[NFBCS] Blast from the past

[Dale HELTZER]

I have a Votrax synthesizer on my shelf that I bought in 1980/81
Don't know if it still works ... <thoughtful face>
-D


-----Original Message-----
From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Doug Lee via NFBCS
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2024 12:00 PM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Doug Lee <dgl at dlee.org>
Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Blast from the past

I finally threw away two SynPhonix 215 ISA cards a few months ago, which I used as late as the early 2000s to run Artic Business Vision and WinVision. BV ran up through Windows 98, I can't remember if it ran on XP, and let me run Linux and FreeBSD boxes via serial cable by launching Telix in a DOS box. Snappier than anything else of its time I say. I even wrote a TSR that made sound corresponding to serial traffic, so I could audibly register incoming packets and gauge when things were done, how fast a download was going, etc.
I still have a DecTalk Express but can't find its power cube, so the battery has to be extremely dead.

The oldest tech I still use is a vintage 1975 or so Realistic AM/FM radio that I bought for $25.00, as my first major purchase as a kid. I guess it was a good choice; it still works to this day!

I heard a tale two days or so ago of a guy who still runs a 1947 refrigerator. My own fridge is ailing slightly so I might be a bit envious, assuming the tale is true.

On Sun, Feb 25, 2024 at 09:32:08AM -0500, NFBCS mailing list wrote:
   I’m going through and throwing out a lot of old stuff, and I found a
   review from AFB of 4 laptops adapted for the blind.  I guess it’s from
   the late ‘80’s, roughly.

   The laptops cost between $1500 and $2500.  2 had RAM of 40K.  One had
   20K!  One of them used micro-cassettes for storage.

   I had one of them myself, the Toshiba 1100 from Artic Tech.  It weighed
   8 pounds, but it had a whopping 640K of RAM, and 2 floppy disk drives.
   It’s no wonder I have herniated disks in my neck, schlepping that thing
   and/or the Versabraille around.  But it did the job I needed done.

   Anyway, I thought people might enjoy the blast from the past.

   Tracy


-- 
Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org                http://www.dlee.org
"Innovation is hard to schedule." -- Dan Fylstra

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