<s>
PlainTalk	B-Operating_System
is	O
the	O
collective	O
name	O
for	O
several	O
speech	B-Application
synthesis	I-Application
(	O
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
)	O
and	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
technologies	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
Apple	O
Inc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
,	O
Apple	O
invested	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
work	O
and	O
money	O
in	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
technology	I-Application
,	O
hiring	O
many	O
researchers	O
in	O
the	O
field	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
result	O
was	O
"	O
PlainTalk	B-Operating_System
"	O
,	O
released	O
with	O
the	O
AV	O
models	O
in	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Quadra	I-Device
series	O
from	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
made	O
a	O
standard	O
system	O
component	O
in	O
System	B-Operating_System
7.1.2	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
has	O
since	O
been	O
shipped	O
on	O
all	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
and	O
some	O
68k	B-Device
Macintoshes	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
's	O
text-to-speech	B-Application
uses	O
diphones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compared	O
to	O
other	O
methods	O
of	O
synthesizing	O
speech	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
not	O
very	O
resource-intensive	O
,	O
but	O
limits	O
how	O
natural	O
the	O
speech	B-Application
synthesis	I-Application
can	O
be	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
American	O
English	O
and	O
Spanish	O
versions	O
have	O
been	O
available	O
,	O
but	O
since	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	I-Device
X	I-Device
,	O
Apple	O
has	O
shipped	O
only	O
American	O
English	O
voices	O
,	O
relying	O
on	O
third-party	O
suppliers	O
such	O
as	O
Acapela	O
Group	O
to	O
supply	O
voices	O
for	O
other	O
languages	O
(	O
in	O
OS	B-Application
X	I-Application
10.7	I-Application
,	O
Apple	O
licensed	O
a	O
lot	O
of	O
third-party	O
voices	O
and	O
made	O
them	O
available	O
for	O
download	O
within	O
the	O
Speech	O
control	O
panel	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
application	B-Application
programming	I-Application
interface	I-Application
known	O
as	O
the	O
Speech	O
Manager	O
enables	O
third-party	O
developers	O
to	O
use	O
speech	B-Application
synthesis	I-Application
in	O
their	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
volume	B-Algorithm
,	O
pitch	O
and	O
rate	O
of	O
the	O
speech	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
singing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
Macintosh	B-Device
text-to-speech	B-Application
engine	I-Application
,	O
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
(	O
named	O
by	O
Denise	O
Chandler	O
)	O
,	O
was	O
used	O
by	O
Apple	O
in	O
the	O
1984	O
introduction	O
of	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
in	O
which	O
the	O
computer	O
announced	O
itself	O
to	O
the	O
world	O
(	O
and	O
poked	O
fun	O
at	O
the	O
weight	O
of	O
an	O
IBM	O
computer	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
it	O
was	O
incorporated	O
into	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
's	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
officially	O
supported	O
by	O
Apple	O
(	O
though	O
programming	O
information	O
was	O
made	O
available	O
through	O
an	O
Apple	O
Technical	O
Note	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Joseph	O
Katz	O
and	O
Mark	O
Barton	O
who	O
later	O
founded	O
which	O
currently	O
markets	O
TTS	O
engines	O
for	O
Windows	O
,	O
Linux	O
and	O
embedded	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
used	O
direct	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
Macintosh	B-Device
sound	O
hardware	O
and	O
all	O
attempts	O
to	O
license	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
by	O
Apple	O
to	O
update	O
it	O
for	O
newer	O
Macs	B-Device
failed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
Apple	O
released	O
a	O
supported	O
speech	B-Application
synthesis	I-Application
system	O
,	O
called	O
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
supports	O
any	O
Macintosh	B-Device
running	O
System	B-Protocol
Software	I-Protocol
6.0.7	I-Protocol
or	O
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
remained	O
the	O
recommended	O
version	O
for	O
slower	O
machines	O
even	O
after	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
3	O
and	O
Pro	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
3	O
introduced	O
a	O
great	O
variety	O
of	O
voices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apart	O
from	O
the	O
standard	O
adult	O
voices	O
"	O
Ralph	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Fred	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Kathy	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
children	O
's	O
voices	O
like	O
"	O
Princess	O
"	O
and	O
"	O
Junior	O
"	O
,	O
various	O
novelty	O
voices	O
were	O
included	O
,	O
like	O
"	O
Whisper	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Zarvox	B-Operating_System
"	O
(	O
a	O
robotic	O
voice	O
with	O
melodic	O
background	O
sounds	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
similar	O
voice	O
called	O
"	O
Trinoids	O
"	O
also	O
included	O
)	O
,	O
"	O
Cellos	O
"	O
(	O
a	O
voice	O
that	O
sang	O
its	O
text	O
to	O
an	O
Edvard	O
Grieg	O
tune	O
,	O
otherwise	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
In	O
the	O
Hall	O
of	O
the	O
Mountain	O
King	O
"	O
with	O
similarly	O
singing	O
voices	O
