Texas Instruments Speak & Spell, 1978-1985
Add to SetSummary
Making an electronic chip that could synthesize speech was a tricky problem. But once the engineers at Texas Instruments solved it in 1978, their first product with their new chip wasn't an assistive device for the vision-impaired; it was a toy. The Speak & Spell was a popular and novel educational toy that pronounced words for early readers.
Making an electronic chip that could synthesize speech was a tricky problem. But once the engineers at Texas Instruments solved it in 1978, their first product with their new chip wasn't an assistive device for the vision-impaired; it was a toy. The Speak & Spell was a popular and novel educational toy that pronounced words for early readers.
Artifact
Educational toy
Date Made
1978-1985
On Exhibit
at Henry Ford Museum in Your Place in Time
Object ID
99.222.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Plastic
Dimensions
Height: 10 in
Width: 7 in
Thickness: 1.25 in
Inscriptions
front: SPEAK & SPELL / TEXAS INSTRUMENTS / TI 1978 back: A LIBRARY OF CARTRIDGES!.....TEXAS INSTRUMENTS / ELECTRONIC LEARINING AID
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