Hey Jed,
You have my synthesis. The same think happens with my voice re-order system two.
Actually, the latest release of Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Ver. 8) is greatly improved. For me anyway, this has given it an interesting and contradictory property which occasionally crops up in technology, to wit, it is worse because it works better. Once I get used to it, this version will be fine. But in the initial learning phase it makes the job harder, and increases the numbers of mistakes. It gives a false sense of reliability and ease of use. The words pop up on the screen so smoothly and rapidly, you tend to assume they must be right, and you do not bother to check.
During WWII, human factors research was just beginning. Much of the early work was focused on aviation, especially on trying to enhance pilot performance and safety. One of the big problems was fatigue and discomfort from sitting in cramped cockpit seats for hours at a time. The seats were often uncomfortable, cold, and they vibrated. Engineers devised several new kinds of seats, installed them in airplanes and had pilots perform multihour flight tests. One of the seats was particularly comfortable. It was well padded and vibration free. But the test pilots did not like it because it insulated them too much from the airplane. It turned out they literally flew by the seat of their pants. (And they probably still do). They sensed vibrations, noise, change in temperature and other factors by feel -- often through the seat. The padded seat worked too well.
- Jed
