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Speak & Spell Hacking For Fun And Profit
Bowie J. Poag writes "Pete Casper has created a number of truly bizarre Speak & Spell hacks, and case mods (!) suitable for live performances. The highly modified Speak & Spell can be controlled either by the membrane keypad or using an Atari joystick of all things. Tons of photographs and MP3 samples included.. I want one. Now."
Just for those of you who are not old enough or, like me, not American enough to immediately understand what exactly is an Speak and Spell device which that guy modded, here some clarification (ripped from the first or second google hit):
Plenty of toys become hits, but only a select few make history. One of the finest examples in the historical arena is Speak & Spell. Not only did this toy educate its users, it spoke to them using brand-new computer technology. Simply put, this toy managed to pack a computer's worth of top-flight technology into a plastic shell that was small enough to conveniently fit in a backpack. As a result, it became a favorite with kids and one of the most successful educational toys of all time.
Texas Instruments, a company best known at the time for its calculators, introduced Speak & Spell in 1978. This electronic marvel was design to teach its users spelling skills with vocalized lessons. What made this toy impressive was that it pulled this off without using a tape recorder or other conventional recording device. Speak & Spell created convincing speech sounds through a method called digital speech synthesis. In other words, it used computerized circuits to create a replica of the human vocal tract that would synthetically "speak" words aloud when prompted. This was the first use of this kind of technology, making Speak & Spell a toy for the history books.
Speak & Spell offered five different spelling games to occupy the user. For the most part, these games revolved around Speak & Spell's saying a word aloud for the user to spell. This was accomplished by punching in the proper combination of letters on the toy's alphabetical keypad. As each letter was pressed, Speak & Spell would say it aloud so the l'il speller could hear his choice. Other buttons allowed the user to hear a word repeated, retype the answer before entering it, or even receive a clue.
Another nice thing about Speak & Spell was that its electronic brain could be expanded to keep up with its users as they grew older. Speak & Spell pulled this off through new learning modules--little cartridges inserted in the back of the machine that could add new words to the games to increase the level of learning up to an 8th grade level.
Speak & Spell's unique combination of technology and fun made it an instant hit with kids. Its popularity with its target audience was given a further boost when a certain adorable alien used it to help him "phone home" in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Both parents and educators appreciated its value as a teaching tool, and their combined seals of approval made Speak & Spell a common sight in homes and schools alike. Its popularity also led to sequel electronic games for other areas of learning like Speak & Math and Speak & Read.
Speak & Spells are not made today, but their popularity continues to live on. It has become a popular possession for Generation X adults who want to relive their youth, and musicians often sample Speak & Spell's vocal sounds to create trippy yet oddly familiar effects in their music. Having already outlived its own shelf life, there is no doubt that Speak & Spell will long occupy a place in the hearts of the grownups it once educated.
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There is a Speak & Spell simulator for Windows here if any of you want to relive those great S&S memories. :-P USA and British versions are available.
Alien Devices
Anti-theory
Both sites are way cooler than the story's link and have sound samples and howto guides on circuit bending. Enjoy!
Don't click on it, fools. Always read your status bar.
Editors aren't supposed to correct spelling errors in direct quotes they are supposed to point out that there is an error with [sic]. However, most people don't know what that means, and many submissions have too many errors to bother fixing them all. In that case a better submission should be chosen or the editor could write thier own summary of the article.
I'm a little shocked this kind of thing is considered news. That aside, there are certainly better sites to bring up the topic.
I've never heard it referred to as "hacking" (though I suppose it's quite appropriate) or case modding, but circuit bending toy keyboards has been commonplace for years, particularly in experimental music. Noteworthy circuit-benders include Not Breathing, Skincage, Dead Voices On Air, Chris and Cosey, and manymanymany others. I'm even picking up the tools to start doing it, likely for tweaking the hell out of a speak and music.
Anyway. For people more interested in the nitty-gritty elements of this, rather than this lacking article, check out the following:
http://www.anti-theory.com/soundart/circuitbend - reed ghazala's excellent circuit-bending tutorials.
http://www.anti-theory.com/mainpage - anti-theory workshops.
http://www.oddmusic.com - lots of bizarre and exotic instruments, plus a special gallery of circuit-bent toys. most instruments have sound samples available.
http://www.acmeengineering.net/obnoxicator.html - well, it's not a toy keyboard..but who could resist a modified megaphone outfitted with fx pedals? loooove the obnoxicator.
http://www.carrionsound.com - dave wright/not breathing's site o' circuit bending goodness. plenty of sounds, pictures, and other happy things.
A little more meat next time, eh guys?