| Author |
Topic |
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SpaceBoy
Full Member
USA
631 Posts |
 Posted - 31 May 2002 : 21:41:27
I found a neat, odd little thing today at the local Goodwill (Place Of Eternal Goodness!)- it's a portable keyboard, called an "AlphaSmart", with a little LCD screen. Really, it looks a lot like my TRS-80 Model 100, even to the point of having the model number "M100"! It's white, runs of "AA" batteries, and has two ADB ports on the side. From the friendly instructions printed on the bottom, it seems that you can type all you like on it, and then when you get home, you plug it into your desktop Mac's ADB port, hit the 'send' button, and it 'types' what you've written into your Mac, as though it were a regular keyboard. Pretty neat! I've looked around online, and I've seen plenty of info about several later models (2000, 3000, Pro), not hardly any mention at all of this particular model.
Pretty interesting, no? I vaugely recall hearing about something like this back in highschool.
Have any of you folks heard of this thing?
Thanks,
SpaceBoyAppleBASIC FOREVER!
As of 4/8/02:
TiBook G4/500, "Difference Engine"
PB 1400/133, "KayPro II"
PB 180/33, "Osbourne 1"
PMac 7100/G3-266, "DEC Rainbow" and "Altair 8800"
Quadra 950, "HAL 9000"
iMac Rev.A/333mHz, "Deep Blue"
Newton 120, "PADD" |
Trash80toG-4
NIGHT STALKER
USA
2899 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2002 : 23:37:46
quote:
Have any of you folks heard of this thing?
i think i remember it. is that the one manufactured by vtech?jt  ™. . 
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SpaceBoy
Full Member
USA
631 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2002 : 17:57:25
quote:
i think i remember it. is that the one manufactured by vtech?
Nope, at least, not from what I can tell. The AlphaSmart website (www.alphasmart.com) is still up, but, other then a tiny bit of info on ROM versions, I can't find any mention of this little tablet/keyboard/thing.
Well, even if it it a bit of a mystery, it's still a damn cool gizmo!
Score for me!
SpaceBoyAppleBASIC FOREVER!
As of 4/8/02:
TiBook G4/500, "Difference Engine"
PB 1400/133, "KayPro II"
PB 180/33, "Osbourne 1"
PMac 7100/G3-266, "DEC Rainbow" and "Altair 8800"
Quadra 950, "HAL 9000"
iMac Rev.A/333mHz, "Deep Blue"
Newton 120, "PADD" |
FireWire is fast
General, 4 star
USA
1559 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2002 : 18:41:01
We used to have those at school!(as you've mentioned) You just type type type to your heart's desire, then plug it into a computer (in our case, via PS/2 to a PC) and it sends the text to a word processor (we used MS Word) It's a nifty gadget...but I think there was only two lines of visible text...you had to scroll through your work... --------------------
keeper of the website and beholder of the Quadra/Centris Stick of Justice™
-------------------- |
Wonkothesane
Full Member
USA
506 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2002 : 21:34:40
I remember reading about this thing last summer in the NY Times. It is made by two former Apple engineers who worked on the imac. It has a bettery life of about several hundred hours, I think.
It's an amazing little word processor.Wonko The Sane
Engineer-in-training
3 Macs Liberated
"You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool."- Wonko The Sane |
scchicago
Full Member
USA
936 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2002 : 08:18:44
Aren't those made by Apple?
The ones at my school have the apple logos on them._________________
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SpaceBoy
Full Member
USA
631 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2002 : 18:27:55
quote:
Aren't those made by Apple?
The ones at my school have the apple logos on them.
Hmmm... Well, this one isn't made by Apple... are you talking about eMates? If so, that's awesome! Make sure that if the school ever junks those, grab 'em! If they're not eMates, then they might be something like my unit, but with an Apple sticker/decal on it.
Just a thought,
SpaceBoyAppleBASIC FOREVER!
As of 4/8/02:
TiBook G4/500, "Difference Engine"
PB 1400/133, "KayPro II"
PB 180/33, "Osbourne 1"
PMac 7100/G3-266, "DEC Rainbow" and "Altair 8800"
Quadra 950, "HAL 9000"
iMac Rev.A/333mHz, "Deep Blue"
Newton 120, "PADD" |
candyPunk
Full Member
USA
856 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2002 : 20:03:49
Made by apple?? Really? I never heard of THAT. I remember reading about similar things a few months or years ago (who even knows) but they were a new crop that were in more of a tablet form. How old does this thing look, SpaceBoy?I just checkout out www.alphasmart.com - that's the kind of thing I'd read about. Is yours of this vintage or older? { candyPunk }
{ Captain of Observation, 68k MLA }
{ 68k Macs liberated: 3}
{ My baby: Q660av } Edited by - candyPunk on 02 Jun 2002 20:05:16 |
SpaceBoy
Full Member
USA
631 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2002 : 01:32:11
I don't think there's a copyright date on it, but just by style/design, I'd say my unit hails from the early/mid '90s. Just a guess, which is hard to back up, due to the lack of good info online.
I've never heard of Apple making anything like this (other then in my dreams!), so I really doubt that those units at the school are really Apple-brand. Again, unless they're eMates or something similar.
Thanks,
SpaceBoyAppleBASIC FOREVER!
As of 4/8/02:
TiBook G4/500, "Difference Engine"
PB 1400/133, "KayPro II"
PB 180/33, "Osbourne 1"
PMac 7100/G3-266, "DEC Rainbow" and "Altair 8800"
Quadra 950, "HAL 9000"
iMac Rev.A/333mHz, "Deep Blue"
Newton 120, "PADD" |
cinemafia
Guerrilla Recon Leader
USA
2965 Posts |
Posted - 03 Jun 2002 : 09:07:44
I think I saw one of those, or something similar to it, at the Disabled Veterans Thrift Store in Burbank that I usually go to. It had PS/2 connectors, though, instead of ADB, so I passed it up.666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
Regular Disappear! |
|
Strange little gadget...
68k of the Week: kastegir's PowerBook 180.