From Joe Mc Swiney
The best spellchecker is Google. It is virtually immune to the “Cupertino effect” you describe (1 December 2007, p 62). Google has access to probably every word in all major languages and, more significantly, it can evaluate spellings in context.
Type a phrase into the Google search page with one or more misspellings and you will usually get one correct suggestion, presented as “Did you mean…?”. This contrasts with the list of mostly incorrect suggestions provided by traditional spellcheckers, including Google’s own one in Gmail. Maybe the contextual spelling ability of the Google/internet juxtaposition is a preview of the way in which machine sentience will emerge inadvertently.
Mercer Island, Washington, US
