Speak & Math
Encyclopedia
The Speak & Math was a popular and revolutionary electronic
toy created by Texas Instruments
in 1980. Speak & Math was one of a three-part talking educational toy series that also included Speak & Spell
and Speak & Read
. The Speak & Math was sold in both the United States
and in Europe
; it was originally advertised as a tool for helping young children to become better at mathematics
. The Speak & Math had a distinct gray with blue and orange color scheme.
The unit could utilize either 4 "C" batteries or 6 volt DC
power adapter. The display resembled a vacuum fluorescent display, not unlike an LED
display. The Speak & Math used a TI TMS5110 chip for voice synthesis. The Speak & Math, like the earlier Speak & Spell, also had the ability to expand its memory using expansion modules that plugged into a slot near the battery compartment.
Speak & Math had five distinct learning games: Solve It, Word Problems, Greater Than/Less Than, Write It, and Number Stumper, all playable at three levels of difficulty. Solve It is the classic math problem-solving game where the participant must solve five math problems to the best of their ability. Number Stumper is a game of Bulls and Cows
, whereby one is told the "number [of digits] right" and the "number in wrong place."
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
toy created by Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
in 1980. Speak & Math was one of a three-part talking educational toy series that also included Speak & Spell
Speak & Spell (toy)
The Speak & Spell line is a series of electronic handheld educational toys created by Texas Instruments that consist of a speech synthesizer, a keyboard, and a receptor slot to receive one of a collection of ROM game library modules...
and Speak & Read
Speak & Read
Speak & Read was an electronic learning aid made in 1980, by Texas Instruments. Speak and Read was part of a family of learning toys aimed at different subjects, i.e. "Speak & Math" and "Speak and Spell"....
. The Speak & Math was sold in both the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
; it was originally advertised as a tool for helping young children to become better at mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
. The Speak & Math had a distinct gray with blue and orange color scheme.
The unit could utilize either 4 "C" batteries or 6 volt DC
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
power adapter. The display resembled a vacuum fluorescent display, not unlike an LED
Light-emitting diode
A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source. LEDs are used as indicator lamps in many devices and are increasingly used for other lighting...
display. The Speak & Math used a TI TMS5110 chip for voice synthesis. The Speak & Math, like the earlier Speak & Spell, also had the ability to expand its memory using expansion modules that plugged into a slot near the battery compartment.
Speak & Math had five distinct learning games: Solve It, Word Problems, Greater Than/Less Than, Write It, and Number Stumper, all playable at three levels of difficulty. Solve It is the classic math problem-solving game where the participant must solve five math problems to the best of their ability. Number Stumper is a game of Bulls and Cows
Bulls and cows
Bulls and Cows -- also known as Cows and Bulls or Pigs and Bulls or Bulls and Cleots -- is an old code-breaking paper and pencil game for two players, predating the similar commercially-marketed board game Master Mind....
, whereby one is told the "number [of digits] right" and the "number in wrong place."