New Options in Paperless Writing

In our last look at paperless writers, we saw that working without a steno pad safety net is a real alternative for today's reporters and captioners. This year's annual NCRA convention took things quite a bit farther, introducing radical new changes in the technology.

Six companies announced or demonstrated paperless technology in Chicago. Some of these products have changed little in the last year. Some are unlike anything you've ever seen. Some are shipping today. Some, like the notebook computer with the built-in Digitouch keyboard from Stenovations, "will be a Christmas present," available by the end of the year. Others, like Advantage's Passport machine "will ship when they're ready" (Advantage hasn't announced a ship date yet).

The Products in a Nutshell

The Digitouch from Stenovations is completely different from any other steno keyboard on the market. It is a flat pad which is customized to fit your hands, with each key shaped and positioned specifically for you. You can move individual keys or blocks of keys around on the pad until you're comfortable with the layout. Then Stenovations will cut a template for you that lays over the pad, providing a tactile reference. Digitouch can be used like a steno keyboard, attaching to your computer through a USB port, or can actually replace the keyboard in your notebook computer, switching back and forth between a QWERTY layout and a steno layout. Unlike most of the other keyboards discussed in this article, Digitouch cannot be used alone, as it has no storage or batteries.

The élan Mira G2 from Stenograph has more of the look of a familiar Stenograph machine. Like the original Mira, the new G2 has a color display, USB and serial interfaces, adjustable stroke depth and pressure, and software to help control stacking. Unlike its predecessor, the G2 has a tilting screen you can read without leaning forward, a wireless kit, and a slew of software enhancements. This full-featured machine is the most expensive option available, but reporters currently using Stentura machines will find it familiar and comfortable to make the migration.

The Gemini changed owners this year. Robson Technologies sold the machine to the Neutrino Group from Colorado, and they've made substantial changes to it. The Gemini is an ergonomic machine, with a keyboard split into two individually-adjustable modules. When originally released, it was basically a captioner's realtime machine, with no memory or batteries. The Neutrino Group has added lithium ion batteries and a unique way of handling note storage: the tripod mount includes a place for a Palm Pilot, which handles processing and storing of your notes. Just for fun, they've also made the Gemini available in 20 different colors. In the interest of full disclosure, I was one of the original inventors of the Gemini, but sold my interest in the machine over five years ago.

The Passport is Advantage Software's first shot at building a writer. It has the familiar look of a traditional steno machine like the Stentura or ProCAT Flash, but a completely different set of guts inside. With onboard translation and an extensive collection of electronic adjustments and software to cope with stacking and shadowing, there's quite a bit under the hood. Advantage chose to create its own interface protocol rather than emulating an existing machine, but they are making the technical details available to other CAT companies who wish to support the Passport. It can be connected to the computer through serial, USB, or optional wireless interfaces.

The Stylus is ProCAT's new machine. ProCAT calls it a "paper/paperless" machine, as it's designed to work either way. The touch will remind you of ProCAT's Flash writer, but the electronics are completely different. ProCAT has renewed their commitment to interoperability by allowing the Stylus to translate your steno in the machine, and then save it as an RTF/CRE file, readable by virtually all CAT software. You don't have to retranslate your notes on the computer. It has USB, serial, and an optional wireless interface, and extensive software to compensate for stacking, drags, and drops.

The Tréal from Word Technologies is a pure paperless keyboard without onboard storage or batteries. The key layout is similar to a traditional steno keyboard, but splayed slightly for a more comfortable writing position. As of this writing, it works only with Eclipse, DigitalCAT, TeLiTor, and RapidText, but you should check with your CAT software company for updates.

Storing Notes and Audio

Many of the early paperless writers, like the AccuWriter and the Gemini, were designed for applications where notes didn't need to be stores, like captioning and high-speed text entry. They had no way to store notes. That isn't true of most of the new paperless machines, with the exception of the Tréal and the Digitouch, which have no onboard memory at all.

