HN Explorer

Ask HN: Do you use text-to-speech / dictation much?

2 points by xwowsersx ↗ HN
I've started to rely on dictation more and more especially on my Pixel (Android mobile device) because the dictation is quite fast and accurate. I rarely have to go back to edit mistakes and, often times, after using dictation I find myself wondering why I don't use it more often.

There are definitely times when I feel I need to type something out, such as when I need to use the act of writing to refine and crystallize my thoughts more than speech alone might give me the chance to. But there are many times in the course of a hectic work day where, for example, firing off a DM to someone in Slack by using dictation is fast and works well.

I wish dictation on MacOS didn't feel like an afterthought or hidden feature like it does now (I should probably learn the keyboard shortcut because I always point and click Edit > Start Dictation).

Anyhow, I'm just curious if other people have started using dictation/TTS more in recent years. What're your thoughts on it? How are you using it? Are there other tools out there for making the experience more seamless/integrated in a desktop environment?

5 comments

[ 1.9 ms ] story [ 21.8 ms ] thread
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
jsz0
I don't use text-to-speech because the physical act of typing on a keyboard itself is integrated into my thought process. Possibly because waiting on my fingers to input text helps me pace and organize my thoughts. Sounds kind of weird but I can almost feel the quality of writing via the physical tactile experience of using a keyboard. When I'm not confident or clear in my thought process there is a slight hesitation inputing text. When I know exactly what I want to say it's an effortless flurry of keystrokes that feels right.
xwowsersx
I'm very much with you and feel the same way. The tactile feedback when typing on a keyboard somehow aids in crystallizing your thoughts. I actually feel this even more when writing with a pen and paper, but I don't write with pen and paper very much simply because it's so impractical (I can type so much faster than I can write by hand). Occasionally, there is some idea I'm thinking about or project I'm working on where the ever so slight disconnect between the thoughts in my head and their representation on the screen throws me off enough that I simply have to reach for a pen and paper.

Yet I still encounter situations where TTS is valuable, albeit less frequently, and I guess I'm a bit surprised it isn't more of a first class thing. Perhaps it is because typing is so clearly superior, partly for the reasons you've stated.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

leros
I use text to speech on my phone about 5-10 times a year. My use case is when I don't know how to spell a word and I can't get autocomplete to figure it out for me.
xwowsersx
Haha I've been there, that's a legitimate use case for sure.