Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Siri's First Novel

Siri, Apple's voice recognition service, has received negative comments and reviews ever since she first arrived with the iPhone 4S. However, there is more to Siri than finding the nearest restaurant or the cheapest tickets to a concert.

No matter what critics say about Siri as a personal assistant service, Siri Dictation is another matter.

I have no complaints with Siri Dictation. In fact, I wrote this blog post with Siri along with my full-length science-fiction novel, The Wizard of OZ: A Steampunk Adventure.

I did not use Siri because I had to.

I can type 60 words-per-minute error-free (I must admit, Siri is much faster and rarely gets my words "wrong"). I do not suffer from repetitive stress syndrome and I enjoy working with a keyboard and mouse. In fact, I wrote my previous novel the old-fashioned way, using a keyboard with Microsoft Word (sorry, I am not that old).

I wrote my novel with Siri because I wanted to.

Thanks to Siri, as a writer, I join the ranks of prestigious authors who dictated their novels rather than write or type them out by hand. Authors like Earl Stanley Gardner, who wrote the Perry Mason series of books, or Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost, considered one of the greatest literary works in the English language.

Will I ever go back to writing novels by hand? It is very unlikely, Siri has me hooked.

Dictating an entire novel is a first for me. The Wizard of OZ: A Steampunk Adventure is also a first for Siri. It is her first full-length fiction novel.

No one can take that away from us.