Re: [orca-list] You know you're old when ... (was Re: Proposal: Remove the emacspeak suppport)

[luke Davis <speakup lists tacticus com>]

Oh, a DTC 101?  That was a heck of a device.  I still have one I think, and 
interestingly enough, someone previously opened the left side, presumably for 
easier access to the guts on that side.
That, or they really really hated it.
Either one seems likely.

Fortunately I never had to use it for the purpose for which it was intended, but 
it could hook up to phone lines and everything.
I sold one of those a few years ago for about two hundred bucks on Ebay, to some 
collector, which I found most amusing.

Thanks for the story!:)

Luke

 On Wed, 4 Jan 2012, Joanmarie Diggs 
wrote:

> Hey Robert.
>
> On Wed, 2012-01-04 at 19:26 -0800, Robert Cole wrote:
> > +1 I have never used a hardware synthesizer in my entire life, that I
> > can remember. I didn't even know what one was until just recently. :)
>
> Ouch! Just for that you must read my silly tale of tech.
>
> About... I dunno 16 or 17 years ago, I did an internship at the
> Massachusetts Commission for the Blind in the Adaptive Technology
> Program. Having been trained and all, I began going out in the field.
> One day I was at this consumer's home trying to re-set up an old
> DECTalk. And by old I mean it was old then. Nothing tiny like a DECTalk
> Express. Think of two thin portable scanners on top of one another.
> Seriously.
>
> BTW, these were in the days when JAWS 2 was current, and one fought with
> interrupts and other silly crap in Windows 95. I had fought the good
> fight, but no luck. For the life of me, I just couldn't get it talking.
> So I called my supervisor and explained the situation. After walking me
> through some basics:
>
> Joe: Ok, I want you to pick the DECTalk up, lifting only its left side.
> Me: Huh?
> Joe: I want you to pick the DECTalk up, lifting only its left side.
> Me: (uncertainly) Yessir.
> Joe: Good, now drop it.
> Me: Sir?
> Joe: Drop it.
> Me: (uncertainly) Yessir. <pause> Oh my god it's talking!
>
> I kid thee not. Turned out the devices were notorious for some sort of
> bad connection.
>
> Say what you will about Assistive Technology today, but I have not had
> to "fix" anything by dropping it in quite some time.
>
> Take care, kiddo. <grins>
> --joanie
>
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