The Spoken Word Meets Written Word

I heard about Jott a couple months ago, in the Wall Street Journal, I think. It sounded interesting, but I didn't look closely into it – I wasn't looking for a voicemail solution. Then I saw this article on tying Jott and Sandy together over at My Money Blog earlier this week. (I'd heard of Sandy, too, from a colleague.) Jott transcribes your voice to an text, then Sandy parses the text and sends you reminders.

Each service is interesting in its own right. What I love is the way you can tie them together. (Synergy – the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.) I signed up with both services last night, and I've been playing with them today. It may be the newness, but it's surprisingly fun. For example, when I left work today, I called Jott from the car (using the bluetooth headset, of course), asked Sandy to remind me of two things I had to do this evening, updated my Twitter status, and posted the preceding entry.  All without lifting a finger.

You can spot a few mistakes in the transcription:

I love it when a plan comes together. The information you need, when you need it, wherever you are. It's beautiful.

I'm heading home. It's the weekend.

(Sandy also reminded me to finish my "statics" (status) report.)

There are a few mistakes, but it's close enough to get the intent. As a developer, I'm thinking about ways that this could be extended.  (I'll let you know if I think of any.)