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New feature – audio alternative

Odiogo

Courtesy of Tara Hunt’s site, I discovered a new service that might be useful to readers of this blog. It’s called Odiogo and converts the text I write to speech. At the top of each post you’ll see a small button called ‘Listen Now.’ When clicked you can listen to what was written instead of reading, send to iTunes or another MP3 player. I have included a subscription button which is at the bottom right hand side of the sidebar. That way you can receive posts as a podcast.

The text-to-speech ‘translation is near perfect except for compound words like GetSatisfaction. The tone and intonation reminds me of an in-car navigation system so it’s not quite ‘human.’ It also contains a six second advert for the service at the beginning of each segment but I’m not sure that’s a big deal. If they extend advertising then I will want a paid alternative. Most folk I know don’t like the idea of intrusive advertising of any kind.

It is however a good alternative for the busy person who wants to catch my material or someone who is visually impaired.

Let me know what you think – I’m intrigued yet rather pleased with results I’m getting to date.

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Posted by Dennis Howlett on Jan 16th, 2008 and filed under Featured, General, Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

5 Responses for “New feature – audio alternative”

  1. Stuart Jones says:

    Mixed feelings about this Dennis.

    The service is great, as you say, but I can read the post a lot faster than it is spoken but on the other hand I probably take more in when I listen.

    Oill give it foive.

    Reply

  2. Ed Kless says:

    I think it is neat. I think it would be especially helpful on longer posts that I can sent to my ipod and listen while in the car.

    Reply

  3. Emily Coltman says:

    It’s the “not quite human” bit I’m not sure of – especially for making presentations or videos.

    It’s hard enough to hold people’s attention as it is without sounding like a Dalek!!

    M

    Reply

  4. @Em – it’s not meant for those apps, it’s meant for this app. Different.

    Reply

  5. Jason Holden says:

    Den I like it, a lot!

    You are right for those who are visually impaired it is fantastic!

    I am, going to look at it with a view to copying you and trying it on my blog.

    As for the voice, I thought it was okay.

    Reply

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