4 ms·

I dunno. My friends with iPhones in Taiwan preferred the handwriting recognition to phonetic IMEs. I think the article is a bit sensationalist.

by xiaoma 16y ago

tokenadult 16y ago
Have your friends actually put themselves to speed and accuracy tests in writing through each method? Of course most people do best what they practice most, but one of the reasons phonetic input (Hanyu pinyin on the mainland, still BO PO MO FO mostly in Taiwan) is the predominant way of entering Hanzi computer data all over the Chinese-speaking world is that other methods were tried (since the 1980s, repeatedly) and found wanting. It would be interesting to see if handwriting input on the latest generation of pads could ever catch up to moderately proficient typists. P.S. This reminds me of the days in the 1980s when I had to translate handwritten manuscripts by magazine reporters in Chinese into English. There is a lot of nonstandard handwriting in the Chinese-speaking world, as I discovered when I would ask colleagues to read one another's handwriting to get a reality check on how I read it.
- xiaoma 16y ago
  I doubt anybody has subjected themselves to a rigorous study on the subject. What the people I know have done is this: try the handwriting recognition for a few days, go back to zhuyin or maybe wubi for a day or two and then go back to handwriting because they believe it's faster based on their own experience. Non-standard writing and simplifications are recognized in many cases. It's far from perfect; it's just a bit faster and more convenient than their old phones.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - Jd 16y ago
    Apples and oranges. I believe the discussion was of standard input systems (i.e. keyboards) not iPhone keyboards for which I can easily believe that handwriting outperforms pinyin and/or wubi.

4 ms·

I dunno. My friends with iPhones in Taiwan preferred the handwriting recognition to phonetic IMEs. I think the article is a bit sensationalist.

by xiaoma 16y ago

I dunno. My friends with iPhones in Taiwan preferred the handwriting recognition to phonetic IMEs. I think the article is a bit sensationalist.

tokenadult 16y ago
Have your friends actually put themselves to speed and accuracy tests in writing through each method? Of course most people do best what they practice most, but one of the reasons phonetic input (Hanyu pinyin on the mainland, still BO PO MO FO mostly in Taiwan) is the predominant way of entering Hanzi computer data all over the Chinese-speaking world is that other methods were tried (since the 1980s, repeatedly) and found wanting. It would be interesting to see if handwriting input on the latest generation of pads could ever catch up to moderately proficient typists. P.S. This reminds me of the days in the 1980s when I had to translate handwritten manuscripts by magazine reporters in Chinese into English. There is a lot of nonstandard handwriting in the Chinese-speaking world, as I discovered when I would ask colleagues to read one another's handwriting to get a reality check on how I read it.
- xiaoma 16y ago
  I doubt anybody has subjected themselves to a rigorous study on the subject. What the people I know have done is this: try the handwriting recognition for a few days, go back to zhuyin or maybe wubi for a day or two and then go back to handwriting because they believe it's faster based on their own experience. Non-standard writing and simplifications are recognized in many cases. It's far from perfect; it's just a bit faster and more convenient than their old phones.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - Jd 16y ago
    Apples and oranges. I believe the discussion was of standard input systems (i.e. keyboards) not iPhone keyboards for which I can easily believe that handwriting outperforms pinyin and/or wubi.