Please tell me these are the guys that invented the Speak & Spell posing for a publicity photo and not some perverted nerds that came up with a "great game" on it!
AWWWWWWW YEAH. I SPENT HOURS JUST MAKING NOISES WITH THAT THING AS A KID. I ONLY HOPE THAT THESE WERE THE DEVELOPERS/CREATORS, OTHERWISE THIS WAS SOME WEIRD CULT OR SOMETHING.
It was a formal portrait. They left their pocket protectors locked up in their desk drawer lest some other geek think of stealing them for the magic powers contained within.
Interestingly, I work for TI. We still have some of those guys around. Gene Franz (far left) for instance is our Principle Fellow, which is nerd speak for Wise Guru of Awesome. It's a great place to work, and while we don't make many end products any more, I can guarantee you have our parts in the PC, smartphone, or tablet you're reading this on.
Gotta realize this was the 70's and these were brilliant engineers! The primary engineer for Speak & Spell was the blondish fellow, Paul Breedlove. I was an outside consultant that named the toy, greatly influenced the product design and spec'ed most of the games... also did Speak & Math, Speak & Read...DataMan, Computer Fun, Math to Go!, Read to Go! and voice recognition, Voyager. Bet no one remembers those! TI had such a lead- their chip was used in later products that defined the industry. They just couldn't market anything very well. Love their spirit!
28 comments:
Second guy from left looks like former four-term State of Iowa governor Terry E. Branstad. Just saying.
Please tell me these are the guys that invented the Speak & Spell posing for a publicity photo and not some perverted nerds that came up with a "great game" on it!
Please spell D-O-R-K-S
From the Texas Instruments portrait studios. This post is interchangable with "Vintage Computing and Gaming" blog.
AWWWWWWW YEAH. I SPENT HOURS JUST MAKING NOISES WITH THAT THING AS A KID. I ONLY HOPE THAT THESE WERE THE DEVELOPERS/CREATORS, OTHERWISE THIS WAS SOME WEIRD CULT OR SOMETHING.
PLEASE BE THE DEVELOPERS.
Mindblowing!
I don't know why, but I'm finding this to be uproariously funny.
Nice. Just Tweeted this.
It was a formal portrait. They left their pocket protectors locked up in their desk drawer lest some other geek think of stealing them for the magic powers contained within.
So these are the fuckers that conjured up the Anti-Christ?
So these are the fuckers that conjured up the Anti-Christ?
"N-E-R-D-S"
Correct!
Guy on the far right looks like he's got a secret..
an eeeeeevil secret....
Everyday heroes.
that speak and spell was awesome, I wish I still had mine.
I think we've seen the man second from the left before. I remember his sweet tie-chain.
So much better than the math one
http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/speaknspell.html
yep inventors
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.datamath.org/Story/Images/InventorsSNS.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.datamath.org/Story/TI_PRESS.htm&usg=__CzaFCXCuXmrdPFhLJjDS3j7gOvY=&h=280&w=410&sz=40&hl=en&start=14&um=1&tbnid=T_mkZnhnAXeTjM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=125&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522Gene%2BFrantz%2522%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
Guy on the far left ain't so bad.
This reminds me of Dane Cook's Speak N Spell Schtick. Which only makes me giggle more.
Dude - these guys rock!! I loved my Speak and spell. My sisters and I played it for HOURS in the car.
I freaking LOVED that thing. And Speak and Math is the only reason I learned multiplication.
Interestingly, I work for TI. We still have some of those guys around. Gene Franz (far left) for instance is our Principle Fellow, which is nerd speak for Wise Guru of Awesome. It's a great place to work, and while we don't make many end products any more, I can guarantee you have our parts in the PC, smartphone, or tablet you're reading this on.
I loved my Speak & Spell.
Gotta realize this was the 70's and these were brilliant engineers! The primary engineer for Speak & Spell was the blondish fellow, Paul Breedlove. I was an outside consultant that named the toy, greatly influenced the product design and spec'ed most of the games... also did Speak & Math, Speak & Read...DataMan, Computer Fun, Math to Go!, Read to Go! and voice recognition, Voyager. Bet no one remembers those! TI had such a lead- their chip was used in later products that defined the industry. They just couldn't market anything very well. Love their spirit!
That's my uncle on the far left. I guess that kinda makes me famous.
Those guys looks like they high-scored on Guitar Hero 30 years ago..
thanks
I had a good time here but will return to google now.
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