BlindSpeak Lets You Send Anonymous Text-to-Voice Emails
Tired of the boring all way you send out email messages? A new service has been launched earlier this month that lets you type emails just as you always did, but then converts the text to speech so that the person you sent the mail to does not receive a text, but an mp3. The service is called BlindSpeak and is currently in Beta.
At the current moment, you can only send out 5 synthesized messages per day, in a very straightforward manner. Just type in the message you want to send under “what should it say?” and provide a valid email message in the “where is it going?” window. Click “Preview” to see if the audio corresponds to what you have typed, and then click “Speak!” to send the message. The receiver will be able to either download an mp3 version of the message, or visit BlindSpeak and listen to it online.
To my mind, there are some advantages and some drawbacks to using BlindSpeak. In terms of advantages, the service is more than welcomed by people that have problems with their eyes, cannot read “good” (the pun was intentional), or simply cannot be bothered with actually reading the email messages they receive. For these people may I suggest Magic Glass and Dragnifier for zooming in purposes and HeadMouse 2 for controlling the mouse without the use of hands.
In terms of disadvantages, the first one is that the number of emails you can send out is limited to just 5. Then there is the matter of the synthesized voice: it is Microsoft Sam, the default text-to-speech voice you get in Windows XP, which I find so annoying that I’m counting this as a drawback to BlindSpeak. Then there is the issue of anonymity: the service does not ask the sender to provide any details, meaning that the receiver will have no idea who sent them that email (unless they take the time to type in their name and the synthesizer does not mess it up).
At the current moment, you can only send out 5 synthesized messages per day, in a very straightforward manner. Just type in the message you want to send under “what should it say?” and provide a valid email message in the “where is it going?” window. Click “Preview” to see if the audio corresponds to what you have typed, and then click “Speak!” to send the message. The receiver will be able to either download an mp3 version of the message, or visit BlindSpeak and listen to it online.
To my mind, there are some advantages and some drawbacks to using BlindSpeak. In terms of advantages, the service is more than welcomed by people that have problems with their eyes, cannot read “good” (the pun was intentional), or simply cannot be bothered with actually reading the email messages they receive. For these people may I suggest Magic Glass and Dragnifier for zooming in purposes and HeadMouse 2 for controlling the mouse without the use of hands.
In terms of disadvantages, the first one is that the number of emails you can send out is limited to just 5. Then there is the matter of the synthesized voice: it is Microsoft Sam, the default text-to-speech voice you get in Windows XP, which I find so annoying that I’m counting this as a drawback to BlindSpeak. Then there is the issue of anonymity: the service does not ask the sender to provide any details, meaning that the receiver will have no idea who sent them that email (unless they take the time to type in their name and the synthesizer does not mess it up).
