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Subject:Re: seeking auto transcribing for a small meeting From:John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Lisa Priester <lpriester -at- castandcrew -dot- com>, TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 2 Aug 2007 16:41:45 -0700 (PDT)
>Does such a solution exist?
If it exists, which I doubt, the people don't.
I mean, yeah, people exist. However, what you are going to get, even if it's 100% accurate, is not going to be suitable for consumption. As a test, listen to two or three SMEs as they describe something they've developed. However, don't listen to what they are describing...listen to their words and imagine that you have the words down word for word on paper.
We're trained to mentally filter te uhms, ers, mumblesmumbles, etc. However, a transcription device doesn't.
I speak from experience. I was at a gig for two days when I was invited to a week-long 8 hr per day planning session on the rearchitecture of a company sales process. I figured, hey...I'll sit a recorder on the table and just change tape after tape. I didn't listen until I had three days of tapes. Sat down at the kitches table and started to listen. 15 minutes in, I was in a flop sweat, you would have thought I'd run a 5k. It was at that point that I realized I'd not taken three days of notes and I couldn't understand any four words in a row...and not to cause controversy, but this was when everyone in meetings spoke Englsh as a first lauguage.
Think of this another way...courts of law. The speakers are controlled, more than one prson speaking is stopped by a judge, and the judge makes sure that everyone is clear. Yet, even though it might be voice recorded, they still have a person transcribing the discussion. Must be a reason.
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
"They say everyone needs goals. Mine is to live forever.
So far, so good."
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