My thoughts on Instant Text

The product seems to operate similar to ST in terms of your eyes having to constantly move back and forth between the line of type and the options available. To me that would be like looking up and down between what I'm currently typing and the task bar at the bottom of my desktop.

The advisory lines are closer to your text than that, and it is only a case of glancing down. Very quick and easy for most people to get used to.

1. I need something that won't drop me down to zip production and take weeks to build up to where I was before. I have way too much work to do.

You can get started with IT quickly and only spend the time as and when you have it to get more involved in tweaking it to your preferences. Any new software is likely to slow you down a little in the very beginning, but I can’t see it taking you weeks to build back up.

2. I have memory issues. Let's just say that I don't remember things like I used to.

Now where have I heard that before? Ah, yes... from me. IT is perfect for you. No memorization required unless you choose to make your short forms something specific and different. If you have any lists already, from AutoCorrect or some other text expander, for instance, you can import them and continue to use what you already remember.

3. I want something that's not complicated to learn. If the instruction book is more than 3-5 pages long, I'm not likely to spend time learning the product.

It’s not so much an instruction book – more a well-written manual on really getting the very most out of the program. In these days of software being sold with NO printed instructions, the manual should be seen as a big plus rather than a negative.

4. I would like to use the product bit by bit and not have to spend all my time on it right away, as a means of learning how to use it.

That’s the ideal way to learn IT, in my opinion. A little bit a day until you can’t live without it (it won’t be long).

5. How do you get past the "reading" issue in terms of making the correct choice? It seems to me that in order for ST or IT to work you have to slow down to about 15 wpm in order to allow the system to pop up the choices, which you next have to read, and then your brain has to register "That's the one I want." If you're able to quickly read and make a decision about which choice you want, wouldn't your production drop down to 1-2 lines a minute?

You’re not really reading the words, just recognizing them, which is done at a glance. Particularly once you are used to what is actually IN your glossary (list).Think about when you are driving... 60 m.p.h. and trying to look for a direction sign on the highway. You don’t actually “read” everything on the sign you see ahead of you – you just glance at it and your brain is able to pick out the word you need almost instantly. It’s the same kind of thing. Besides, you get used to what is in your glossaries pretty quickly. If that glance down has given you a line or two of text (or more), the split-second it might have taken has saved you MUCH more time than that in terms of typing.

It is also possible to turn off the visual advisories altogether. They still work but you would have to remember where everything was. Some users might do this if they already have thousands of short forms memorized (sure wouldn’t be me!!!)

I don't mean to sound ludicrous, but I'm just leery about investing time I really don't have to invest (I'm already working 45-50 hours a week).

I understand. But you would be amazed at how any little bit of time “lost” in getting used to IT would be paid back to you, and then some, in increased productivity before long. Don’t forget the 30-day money back guarantee. : -)

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