragonsys.com/ The URL's of two resellers are: http://www.iglou.com/vrsky/brochure.htm and: http://nomius.com/~VOICE_RECOG/ My company bought the one I use from Metropolitan Technical Services, 703-968-7855; they were extremely helpful in getting it up and running on my 486/33 machine. Since then, I got a new machine (a 100 megahertz Pentium). It transfered successfully, and is amazingly fast. What I like best about it is how easy it is to use and how quickly and easily it learns my pronunciation and my words, like Parkinson's, Sinemet, Condorcet, and monotonicity. But it has other features that others might like even better. And it does a few cute things too, like being able to type, without help: This sentence ends with a period. (Note the ending "period.".) It's certainly neither perfect nor infallible. But, for Parkies that use a computer (and other non-typist computer users), it's certainly worth checking out. Bruce