Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!uwvax!rocky.cs.wisc.edu!g-verbru
From: g-verbru@rocky.cs.wisc.edu.CS.WISC.EDU (Rob Verbrugghe)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Why won't/doesn't Apple support MacinTalk???
Message-ID: <6736@spool.cs.wisc.edu>
Date: 26 Nov 88 23:55:58 GMT
References: <6135@zodiac.UUCP> <71150@felix.UUCP> <265@lloyd.camex.uucp>
Sender: news@spool.cs.wisc.edu
Reply-To: g-verbru@rocky.CS.WISC.EDU (Rob Verbrugghe)
Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept
Lines: 24

In article <265@lloyd.camex.uucp> kent@lloyd.UUCP (Kent Borg) writes:
>Speach synthesis tools are very bad for learning languages.  Macintalk
>is currently specific to English, and even at that would be a VERY bad
>example for how to speak English.  Somehow speaking English the way
>Macintalk does does not seem very desirable for a human.
>Kent Borg
>kent@lloyd.uucp
   
Well the PLATO education system pioneered at the University of Illinois
uses a speach synthesis system for teaching languages.  (French, Spanish and 
Esperanto to name a few)  I'm not certain if they are still using it, but it
seemed to work pretty well.  Of course it is lightyears ahead of Macintalk.  
I don't think it is wise to write an idea off if the available (cheap) 
technology doesn't exist yet.
   In fact a lot of excellent lessons can be learned about computers in 
education from the PLATO  system.  (I didn't learn them, because like too many
undergraduates I was trying to avoid any learning at the time.)  CDC bought 
PLATO back in 68 (69?) with thoughts of owning the endall education system 
(that ran on thier hardware).  Well they plowed millions of dollars into the
system and haven't made a profit yet, but there are several million dollars 
worth of ideas, just laying around for someone to pick up and use.  I'm
surprized that no one thought to look there.  (Maybe they did and didn't like 
what they saw) Well that's my $.02
Rob Verbrugghe (Illinois Alum -- and still going to school)