4 ms·

I have a very special place in my heart for the AlphaSmart brand. When I was a kid in the 90's I had atrocious handwriting. No one could figure out why or how

I have a very special place in my heart for the AlphaSmart brand. When I was a kid in the 90's I had atrocious handwriting. No one could figure out why or how to fix it. In middle school, one of the counselors had been given an earlier model of the AlphaSmart as a demo unit and let me use it. It also turned me into a writer. Instead of my teachers glossing over my chicken scratch, they were able to read my typed assignments and offer me real feedback. My confidence as a student and an intellectual returned. All because I had a little keyboard to type on. Pretty crazy. [Technical side note: Back in the day, to transfer what you typed you used to plug it into the PS/2 keyboard port on a computer and press "send." It would then recreate each keystroke for the computer, regardless of what program you had open so if you hit send before opening up a word processor it would be chaos until it finished transferring.]

falcrist 6y ago
That side-note is really interesting, actually. They found a way to bypass all the hassle of trying to deal with compatibility issues with different computers (at least with the PC clones... Apple used a different port) and applications by using a near-universal port. No need for a file system or networking to transfer your files to the target PC. Just plug it into the keyboard port, and send your text directly into whatever program you want. How does the saying go? "If it looks stupid but it works, it ain't stupid."
- JoblessWonder 6y ago
  They had a dongle which had the Mac plug as well! It really was a very simple/elegant solution in a time before Plug and Play/USB/etc. They even included a "Y" cable so you could keep your keyboard plugged in if you used the same computer to transfer to. This is what it looked like: https://www.theultracomputer.com/images/20190118_032444.jpg https://www.theultracomputer.com/images/20190118_032444.jpg
  - falcrist 6y ago
    Now that's just an elegant solution.
  - c22 6y ago
    This must have been a later version than the one I was given growing up. The one I had only had Apple support. There was no Y cable included, or necessary, because the ADB ports on the Apple keyboards were already chain-able. I just plugged my Alphasmart into the unused extra connector on the keyboard itself!
    - JoblessWonder 6y ago
      Yeah, the demo unit I was originally allowed to use was Apple only. At some point my parents were able to purchase the "Alphasmart Pro" for me which according to Wikipedia is their second model that added PS/2 support. And you are right, I totally forgot about that extra ADB port on the apple keyboard!
agloeregrets 6y ago
Really fun fact time: This functionality still works to the day...and with even works with a USB adapter for iOS. You can write something out, plug it into an iPhone and have it “print” to the screen. It also can act like a USB keyboard and can be filled used as such in iOS. The support us incredible. I have both a Dana and an Alphasmart 3, I prefer the Bondi Blue 3.
- dubya 6y ago
  With the Neo2 you can plug in a USB printer as well and it just works. The Neo2 has been the best cheap Christmas present my youngest kid ever got.
fenwick67 6y ago
Wow this is such a smart idea for text transfer.
arduinomancer 6y ago
Wow I wonder what the data transfer speed would be using that method.
- JoblessWonder 6y ago
  It wasn't very fast. Since you could see the characters being typed I would say it was about 150-200 wpm? It seemed both very fast and painfully slow... FYI, port speed on PS/2 was 7–12 kbit/s and Apple's was 10 kbit/s.
  - splintercell 6y ago
    it was fun though, I would intentionally have it transfer at the lowest speed to watch the text I wrote earlier be re-written on the computer. somehow it gave you a better sense of accomplishment.
    - JoblessWonder 6y ago
      Yeah! It also gave me an opportunity to do a quick edit/proofread of something I wrote which I probably normally wouldn't do.
lostgame 6y ago
That is a truly unique solution to data transfer I have certainly never heard of before! :O
gtk40 6y ago
We had these at my school in the 90s too. We used them for writing assignments and to learn to type, but several kids with bad handwriting got to use them for everything. I was always a bit jealous. :)
frequentnapper 6y ago
Lucky your teachers actually cared about you.
- dividedbyzero 6y ago
  And had the resources to act on that. I've had the impression a bunch of my teachers did care when kids were struggling, but didn't have a lot of options to help really.
  - JoblessWonder 6y ago
    I agree. I think that teachers are relatively powerless/underpaid/underappreciated/overworked (during the school year) and that makes it so hard for them to help kids that are struggling. Let alone help the kids who are struggling without interrupting the rest of the class. It reminds me of the season of The Wire where it shows just how many systemic issues there are in the education system. My teachers were frustrated and sent me to the counselor, who lucked into a solution for me. Combined with the fact that I was lucky enough to have a computer at home to use, parents who supported me, and teachers who wanted me to succeed was what made it work. Most people aren't as fortunate.
- JoblessWonder 6y ago
  1000000%. It was really the school counselor that advocated for me. I was sent to her because I was failing my classes because my teachers couldn't read my handwriting and were frustrated dealing with me "not living up to my potential." Now that I'm older I can better understand the frustrations the teachers must have felt. If I write painfully slowly and methodically my handwriting is legible so they knew I was physically capable of writing clearly. However I would have never finished my assignments if I had to do that so most of my work was in chicken scratch. My dad was a school teacher and I know how unappreciated/overworked they can feel. I know that sitting at home in the evening going through stacks of assignments and getting to mine must have been a bit of a gut punch. "Do I try and spend 10 minutes deciphering this or not?" As an adult I'm not sure what I would choose if I was in their position. Still, there is no doubt in my mind I have had many, many lucky breaks and advantages throughout my life.

