DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
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DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments MAGIC WAND Speak & Learn
| Date of introduction: | 1983 | Display technology: | n.a. |
| New price: | $120.00 Books: $12.00 |
Display size: | |
| Size: | 11.0" x 11-0" x 2.3" | ||
| Weight: | 26 ounces | Serial No: | |
| Batteries: | 4*D cells | Date of manufacture: | wk 46 year 1983 |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | USA | |
| Precision: | Integrated circuits: | C14007, TMS5220, CD2228 | |
| Memories: | |||
| Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
The
MAGIC WAND "SPEAK &
LEARN" followed the original "SPEAKING READER"
within a few months from its introduction. The
only change we discovered so far is the label on the housing of the product.
Both MAGIC WARD and SPEAKING READER together give you an imagination of the technology behind
this rare educational toy:
A small barcode reader catches words and sounds from a text
book and the synthesizer technology borrowed from the
earlier Speak & Spell, Speak
& Math or the Speak & Read reproduces
it. The barcodes are entered from the left to the right.
The barcode reader (wand) is attached to a long cable to reach the every corner of the rather large books.
The side view of the barcode reader shows a black tip on the right made from infrared transmissive plastic. Inside of the housing neatly formed for small hands you
will find a Infrared LED as transmitter and a transistor as receiver to sample the barcodes printed in the books.
The story books end with a little reading comprehension test asking some questions
and demonstrates the capabilities of the innovative concept of the MAGIC WAND.
Dismantling this
MAGIC WAND Speak & Learn manufactured in November 1983 by Texas Instruments in the United
States reveals a design centered around
just three main Integrated Circuits:
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• C14007: Most likely a TMS1000 based 4-bit microcontroller • TMS5220: TMS5200 VSP (Voice Synthesis Processor) with updated LPC-10 table • TMC0355/CD2228: VSM (Voice Synthesis Memory) with 32k Bits |
Unfortunately released Texas Instruments never a list of the available barcode-books of the MAGIC WAND Speak & Learn but fellow collector James Townsend compiles it for us.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, December 5, 2001. No reprints without written permission.