The Gemini has the least traditional method for storing notes. Instead of using onboard memory, the specially-designed tripod mount holds a Palm Pilot that runs software designed by the Neutrino Group. The Palm Pilot provides the display and storage for the machine.

The other three machines all show the trend toward solid-state memory. Even though the élan Mira G2 still has a floppy drive, it also uses flash memory, as the Passport and Stylus do. All three of the machines have multiple redundant storage media, so your notes are being kept in at least two places for safety.

The G2, Passport, and Stylus all also offer built-in audio synchronization (and they're working on it for the Gemini), so you can record sound and sync it with your steno even if you don't have a computer along. All three manufacturers chose not to include a built-in microphone for the same reasons: It would pick up vibration and sound from the keyboard, and it wouldn't be optimally positioned.

No Paper? How About No Wires!

In the early days of computer networking, every manufacturer used different cabling and different methods of communication between systems. Even when serial communications standardized, writers like the SmartWriter, StenoRAM, and Transcriptor X all used different cables.

The USB standard dramatically increased communication speeds and standardized the cabling. All of the new writers have USB interfaces available, whi ch is a good thing since many new computers don't have the old-style RS-232 serial interfaces anymore.

There's another new standard being embraced by writer manufacturers, too. In 1998, the IEEE formed a special interest group to work on standardizing simple wireless communications. This group, called Bluetooth, released its recommended standard the following year. Computers with Bluetooth interfaces are everywhere now.

With the optional Bluetooth interface offered in the élan Mira G2, Gemini, Passport, and Stylus, you can carry your steno machine to a bench conference without worrying about wiring. You'll never forget your cable, trip over it, or have it fall out in the middle of a job.

You'll need a Bluetooth adapter for your computer, but they're inexpensive and easy to connect. For as low as $30 or $40, you can get a Bluetooth interface that connects either to a PC card slot or a USB connector, and you'll be ready to go.

Interface Protocols

The language used for communication between the writer and the computer is called its protocol. Since there is no standards committee in the court reporting world defining protocols, each company has developed its own. The Gemini is a partial exception to this rule. It is available both with its own proprietary protocol, and in a "TX" model, which emulates the old Baron Transcriptor X. This allows it to work with older CAT software.

Stenograph's newer machines use a closed protocol, which is not shared with the other CAT companies. Using all of the features of the élan Mira G2 with non-Stenograph software may not be possible, and you should check carefully with both Stenograph and your software vendor before making the purchase.

Advantage Software touts the protocol for the Passport as being open. They'll share the technical specifications with other software developers. Since it requires developing new code, however, you may have to obtain a software update from your CAT vendor before you can use a Passport with it, and it may not work at all with older software.

ProCAT points out that their protocol is "instant" rather than the "polled" realtime protocol used by Stenograph and some others. In a polled protocol, the CAT software must constantly ask the writer, "do you have any more strokes for me?" In an instant protocol, the writer automatically sends new strokes without any prompting.

A decade ago, there was a noticeable difference. Now that the computers, the writers, and the interface cables between them are all operating at much higher speeds, the difference between instant and polled protocols is far less significant. When you test a new writer, make sure to pay attention to lag times (the time between writing a stroke and seeing it on your screen). Many things can cause slow realtime, and the interface between the writer and the CAT software is always a prime suspect.

The closed protocol issues come to a head with the Tréal. Word Technologies has actually placed a disclaimer on their Web site saying that they won't knowingly sell a Tréal to someone running Stenograph's Case Catalyst software because of compatibility issues, and if they find out you bought one anyway, they won't accept a return.

Operating Systems? In a Writer?

As writers have gained more and more onboard intelligence, the software running them has become much more complex. The software used to be written as a dedicated system, controlling all of the hardware directly. As hardware standardizes, though, the writer manufacturers have the option to switch to a standard operating system as well.