falcrist 6y ago

That side-note is really interesting, actually. They found a way to bypass all the hassle of trying to deal with compatibility issues with different computers (at least with the PC clones... Apple used a different port) and applications by using a near-universal port. No need for a file system or networking to transfer your files to the target PC. Just plug it into the keyboard port, and send your text directly into whatever program you want. How does the saying go? "If it looks stupid but it works, it ain't stupid."

JoblessWonder 6y ago
They had a dongle which had the Mac plug as well! It really was a very simple/elegant solution in a time before Plug and Play/USB/etc. They even included a "Y" cable so you could keep your keyboard plugged in if you used the same computer to transfer to. This is what it looked like: https://www.theultracomputer.com/images/20190118_032444.jpg https://www.theultracomputer.com/images/20190118_032444.jpg
- falcrist 6y ago
  Now that's just an elegant solution.
- c22 6y ago
  This must have been a later version than the one I was given growing up. The one I had only had Apple support. There was no Y cable included, or necessary, because the ADB ports on the Apple keyboards were already chain-able. I just plugged my Alphasmart into the unused extra connector on the keyboard itself!
  - JoblessWonder 6y ago
    Yeah, the demo unit I was originally allowed to use was Apple only. At some point my parents were able to purchase the "Alphasmart Pro" for me which according to Wikipedia is their second model that added PS/2 support. And you are right, I totally forgot about that extra ADB port on the apple keyboard!

agloeregrets 6y ago

Really fun fact time: This functionality still works to the day...and with even works with a USB adapter for iOS. You can write something out, plug it into an iPhone and have it “print” to the screen. It also can act like a USB keyboard and can be filled used as such in iOS. The support us incredible. I have both a Dana and an Alphasmart 3, I prefer the Bondi Blue 3.

dubya 6y ago
With the Neo2 you can plug in a USB printer as well and it just works. The Neo2 has been the best cheap Christmas present my youngest kid ever got.

fenwick67 6y ago

Wow this is such a smart idea for text transfer.

arduinomancer 6y ago

Wow I wonder what the data transfer speed would be using that method.

JoblessWonder 6y ago
It wasn't very fast. Since you could see the characters being typed I would say it was about 150-200 wpm? It seemed both very fast and painfully slow... FYI, port speed on PS/2 was 7–12 kbit/s and Apple's was 10 kbit/s.
- splintercell 6y ago
  it was fun though, I would intentionally have it transfer at the lowest speed to watch the text I wrote earlier be re-written on the computer. somehow it gave you a better sense of accomplishment.
  - JoblessWonder 6y ago
    Yeah! It also gave me an opportunity to do a quick edit/proofread of something I wrote which I probably normally wouldn't do.

lostgame 6y ago

That is a truly unique solution to data transfer I have certainly never heard of before! :O

gtk40 6y ago

We had these at my school in the 90s too. We used them for writing assignments and to learn to type, but several kids with bad handwriting got to use them for everything. I was always a bit jealous. :)

frequentnapper 6y ago

Lucky your teachers actually cared about you.

dividedbyzero 6y ago
And had the resources to act on that. I've had the impression a bunch of my teachers did care when kids were struggling, but didn't have a lot of options to help really.
- JoblessWonder 6y ago
  I agree. I think that teachers are relatively powerless/underpaid/underappreciated/overworked (during the school year) and that makes it so hard for them to help kids that are struggling. Let alone help the kids who are struggling without interrupting the rest of the class. It reminds me of the season of The Wire where it shows just how many systemic issues there are in the education system. My teachers were frustrated and sent me to the counselor, who lucked into a solution for me. Combined with the fact that I was lucky enough to have a computer at home to use, parents who supported me, and teachers who wanted me to succeed was what made it work. Most people aren't as fortunate.
JoblessWonder 6y ago
1000000%. It was really the school counselor that advocated for me. I was sent to her because I was failing my classes because my teachers couldn't read my handwriting and were frustrated dealing with me "not living up to my potential." Now that I'm older I can better understand the frustrations the teachers must have felt. If I write painfully slowly and methodically my handwriting is legible so they knew I was physically capable of writing clearly. However I would have never finished my assignments if I had to do that so most of my work was in chicken scratch. My dad was a school teacher and I know how unappreciated/overworked they can feel. I know that sitting at home in the evening going through stacks of assignments and getting to mine must have been a bit of a gut punch. "Do I try and spend 10 minutes deciphering this or not?" As an adult I'm not sure what I would choose if I was in their position. Still, there is no doubt in my mind I have had many, many lucky breaks and advantages throughout my life.