I was prompted to consider this when I realised that our TV remotes have microphones for issuing commands, a feature I haven’t tried yet and probably never will. It’s just as easy to simply press a button on the remote. I do, however, use speech-to-text when sending text messages from my smartwatch, as detailed in this article, I Really Should Use Speech-To-Text More Often, from February 2026.
The speech-to-text functions across all my mobile devices are incredibly accurate and save a lot of fiddling about with tiny virtual keyboards. Similarly, although I don’t send voice messages very often, it’s with my Galaxy Watch Ultra that I do use that function most frequently, and it’s as clear as a bell.
Do You Live In A Smarthome?
Perhaps it’s my age, but I notice when the younger generation ask Alexa to turn the lights on or play a favourite track on the Echo Dot, and to be fair, it’s a perfectly logical step in the world of IoT (Internet of Things). It’s just that I haven’t fully integrated into it just yet. My big worry is that if something goes wrong, will I be locked out without a manual escape route?
Do You Shout At Inanimate Objects?
Come on, you know you have. I certainly have, especially intransigent computers that won’t recognise a device. Or even automobiles and bikes that refuse to start, as perfectly illustrated by Basil Fawlty and his car episode. The problem is that you can’t reason with inanimate objects, so in my experience it’s best to walk away and face it another day in a calm, reasonable manner.
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