Ordering a Pizza with a Talking Computer in 1974: The First Use of a Speech Prosthesis

In 1974, Donald Sherman, a man affected with a speech disorder, successfully ordered a pizza over the phone with the help of a talking computer. The seemingly simple task was the first real world use of a speech prosthesis. The computer voice synthesizer used by Sherman was developed by John Eulenberg and J. J. Jackson of the Artificial Language Laboratory at Michigan State University.

via Boing Boing