Although the operating system may be touted in the advertising, you'll be hard-pressed to tell what's really running inside the machine most of the time. The Gemini, which uses a Palm Pilot as its processor, is an exception to that rule.

Advantage Software has chosen the Linux operating system for their Passport writer, touting its reliability and stability as key reasons. It also doesn't hurt that Linux is widely supported and free. ProCAT went with Windows CE, the consumer electronics version of Microsoft Windows, for its Stylus machine. Their logic is that we live in a Microsoft world, where the ubiquitous Windows operating system already runs our computers and many handheld devices, so it's only logical to stay consistent.

Operating software has never been a key factor to court reporters in older generations of steno machines. Nobody knows what's running your Stentura or StenoRam. The benefits of choosing a system like Linux or Windows CE are mostly invisible to the person using the keyboard. The operating system may be a part of your buying decision, but unless you love (or hate) Linus Torvalds and his Linux software or Bill Gates and his Wind ows software, it won't be a major factor.

Keyboards

If you are using a traditional writer like a Stentura today, then the keyboard on the élan Mira G2, Passport, and Stylus will take no adjustment at all (especially the Stylus, which writes more like a Stentura because it has a paper mechanism). These machines all use the standard key size and arrangement, and the keys are on similar mechanical mountings. The touch, however, will be different.

The Tréal keyboard is similar to the others, but with the keys slightly canted to allow your wrists to be straighter when you write. The Gemini keyboard takes this a step farther, splitting the machine into two parts that can be moved independently of each other. You can tilt them in any direction and even change positions on a break to reduce risk of carpal tunnel syndrome and related problems.

The keys on the Gemini and Tréal have a significantly different feel, as they use vertical key stems with electronic sensors rather than the lever arms on the G2, Passport, and Stylus. Some reporters will like them better, and some won't like them at all.

The Digitouch takes key arrangement to a whole new level. Since it uses "virtual" keys on a flat panel, you can reposition each key individually. You don't have to keep all of the right-hand keys in a straight line, for example, and you can move your DZ keys closer to--or farther from--the TS keys.

Each machine offers its own take on key adjustments, too. The Digitouch, Gemini, and Tréal have little or no adjustment ability for stroke depth and sensitivity, but the other three machines can be adjusted extensively, even chang ing the amount of pressure required to push a key. The G2 and Passport both support very short key depths.

Stacking, Drags, and Drops (Oh, My!)

Stacking typically occurs when you have an all-left-hand stroke followed by an all-right-hand stroke, or vice-versa. If the first hand doesn't come all the way up before the second hand starts down, the two individual strokes can be combined into one. CAT software companies have put a great deal of work into trying to analyze incoming steno to compensate for stacks, but eliminating stacking has remained a holy grail.

With more intelligence going into the writer itself, however, there are new opportunities to eliminate stacking. Almost ten years ago, the Gemini introduced a simple "anti-stacking adjustment" which allowed reporters to adjust hand-to-hand timing . Today, machines like the élan Mira G2, Passport, and Stylus analyze your hand movements as you write and attempt to find and correct stacking as it happens.

Your CAT software knows whether a key was pressed or not. The software running inside the new generation of writers also knows how far the key was pressed in relation to the keys around it. Using this information, the new writers can often correct drags (adding an extra key to a stroke) and drops (not pushing a key far enough) on the fly.

Any change to the operation of your machine can throw off your writing. While many reporters--especially newer ones--will find themselves producing cleaner notes because of these features, others may have problems with them. For this reason, Stenograph allows features like their "SmartStroke" stack reduction to be disabled by reporters that don't like it. Other vendors offer this ability to some degree as well.

Batteries

The day of the NiCad (nickel-cadmium) battery is about gone. None of our new crop of writers use the old rechargeable standby, going instead with the lighter weight and longer lasting NiMH (nickel-metal-hydride) or lithium ion batteries. They're still rechargeable, and in most cases you can carry spares and change them yourself if you need to.

