SmoothTalker for Macintosh

[HemaZev]

Is that a 512ke? It sounds like an 800k drive.

[falconxample]

@HemaZev it's the name of the computer "Mac 512", one version before the Mac Plus

[HemaZev]

@falconxample The floppy drive is not a 400KB, it is an 800KB, because the motor is silent and the head sounds different. I believe this is a 512ke, for enhanced. 512k Enhanced came after the 512k and before the Plus. It simply means it is an improved 512k. The 512k would actually take an 800k drive and make it sound all bizarre, really slow. The ROM in the 512ke is upgraded to accept an 800k.

[CaptainAceMacDonald]

still got one of those smoothtalker disks? id love one for my 128k.

[Rueffilicious]

i had that program back in the day....

[cicalone70]

The CLAN .. CLAN .CLAN of the keys is beautiful

[ForgetfulCollector]

I always thought that the old text-to-speech programs used to sound rather strange. They weren't much better by OS 9, but the ones for OS X seem to be decent.

Either way, it is pretty neat that in 1984, they had these things talking.

[bladeolson]

My friends and I used to do phoney phone calles with Smoothtalker. It is amazing how many people fell for it.

[MichaelTurnerATL]

hi, i need help finding a classic computer game. its the one were your like a triangle and you go and capture these yellow flags and these red triangular things try to stop you. im not sure if it is a classic mac game but i had it on an old mac a long time ago. thanks.

[lellerouge]

does anyone remember ''munchies'' an old mac game it was really funny!!!

[jchase1970]

I remember using a old atari 800 computer that had a program call elissa on it that you could use for text to speech but it sounded better then this. it had a female voice

[NonTechno]

Your Mac Classic is WHITE! How are you able to keep it in such good condition?

[wayner8088]

@NonTechno keep it out of the sun I guess??? But after nearly THIRTY YEARS~......!!!

[mundotaku]

@NonTechno It is not white, it is the light, if you see his hand it also looks unnaturally white.

[NonTechno]

@mundotaku Oh, I see. It's still less yellowed than most of these I see.

[MacintoshPlus1MB]

I think thats a plus or a 512k because of the sound the floppy drive makes.

[cartoonfan1920s]

Wow! I own a mac and like to play with the robotic speech software on it and BOY we've come a long way! Some of the voices from SmoothTalker are built into the new imacs. The voices remind me of Kraftwerk's 1986 album Electric Cafe. Musique-Non Stop! Techno Pop!

[Rueffilicious]

i used to have that program back in the day...

[theMacintoshFiles]

nice yours isnt yellow

[Spoolingturbo6]

I've got some old macs for sale ..... send a message

[MacGenius35]

i am portuguese and i would lioke to buy a macintosh (those you have for sale)

[Spoolingturbo6]

MSG me and we'll set something up, I have 2 working and 2 or three for parts.

[theMacintoshFiles]

ill buy

[davidfradin]

Smoothtalker came from First Byte of which I was the president in 1985. It sold for $149 and had a male and female voice and with over 8,000 copies sold it was one of the top 100 Mac applications. Bill Joos now of Garage Ventures did the outstanding marketing of the product.

[FreudRulz]

I'm buying one. A Macintosh I mean. Interesting BTW.

[Lachlant1984]

That voice sounds better than Microsoft Sam. Did this program come with the original Macintosh? I like that.

[davidfradin]

No. The Mac shipped with MacinTalk...one of Steve Job's favorites.

[VeronicaDeVore]

wow, you need to work on those typing skills lol

[Aqwert76]

still better than vista

[4runnerOfTheFuture]

I agree.

[neoqueto]

@Aqwert76 Vista's worse than CP/M. Sounds like Stephen Hawking!

[JellyRandom]

What mac is this?

[helix195]

It is either the 128k (original) or the 512k.

[douro20]

The Mac SE has a Klatt synthesizer in it.

[cutebikerwannabe]

I *heart* my Macintosh Plus

[ashthepokemonmaster]

my old amiga 500 talks better than that!!!!!!

[Hatefulpersonuk]

Yeah... Not Really A Smooth Talker.

[quiktymevideo]

Macintosh is celebrating it's 25th anniversary. I miss my old Macintosh computers. I wish I never gave any of mine away. :(

[mombiela4444]

i need help plzz fast wich macintash is better Vintage Macintosh Classic or Vintage Apple Macintosh 512K or Vintage Macintosh SE plzz i need to no before i buy it help

[taboreinis]

SE i think

[myid9876543]

classic = way newer than se se = 1st with built in HD the SE FDHD was anyways

[smbhacker32]

I would get a Classic II off ebay.

[rwagoner]

I got my Classic II from San Pedro High school for free!

[RABBIDGamfan]

I'm quite impressed. Aside from the obvious robot voice, Smoothtalker speaks more naturally than any speech synth software available today!

[chaaampaign]

lol. the last one i used one of these was in 6th grade, it was fun getting familliar with it again, lol

[anilingus]

OMG, just remembered how fun it was the first few times i used a computer, a Mac Plus when i was 12.

The smell, the sound, the feeling. It all became came back to me now.

I MUST get an old all-in-one Mac.

[rwagoner]

I have a PLus

[VaderNES]

I have a working SE from 1988 and a broken iMac G3 from 1999.

[rwagoner]

I also have a classic ii from 1992, an se/30 1988, 2 iMacs 2006, a PowerMac G5 2003, a iBook G3 2002, a iMac 2009, and another Mac Plus

[VaderNES]

All I have are the 2, but I might buy more Macs.

[rwagoner]

ok good idea!

[jschwind435]

What bit is that?

[xequant]

16 bit, 8MHz

[magicianspirit]

Cool. Not exactly "Alex," but at least it's understandable. I guess this software predated built-in Macintalk. I also like how you can hear the computer "think" (access the floppy disk).

[aj0049]

i remember those boot times. i miss them. they totally slaughter Vista's horrible ass boot time >_>

[xelink]

after post, it only takes me around 8 seconds to boot vista. It takes me around 14 to boot XP and around 10 seconds for my linux installs.

the problem is that your computer with vista is either crap(be more informed when making hardware purchases)or poorly configured(which is probably if you have an OEM system)

[aj0049]

no crap computer here. from completely off to my desktop takes longer in Vista than it does in XP. hell Windows ME still holds the crown for shortest boot times. and i'm talking about fresh installs here.

[azx4442]

nice video man, if i had the choice when i was younger.. i would have definitely had a mac instead of windows.. luckily i moved over to a mac in 2005 : )

[Degrassi123]

I just moved to a Mac 2 weeks ago!! Its fun

[xelink]

I would move over, but unfortunately apple insists on bundling hardware and software and all their hardware is crap by my standards. I want a highend graphics card, I want my 4*1TB RAID raid10 array and I want my own high performance RAM and I want my own motherboard damnit, x48 chipset. I'm not going to pay apple's price for their "luxury" computers when the rest of the market treats computers like a commodity and prices them accordingly.

[richardmaudsley77]

Make a hackintosh.