DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM

Texas Instruments Listen & Learn "Farm Animals"

Date of introduction:	1989	Display technology:
New price:	$21.21 (1992)	Display size:	n.a.
Size:	6.1" x 6.1" x 6.1" 155 x 155 x 155 mm³
Weight:	18.7 ounces, 530 grams	Serial No:
Batteries:	4*AA cells	Date of manufacture:
AC-Adapter:		Origin of manufacture:	China (A)
Precision:		Integrated circuits:
Memories:
Program steps:		Courtesy of:	Joerg Woerner

Small toddlers use the Listen & Learn toy like a small ball. Due to the flats on each side the toy will find a stable position and play a sound associated to the Farm Animal on top of the ball. The Listen & Learn uses again Texas Instruments speech technology introduced with the Speak & Spell.

Dismantling a similar Magic Melody manufactured in 1992 by (or for) Texas Instruments in China reveals a technology very similar to the various Touch & Talkies. The design of the Magic Melody Tell is centered around a TSP50C11 Voice Synthesis Processor (VSP) and makes use of just one Integrated Circuit:

• TSP50C11/CSM11XXX: TSP50C50 VSP (Voice Synthesis Processor) with 8-bit microcontroller and 16k Bytes Mask ROM for both program and voice and 128 Bytes + 16 Nibbles RAM

Each year another Listen & Learn theme appeared shortly before Christmas:

• 1989: Farm Animals
• 1990: Nursery Rhymes
• 1991: Sounds we Hear
• 1992: Sounds of Christmas

The toy is intended for toddlers ages 6 to 36 month.

This Listen & Learn was available with a lot of different voices:

• France: La Balle Magique
• Germany: Magic-Ball
• Spain: La Bola Mágica

Other toys for toddlers are the Discovery Depot, Peek-A-Boo Zoo, Magic Clown and the Magic Sorter.

The Listen & Learn "Farm Animals" is featured in the Texas Instruments Incorporated leaflet Follow the Learning Path™ dated 1991.

If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.