The biggest difference you'll see with the new generation of batteries is the lack of "memory." With NiCad batteries, you must make sure to run the charge all the way down before recharging. Otherwise, the batteries begin to "remember" where they're usually recharged, and experience voltage drops at that point, dramatically lowering their useful charge. While this can still happen to some extent with NiMH batteries, lithium ion batteries are virtually immune to it.

Shopping Tips

Most of these machines are significantly different than writers of the 90s and before. Since the touch of a steno keyboard is a very personal preference, you'll want to either borrow one of these writers before buying one, or check with the vendor on return policies. Some companies allow you to rent a keyboard before buying it, and others allow you to return it within a reasonable period, although there may be a restocking fee or extra shipping charge. Make sure you have a way out if the machine just doesn't work for you.

Watch out for claims i nvolving words like unique, only, or best. Don't take one vendor's word about another vendor's products. As an example, one vendor's Web site states unequivocally that their writer is "by far the lightest writer on the market," but three out of the five competing machines described in this article are dramatically lighter. These writers are evolving very quickly, and features can often be added through a download or field upgrade, so make sure you have the latest information direct from the horse's mouth.

Compatibility with your existing CAT software is important. You don't just need to run in realtime. You also have to make sure you can read the notes from the machine and use the audio synchronization features. If you select one of the machines that does onboard translation, you need to move your dictionaries back and forth between the writer and the CAT software. Talk to the company that makes the writer and to your CAT vendor to make sure they will work together. Make sure you can return the writer if they don't, or you can get stuck with a useless paperweight.

You'll note that this article hasn't mentioned pricing up to this point. The reason is that prices change quickly, and there's always a deal going on. To give you a rough idea of what you're looking at, however, there are two basic price groupings in paperless writers. If you want a basic realtime keyboard and you aren't worried about translation, steno storage, batteries, and the like, you can get set up with a Digitouch, basic Gemini, or Tréal for well under $1,000. A fully-loaded machine like the élan Mira G2, Passport, or Stylus will take you up into the familiar $3,500 to $4,500 range of a traditional machine with paper. You can also add the batteries and Palm Pilot to a Gemini and give it most of the advanced capabilities for around half the cost of the high-end machines.

When comparing writers, check carefully to see what's included. Do you need to pay extra for a tripod and carrying case? If it uses Flash cards, do you need a reader for the computer? Does it include a realtime cable? Extra batteries? Check the length of the warranty, the tech support plan, and the maintenance requirements. The new writers don't require the same level of preventive maintenance, cleaning, and oiling as older models did, but your warranty may still require cleaning or regular checkups.

Ask where you can get it repaired if it breaks. Do they offer loaners? Once you've adapted to one of the new generation of writer, it's difficult to go back to the old ones when something goes wrong, so a loaner can make a big difference.

Paperless writers have been around for a long ti me, but they've only been accepted for day-to-day court reporting for a short while. Now that they've arrived, you see them everywhere you look. It won't be much longer before a new reporter looks at your old paper-crunching writer and says, "how quaint!"

For More Information...

Digitouch

http://www.stenovations.com/writer-pic.htm
Stenovations
606 Virginia St E #300
Charleston, WV 25301
800-626-7228

élan Mira G2

www.stenograph.com/pdf/MIRA_G2.pdf
Stenograph Corporation
1500 Bishop Court
Mount Prospect, Illinois 60056
800-228-2339

Gemini

www.geminiwriter.com/
The Neutrino Group
13098 Race Court
Thornton, CO  80241
303-453-0384

Passport

www.eclipsecat.com/products/passport/
Advantage Software
925 Central Pkwy
Stuart, FL 34994 USA
800-800-1759

Stylus

www.procat.com/Stylus/Stylus-Intro.html
ProCAT
5126 Clareton Drive, Suite 260
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
800-769-6841

Tréal

www.wordtechnologies.com/products_main.asp?shx=treal
Word Technologies LLC
PO Box 316
Greenhurst, NY 14742
716-484-1112