Spell checkers, boon or bane?

[ramforce]

As any computer program they tend to fail. I think they're a good tool for beginners but they're not to be 100% trusted.
I am the first to admit that they do catch some spelling mistakes from time to time but they're still no match for a keen eye.  

[rain-one]

Oh, pick me! Pick me!
I have a continuing vendetta against Spellcheck (of the Microsoft Word variety, as I have bothered with no other yet) for several reasons:
1. You cannot write poetry on Word because Spellcheck will have a field day with its sentence fragments and improper formatting.
2. I cannot for the life of me force Spellcheck to keep my default launguage as Canadian English, so I am forever getting flagged down for typing 'colour' and 'honour' and so on.
3. As visible in every part of the Internet, Spellcheck causes mass laziness and the loss of many functions of the thinking organ known as the brain.
4. As a general rule, I don't like inanimate objects that talk back.

On the plus side, it keeps utter illiteracy at a tolerably low level.  

[KathlinTheElf]

*Looks at Google toolbar*
The spellchecker is great. I hit it every time before hitting "submit" anywhere. I've got odd tendency to make non-spelling (or grammar) errors in posts so I have to proof read everything anyway.  

[red_moon_wolfess]

Essays: Yes
After writeing anywear from two to ten pages worth of essay, in size 12 font, there is no way I am going back to check it for errors, I would prefer to just be careful and read everything that spell check catches, correcting it everytime it makes a mistake.

Internet posting: Hell no
If you are too lazy to read a post that is likely not even a sentance long you shouldn't be typing anything.

RPing over the internet biggrin epends
if you are one of those people who's posts should be printed out and sold as a novle then feal free. But if you are one of those horrid noobs who prefer the entrance *walks into room* don't even think about it.

this is my opinion on just some of the uses for spell checker, of corse there are other sinarios and I can sit here all day and list them but... I'm to tired right now sweatdrop not to mention it would take forever.  

[Knit Happens]

A Little Poem Regarding Computer Spell Checkers...

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

Spell checkers are useful, but require the use of good proofreading skills (i.e. someone paid to read the text aloud repeatedly...) for a flawless product. I often find errors such as using "too" instead of "to" or vice versa in books and wonder why no one noticed such a glaring error.  

[Sexy Blue Candy]

Everything here is very very true, spell checkers are useful but you can't depend on them.  

[Bladeglory]

I like spell checkers. I think they help me a lot. But maybe thats only because I know what words mean what and I only make spelling mistakes. (E.G. I don't type "there" when I mean "they're")  

[zaminy]

My Macbook has spellcheck integrated into many of it's programs automatically. Like my internet browser here has a spellcheck. I use it mainly for when I'm not sure of the spelling of a word, but aside from that, it only pops up when I've made a typo usually. People rely on them too heavily for my taste, but they work to make the illiterate seem literate.  

[Yue Ming]

I actually like spell checkers. I'm horrible when it comes to proof-reading my own work, and often I miss a lot of spelling mistakes, even really obvious ones. =/ I find that I always type the word 'our' as 'out', and spell check doesn't pick that up for me since it's a properly spelled word, so I never notice it until I print out my work. Then I always have to go back and fix it.
Spell checkers are good, but you can't really rely on them to fix all your mistakes.  

[ririnyan]

To be honest, I stopped using a spellchecker at university because it was irritating that the program didn't have the range of vocabulary I needed. I could have added every single technical word I required into the database, but by the time I'd done that it would have made more sense to just thoroughly proof-read my work. There really is no substitute for scrupulous human checking. smile  

[Sovea]

They're useful for as far as they go, but you do still need to proofread. I've actually never used one, though, and in my opinion, I wish people would use them more. "Soary im not a gud speler" is NOT an excuse for posting unreadable crap when you can easily click a button that will catch your most glaring mistakes. I don't think they promote laziness-- Yes, a person can think "I don't need to spell correctly, because the computer will fix it for me!" But the majority of people who spell poorly aren't going to become spelling wizards anyway, no matter how hard they proofread. Some people just can't spell. If you're one of those people, then please use the spellchecker instead of apologizing endlessly for your lack of spelling skills.

I just... don't understand some peoples' refusal to take thirty seconds to press a button that will make them look that much smarter to everyone.  

[iMUFFIN HOAR]

The one that is in Microsoft Word is terrible. Sometimes, it tells me I'm wrong, when I know I'm not. I haven't had experience with any others.  

[Jam Tarte]

I think that I am going to download "Linnux", as "Microsoft Word" is very limited. I think proofreading is needed when performing a task.
I admit that sometimes, I like to play around with "Microsoft Word", for instance:
High, Howe R you?
idea Perhaps, some how, it makes Bill Gates feel bad.  

[Duke.Lychee]

I am a Mac user, and I use the open-platform text program Open Office. It doesn't have a great spell checker, and generally I don't use a spell checker, becuase they can let several things slip by. I will merely proof-read it myself. But if there is a word that I am typing that I truly don't know how to spell correctly I will check the spell checker. In my opinion thats about they're good to be used for.