Mark Bridge writes:
Excuse me a moment while I climb onto my soapbox.
Right. Ooh, it’s busy up here.
For a number of years, various companies have worked on computer-powered dictation and transcription services. The services aren’t perfect but are getting considerably better. Nuance is one such company we’re fans of at The Fonecast; James and I both bought the company’s FlexT9 Android app last year.
Now Apple has entered this space, first with Siri on the iPhone and then with iPad dictation.
Last month, during Mobile World Congress, I attended the ‘Heroes of Mobile Marketing’ discussion. (The whole thing will be online soon, so don’t worry if you missed it). The panel was asked about NFC; Huw Aveston of SOMO commented that “Apple are very clever in repackaging technology that’s existed for years and years and years - and making it look really sexy. They’ll just do that.”
I was reminded of Huw’s comment when I heard some of the things that consumers are saying about the iPad’s new dictation feature. You talk, it transcribes. That’s the theory.
In reality, a number of iPad users have been enthusing about the service whilst also saying things like “I need to improve my diction” and “you need to adjust to the service”.
So Apple’s dictation doesn’t work as customers hoped - and yet they’re prepared to modify their behaviour to use it.
I mention this simply to show the strength of Apple’s customer loyalty. Users of many other services wouldn’t be prepared to give their supplier a second chance... or they’d tolerate the perceived flaws in silence.
Once again, Apple wins.