Digital voice recorders have been around for a few years. In the beginning they were novelty items that could only hold 5 seconds of recording. In 1996 the first digital recording became available since that time they have become one of the most practical and functional mobile devices on the market.

Once thought to be primarily a tool for busy executives, today digital voice recorders can be found just about anywhere. From the classroom to the boardroom, people on the move are taking advantage of the technology in a host of different ways.

For example, some Universities now offer programs where they give students digital recorders to supplement note taking in class. With the advancements in technology digital recorder offer a great deal of functionality, each class lecture can be recorded as a separate file within in a folder on the recorder. Important parts of the lecture can be Bookmarked (Priority Indexed) for easy reference. Because it?s digital technology, the files can be downloaded to the pc where they can be edited, played and organized further. How is that for Automating Note Taking!

There are countless ways to utilize this technology. Imagine recording your thoughts for an important meeting while in a car and later having the recorder playback an alarm with a recorded message reminding you to pick up detergent on the way home.  There are many practical applications, it is the modern day solution for an ever growing mobile society looking for an effective way to record and transmit information.  Years ago professionals had to send microcassettes around the country, today the files can be downloaded to the pc, emailed, ftp, all in a matter of minutes.

There have been several other advancements including integration with speech recognition applications for transcription purposes. More recently the ability to record audio and still images simultaneously.  This feature could be utilized in many ways,  just think an insurance adjuster, realtor, physician, reporter, art critic can give a complete detailed description of a picture taken and then play it back in slide-show format with narration. With so many possibilities, it will be interesting to see what is next and how the latest technology can be utilized in unique ways.