"Google Docs OCR" and why it's so exciting to me

OCR technology, for those unfamiliar, analyses an image and attempts to convert it to text. This is the technology that enables many of us blind folks to read printed material, we can scan a document, run it through OCR software and depending on the quality of the document and other factors, can read the resulting text with screen reading software. Whereas scanners are relatively inexpensive, good quality OCR packages often are not. Online solutions, therefore, are an attractive option, especially given their relative low price, or in Google’s case, no price. There are certain drawbacks to online OCR solutions, most notably that one must be online in order to process a document. Still, online OCR solutions may make it possible for many to access printed materials in a timely fashion.