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But still seems to integrated circuit digital tech too? What a strange transitional period in technology!
by jrochkind1 5y ago
But still seems to integrated circuit digital tech too? What a strange transitional period in technology!
- nine_k 5y agoNot really strange. Voice data are large. Imagine 1975: ICs with dozens of transistors are common, you can have a nice IC-based analog amplifier, for instance. But memory is ridiculously expensive, even something like 1KB ROM, and there is no such thing as an MCU at all, you need 5 extra ICs to even play your poor-quality short digital clip from ROM. No wonder you just pick a mechanical solution which is well understood, can store many minutes of sound, and the sound records are easy to swap and cheap to produce. You use the amplifier IC with it because it's already cost-effective.