Welcome to a hands-free world. Saving the hands of the next generation.

This is a milestone. Right at this moment, I am writing my first hands-free blog post using Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software.

As someone who has been writing for 42 years, I have to say it's a brave new world when you can type without lifting a finger. It's going to take some getting used to; I have always felt as though my hands were inextricably involved in the creative process of writing, so I'm going to have to adjust to a whole new psychology of writing. The main difference is, when I am physically typing, I never really know exactly how a sentence is going to end until I get there. And usually, by the time I get halfway through, I have already made a hundred decisions about which words to choose. I type (poorly), about 65 words per minute. With voice, I can type 95 words per minute, so I have to make those decisions a lot faster. Plus, with voice activated software, you kind of need to know where you're going at the outset. I still feel as though something important is lost in translation, but maybe it will start to feel more natural to me as I force myself to depend on it more and more. I need to, to save my hands and joints affected with Rheumatoid Arthritis from getting any worse.

I have lived through the transition from typewriters to computers, so I suppose this is just the next evolution of progress. I imagine that in the future, keyboards will cease to exist. Keyboards are a royal pain in the butt, and even the most modern keyboards still follow the same format as the original typewriter key layout invented in 1867. The position of the letters, designed to avoid long keys hitting each other, is far from ergonomic. Even modern, so-called "ergonomic" keyboards can't get away from that old letter positioning from the 1800s. Think about it: typists hit the letter "a" with their pinky finger, not the strongest digit on the human hand. And we all hit it often.

With all the games and texting kids do these days, there are already 20-year-olds with RSIs (repetitive strain injuries) that have lost the use of their hands. They're showing up at the centre for people with disabilities, where I go every week for Dragon training. It's heartbreaking. Cel phones, PSIs, iPhones, games, etc. etc., just think of how many minute muscle movements it takes for these kids to use all of their fav technologies. Eventually, everything will be voice activated, and it'll save a whole generation from waking up one day, like I did, and not being able to use their hands at all. Besides, it's nice when something listens to you and does what you say for a change, isn't it?