From the brain to the page ... fast.

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I always have a pen in my pocket, though more often than not I don't have a slip of paper that has room on it for what I want to jot down. I need the pen and paper for saving thoughts, since experience has taught me that I forget things (and especially thoughts which seem to be important and profound as they speed along quickly through my mind) much too quickly. More than my pen, it's my typing speed (and of course an open word processor or notepad, or any program that will let me jot down and save) that permits me to save my thoughts and then get back to them at a later date to check whether I was making sense or not, and then to work that thought into something that can be shared. From what I've seen, I doubt that most people who sit in front of computers are able to use them in this way. Even if the computer is constantly open, it takes them much too long to get their thoughts onto the screen.

The solution to this problem is, of course, to learn touch typing, and I often tell people how important a skill that is. But there are other possible solutions. Voice recognition software that converts what we say into word-processed text certainly can't hurt. And personally, I'd like to take things just a small step further: I'd love to have an electrode attached to me that converts my thoughts (invariably in the shower) into word-processed text. Frankly, if some wearable computer wants to offer me that capability, perhaps I'd consider it seriously.

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Go to: Really a part of me.