Lloyd.Rasmussen@f432.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Lloyd Rasmussen) (06/22/91)
Index Number: 16369
[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]
Henry:
I have seen a nice scientific calculator which is marketed by the
Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). It probably doesn't
have statistical functions, but does have trig, log, exp, etc.
Unfortunately, it sells for about $550.
The NFB Research and Development Committee is working on a
scientific calculator, but I don't expect it to be out within the next
few months. The NFB already has a RAM-resident or standalone
scientific calculator program for IBM PC's, written by Abraham Nemeth,
which sells for $35 or $40 from the NFB Materials Center in Baltimore.
The syntax of this calculator program is a little unique, and it will
be the basis of the future standalone talking calculator.
Ron Morford, who wrote the VERT programs which TSI sells, has a
scientific calculator program, but I think it is bundled with the
Attache program that TSI sells.
I have a braille scientific calculator that A F B made about 14
years ago. I don't think it sold very well. It had a one-cell display
(home-built at A F B), covered the trig and log functions, has one
memory, and sold for $400 at that time. It was a good buy back then
because there wasn't anything else.
In 1975 a company called Master Specialties, of Seattle,
Washington, affiliated with the Northwest Foundation for the Blind, put
a $2,500 scientific talking calculator on the market. This was in fact
the first talking calculator, predating the TSI Speech plus by a year
or so.
Kurzweil reading machines and KPR's (not the PC version, I don't
think), have a scientific calculator program built in.
I have a one-line batch file that invokes BASIC and does a
calculation from the command line of the batch file. It's a neat hack,
but probably not all that useful.
I am not really endorsing any of these approaches, but thought I'd
give you a core dump on what I know of scientific calculators, since
I've had a considerable interest in them myself over the years in
engineering. If you have any questions on these devices, I can be
reached evenings at (301) 946-8345, or daytime at (202) 707-0535.
Sorry I missed you when you came to Washington earlier this spring.
73, Lloyd, the voice of Kensington, Maryland
Via Idea-Link, Wheaton, MD
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