Chips that changed the world
IEEE Spectrum has compiled a deeply geeky and interesting article about "25 microchips that shook the world." Here's a bit about one of my faves, the Texas Instruments TMC0281 Speech Synthesizer from 1978. From IEEE Spectrum:
"25 Microchips That Shook The World"If it weren't for the TMC0281, E.T. would've never been able to "phone home." That's because the TMC0281, the first single-chip speech synthesizer, was the heart (or should we say the mouth?) of Texas Instruments' Speak & Spell learning toy. In the Steven Spielberg movie, the flat-headed alien uses it to build his interplanetary communicator. (For the record, E.T. also uses a coat hanger, a coffee can, and a circular saw.)
The TMC0281 conveyed voice using a technique called linear predictive coding; the sound came out as a combination of buzzing, hissing, and popping. It was a surprising solution for something deemed "impossible to do in an integrated circuit," says Gene A. Frantz, one of the four engineers who designed the toy and is still at TI. Variants of the chip were used in Atari arcade games and Chrysler's K-cars. In 2001, TI sold its speech-synthesis chip line to Sensory, which discontinued it in late 2007. But if you ever need to place a long, very-long-distance phone call, you can find Speak & Spell units in excellent condition on eBay for about US $50.
the latest
latest episodes
http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/speaknspell.html
Flash-based emulator.
What do LFO, Project UFO and OMD have in common?
Shit, I forgot that E.T. was the world's first circuit-bender! Take THAT, geeks!
555 FTW
One of my first toys! I miss it now, if only I had known its importance as a child. :(
I would add the 7400 - the first widely distributed TTL logic chip, descendants of which are in almost every digital device on the planet.
I'm glad they included the Z80 which is still used to this day in washing machines, cars, home electronics and just about anything else that has electronics in it. My electronics engeneer father-in-law tells me you can buy them with onboard memory, in bulk, for under a buck.
$50 buck on EBAY?!
Egads I have one laying in my parents basement right now...it is missing the battery door probably, but last time I checked it still works...
I never was good an language, but it was so fun to play with.
Yay - saw this the other day through an expired IEEE membership. Very cool article.
Bought one of these for my daughters 4th BD she loved it and flat wore it out
I credit speak and spell with her utter lack of fear dealing with tech
I would add the SID chip as used in the C64 AND 128.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_SID
One of the first sound chips used in home computers, and certainly one of the best.
S&S played a huge role in my learning to spell.
Don't forget to go to page one -- the provided link [2009-May-9, 09:11 EST] goes to page 2 for some reason.
Even better, read the whole article on one page.
I've adjusted the link to page 1.
Moog synthesizers never used 8038 chips. Those are pretty crappy chips. I'd rather see something like a 3080., much more useful.
#2, Manooshi:
Reed Ghazala and Michel Waisvisz were circuit-bending in the late 60s/early 70s; I am sure there were others.
I was fascinated by Speak & Spell as a kid, but I never had one... I did later get a Currah microspeech (based on the SP0256-AL2 chip) for my ZX Spectrum, though.