I was enjoying lunch at a local place when I noticed the waitress struggling with the customer tracking software that seems to be the staple of so many restaurants these days. It's all touch-screen, which helps you enter the data faster, assuming you know how to operate the darn thing.

The software keeps track of such data as how much a customer spends on a meal, how long they waited to be seated, and whether or not they order "extras" like appetizers, wine, and desserts. (FACT: Only 17% of patrons order dessert in restaurants, but if they can talk you into it, it's a big money maker).

Talking with the waitress a bit later, I found that she was new to the place and hadn't yet gotten the hang of the new system. But she would, she assured me.

"What if it was speech-enabled?" I asked her.

"You mean if I could talk to it?"

"You could just say 'Party of 4 waited 12 minutes before being seated at Table 6' and the computer would convert your speech into data."

"That'd be like a dream. When's it coming out? I'll be a test driver for you!" She laughed.

I had to tell her that I don't know of any such software, but that it's likely already been invented, or will be in the near future. Anyone who has run a restaurant will tell you that the business is so competitive and so tough that it behooves you to know precisely where your profits are coming from, in what percentages, and from what demographic. But you don't want your waitresses to have to spend valuable time learning new computer skills just to give you the information you need to run your business. As a customer, I don't really care if you get all your data. Just get off the computer and refill my Coke, thank you very much.

And that's where I think we're going with speech-enabled computing. Too many of our daily tasks require an extra layer of computing skills that tend to upset or at least frustrate the average user. Why should your neighbor have to learn about dropcaps and linked text flow just to create a simple flyer for the yard sale? And why should your mom have to follow seven separate "click-this-find-that" steps just to attach a picture to an email?

Speech-enabled computing can help. Emails cross my desk every week about new applications our Speech Server customers are creating. This one lets you use your cell phone to find an empty parking space, that one notifies mobile workmen of their next assignment, the other one tells you exactly what aisle and shelf that Langstrom 7-inch wrench is hidden on in the home warehouse store WITHOUT having to track down someone in an apron.

As I left the restaurant, I smiled at the waitress as she told her co-worker, "That guy's writing a program that'll let us put all this stuff in the computer just by talking to it."

I'm writing it? Now you really are dreaming.

Cup o' Joe
In honor of Major League Opening Day, Phil the Coffee Junkie brewed up some Tully's Baseball Blend. It's a medium roast that's supposed to conjure up images of Ty Cobb and Shoeless Joe turning doubles into triples on a warm spring day. Instead, it provided smooth, rich comfort to a quaintless morning that featured too-brisk wind and too-frosty windows. Almost perfect. Let's Play Ball.