Jott.com: Save Time, Reduce Annoyance

One of my recent secret weapons is Jott.com: you call, leave yourself a message, and they convert the message text and email it to you with a link to the sound file. It's free (for now) and a wonderful time and/or drudgery saver for anyone on the move. As is obvious from previous posts, my in-depth focus on many topics comes from audiobooks, lectures, and podcasts. And the only time I have for these is outdoor workout time. So out on a trail somewhere, I end up having many of the ideas I'd like to use, explore...or just store away to fool around with later. And for 80+%, not only wouldn't I follow up without capturing the idea in the moment, but in truth, I may not even remember considering it. Before Jott, I used the voice recorder on my phone, but just the small step of transcribing put that somewhere between unattractive and annoying.

To me, Jott does several things right:

• The offering is simple and responds to a need some find critical...at least some of the time: call, leave a message, hang-up, and receive your message in text
  
• Visual design is simple and friendly, but not amateurish
• Sign-up is well done—not just easy, but well thought-out and “application-like” with tips about why certain personal info is needed.

Perhaps most importantly, they’ve thought through where to apply technology and where today’s economy lets them apply people. Apparently, initial transcription is by machine (with voice recognition using service-side server power rather than lower desktop power). Some number of messages are then redone or reviewed by “clean room” human transcribers.
I've frequently gotten an email with one transcription only to receive an email a bit later with a more accurate one.

If you read the "Why You Should Blog" post I link to below and decide to blog, I also suspect you will find Jott.com an invaluable tool.