· Posted on X by Dirk Lauf @sproutmed

Dirk Lauf built his own Mac dictation tool: 28,525 words for 6 cents

Instead of paying for another subscription, Dirk Lauf built his own dictation tool for his Mac, doing exactly what he needs and nothing else. This week he dictated 28,525 words at 124 words a minute, which by the tool's own count saved about eight hours of typing. The bill for the whole month so far: 6 cents. His takeaway is that when what you need is narrow, building it yourself is often cheaper than subscribing. Dictation apps sell broad features. This one serves an audience of one.

Saving, as stated by the author: 6 cents for the month

Instead of paying for another subscription, I built my own dictation tool for my Mac. It does exactly what I need and nothing else.

This week I dictated 28,525 words at 124 words a minute. By its own count that's about 8 hours saved over typing.

The bill so far is 6 cents (for the full month) 😎

More people will end up building small tools like this for themselves. When what you need is narrow, building it yourself is now often cheaper than subscribing to someone else's.

— Dirk Lauf, read the original on X

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