AdapTex wants to cut your keystrokes by 80 percent

Predictive text systems are fairly de rigueur on mobiles, but AdapTex has one for your regular old desktop/laptop system. KeyPoint Technologies claims their software can cut down your keystroking action by a good 80%, which we'd really love to see. Supposedly it works even more effectively than cellphone-type predictive text functions which operate largely on guesswork — AdapTex actually takes into account the context and relevance of the surrounding text to decide which words it thinks you want. It also learns dynamically, customizing itself to your particular blend of vocabulary and topics of interest. In fact, it's so good that we just pressed a single key on the keyboard and AdapTex wrote this entry. Okay, not true — but we can dream of this utopian telecommuting, no-work future, can't we?

[papmech @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

Predictive text entry isn't for me. Nothing beats the feel of the control over all the letters and symbols. I'd rather go for voice recognition software than for this.

[Timmah!!! @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

pap- who says they have to be mutually exclusive?

what would happen with traditional keyboards? turned into telephone keypads?

[Tytus @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

The worst thing about predictive text entry technologies is that they don't predict the foul language which makes up about half of my conversational vocabulary...

[Biochemlab @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

If you work for an employer, it will be terrible when these are released... They will expect 80% more workload out of you...

[carl @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

Biochemlab:

Or maybe they'll let you go home at 10am!

The keyboard should have a big fat red manual override button when it's not predicting your words correctly.

[A Real User @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

Well, as far as I have tried it it encapsulates and overcomes all of your listed moans & groans. If you don't want to change then it still allows you not to. But if you do, then it empowers all that you want it too textually, hand-written as well as voice. If you see technology as only the 4 walls around you then you may as well get out of it now, because change is coming whichever you look at it. AdapTex just lets you do what you want more quickly and with less hassle. It's amazingly effective & accurate once it shapes to you. Don't knock it until you try it!!

[Crasher @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

I tried to crash AdapTex, and yet even though it helped me write the crash program in record time, the damn thing didn't crash!!

[Trial & Error @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

I forwarded an email. It more or less projected my message and accurately addressed the right forward email addresseses. How cool is that?

[Thorbj?K? @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

Openoffice does this so great allready, as far as I've gathered, it takes words that I use commonly and suggests them when I'm typing, making my typing much faster.

I just wish Word did it too (instead of only suggesting that stupid TELEGRAM it suggests when I type tel:) I know you can set up more autowords, but openoffice does it automagically!

[RainbowPony @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

I can kinda touch-type but when I go fast I miss the keys and often hit the ones next to the ones I want to hit... Why isn't there a (or is there?) a spell-checker/predictive typer than can correct based on the proximity of letters to one another... so that if I type "gwikki" it knows that I have actually tried to type "hello" but got my home keys slighty off. If i was less concerned about accurately hitting the keys then I could type maybe a bout 80% faster :)

[ragnar @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

Text prediction is interesting - on mobile devices. On physical keyboards it's like having a person guess aloud your every next word from just st--strangling? strong? staring? stupid idea?--arting to write something.

For western languages I really doubt it can ever work. And even if it would work, in 20 some years, the constant concentration it requires from the user hides any benefits it might bring. Unless you're truly a novice user, but then a system like this becomes a hindrance that prevents you from really learning.

[Samuel Lago @ Dec 19th 2005 1:25AM]

I don't get this is it hardware or software? If hardware then it should be software and if software I'd replace it with a voice activated substitute.