Why Should You Consider Enhanced Computing?

Enhanced applications can provide many long-term and short-term benefits to companies. The six sample applications presented in this book seek to make traditional applications more efficient. They take advantage of advances that have been years in the making. More developers now have the opportunity to utilize these same advances.

The most noticeable and easiest technology to implement is speech recognition. Microsoft and various other hardware and software vendors are making huge commitments toward taking speech recognition mainstream. Two applications in this book deal specifically with the newly released Microsoft Speech Application SDK. Speech recognition offers workers and customers a naturalistic and often more efficient access to applications. Another technology featured in this book is Microsoft SQL Servers Analysis Services. Analysis Services provides a way to analyze large quantities of data and extract meaningful information.

In order to remain marketable, companies must offer unique and useful services. Developers who possess the skills necessary to create these unique and useful services will be the most valuable. You are probably already familiar with some of the tools and technologies featured, so the learning curve should be small.