[NFBCS] Blast from the past

[Doug Lee]

In case a quick trip through my early computer and synth/speech software history is of any interest...

Before 1983: Never saw a computer. A friend kept ragging on me to take a programming course. I finally did.
1983, junior in high school: First computer course, BASIC on Apple II+ and II/E machines, TexTalker for speech. The same friend also helped me learn 6502 machine code (not really Assembly; I never heard of an assembler for years after, and wrote code by typing hex).
1984: Pascal, no speech; it had its own OS and I had to use readers.
1985 or so: College, started using PC Vert hardware synth at the local rehab center, along with readers.
1986: Synth at AT&T Bell Labs summer job, not sure what it was; see below. The computer teacher from 1983 wrote the best reference letter for me I'd seen to date. (Not related to synth history but I like crediting him now and then.)
1987 or so: A friend got Artic Vision for his DOS machine and I started using that for some class work.
1987 summer: VP synth and software at another AT&T Bell Labs summer position. See below.
1989 or so: Finally got my own computer, with SynPhonix 215 card and Artic Business Vision.
1990: First consulting gig, Audapter hardware synth with Flipper speech software. Funny deal for the business: I subcontracted under a contractor to set all that up, then with the contractor's permission, the client contracted me directly to teach the user how to use it.)
   (I also got to tease my Dad, who contracted me to help move his office, because he used all but my head, the other gig used only my head, and the other gig of course paid better.)
1995 or so, wild guess: The inevitable first launch into Windows 3.1. I think I got WinVision. Definitely WinVision by the time I got to Windows 95.
1997: First proper use of JAWS, as I began teaching it in Minnesota. Time to learn real fast, that was.
Late 2000: Started JAWS scripting.

First Bell Labs synth: I keep thinking it was a Votrax but I'm not sure. It had a separate calculator-like
keypad. There was a "Describe" key, much like the Kurzweil Nominator key, for finding out what other keys
would do. I thought the synth always sounded like it was simultaneously bored and smiling. It did not speak
very fast.

Second Bell Labs synth: This one did indeed go very fast, and was probably given to me for on-the-job use
because the blind sysadmin in the neighboring office did quite well with the same setup. The software part
was started with a VPInit command, and the commands I remember to control the speech were arranged on
function keys, which were in two columns to the left of the keyboard proper, if I remember right. I was told
that the speech system came from Enabling Technologies for a staggering $2,500.00 at the time. It worked quite
well, except for one little capacitor that apparently had a reputation for overheating on the synth board. I
didn't know of this reputation until after I came in one morning and found that my synth's power cube had burned
out overnight. A new power supply was rushed in; but while I was working one day soon after that, my
earphone suddenly made a quickly loudening 60 Hz buzz followed by a small pop, followed of course by silence. I
caught that process in time somehow to prevent physical damage, but I located the wayward capacitor by its
unmistakable ("OUCH!") heat signature on the board. We called the company and found out about the
reputation. Their advice? Cut it off the board! Amid my astonished reactions, this was done, with complete
success and no further incidents. The voice, btw, slightly resembled the PC Vert voice, now that I think
about it. PC Vert was a monotone though, and this one had a couple tones I think.

On Sun, Feb 25, 2024 at 09:50:22PM -0500, NFBCS mailing list wrote:
Boy, I love the memory lane trope..
I started with the TRS (trash) 80 in the tenth grade and used the original IBM PC and Macintosh in college.  My first personal pc compatible had a 12 MGHz processor and 1 Meg of ram.  It also had 30 mB hard drive that I had partitioned as MS Dos 3.3 would not work with hard drives larger than 20 mb.!

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBCS <nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Dale HELTZER via NFBCS
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2024 7:55 PM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Dale HELTZER <deheltzer at msn.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBCS] Blast from the past

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
A mailing list is like a car where brakes and accelerator are the same pedal:
The effect of putting your foot down is a bit hard to predict!  (04/04/2012)