'How time flies when you's doin' all the talking'
David A. Ross · The Computer Bulletin · 1997
Since the invention of the typewriter, the keyboard has been king of the human-computer interface, largely because it has been the only one widely available. The search for an alternative method, such as speech, has continued since the 1950s and computers that can be voice controlled have featured in a number of science fiction films, such as the 1968 film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. While the conversational skills of the film's master computer HAL have yet to be mastered by today's computers, speech recognition technology has made significant advances from the limited systems that began emerging in the late 1980s. At last speech recognition technology is a viable tool for both business and home computer users