like	O
"	O
Good	O
News	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Bad	O
News	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Pipe	O
Organ	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
"	O
Albert	O
"	O
(	O
a	O
hoarse-sounding	O
voice	O
)	O
,	O
"	O
Bells	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Boing	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Bubbles	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
would	O
just	O
say	O
their	O
name	O
,	O
language	O
and	O
the	O
version	O
of	O
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
they	O
were	O
introduced	O
with	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
voices	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
their	O
test	O
texts	O
are	O
still	O
in	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	I-Device
X	I-Device
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
increase	O
in	O
computing	O
power	O
that	O
the	O
AV	O
Macs	B-Device
and	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
based	O
Macintoshes	B-Device
provided	O
,	O
Apple	O
could	O
afford	O
to	O
increase	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
synthesis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
3	O
required	O
a	O
33	O
MHz	O
68030	B-Device
processor	I-Device
and	O
MacinTalk	B-Operating_System
Pro	O
required	O
a	O
68040	B-Device
or	O
better	O
and	O
at	O
least	O
1	O
MB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Text-to-speech	B-Application
has	O
been	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
every	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	I-Device
X	I-Device
(	O
later	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
)	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Victoria	O
voice	O
was	O
enhanced	O
significantly	O
in	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
v10.3	I-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
added	O
as	O
Vicki	O
(	O
Victoria	O
was	O
not	O
removed	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
,	O
much	O
more	O
natural-sounding	O
voice	O
,	O
called	O
"	O
Alex	O
"	O
has	O
been	O
added	O
to	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
text-to-speech	B-Application
roster	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
10.5	I-Application
Leopard	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
10.7	I-Application
Lion	I-Application
,	O
voices	O
are	O
available	O
in	O
additional	O
U.S.	O
English	O
and	O
other	O
English	O
accents	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
21	O
other	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
10.1	I-Operating_System
to	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	I-Device
X	I-Device
10.6	I-Device
,	O
the	O
feature	O
would	O
copy	O
the	O
selected	O
text	O
to	O
the	O
clipboard	O
and	O
read	O
it	O
from	O
there	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
10.7	I-Application
to	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	I-Device
X	I-Device
10.10	I-Device
,	O
a	O
new	O
implementation	O
of	O
the	O
feature	O
required	O
software	O
developers	O
to	O
implement	O
a	O
speech	B-Application
synthesis	I-Application
API	B-Application
into	O
their	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
prevented	O
the	O
clipboard	O
from	O
being	O
overwritten	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
meant	O
that	O
,	O
for	O
applications	O
that	O
did	O
not	O
use	O
the	O
API	B-Application
,	O
the	O
feature	O
would	O
not	O
function	O
as	O
expected	O
,	O
reading	O
the	O
title	O
bar	O
rather	O
than	O
the	O
selected	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
Sierra	O
10.12	O
,	O
Siri	O
was	O
introduced	O
for	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
,	O
however	O
,	O
the	O
voice	O
was	O
not	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
System	O
Voice	O
,	O
which	O
meant	O
that	O
the	O
Siri	O
voices	O
could	O
be	O
only	O
used	O
in	O
Siri	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Siri	O
was	O
made	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
System	O
voice	O
in	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
Catalina	O
10.15	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
work	O
for	O
any	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
Big	O
Sur	O
11.3	O
update	O
,	O
gender	O
references	O
to	O
all	O
voices	O
were	O
removed	O
,	O
coinciding	O
with	O
the	O
change	O
in	O
Siri	O
voices	O
on	O
iOS	O
14.5	O
and	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
11.3	O
and	O
later	O
,	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
Apple	O
's	O
efforts	O
to	O
promote	O
gender	O
inclusivity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
hired	O
many	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
researchers	O
in	O
1990	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
PlainTalk	B-Operating_System
package	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
available	O
for	O
all	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
Macintoshes	B-Device
and	O
AV	O
68k	B-Device
machines	O
(	O
it	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
few	O
applications	O
that	O
made	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
DSP	B-Architecture
in	O
the	O
Centris	B-Device
660AV	I-Device
and	O
Quadra	B-Device
840AV	I-Device
)	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
default	O
system	O
install	O
prior	O
to	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	I-Device
X	I-Device
,	O
requiring	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
perform	O
a	O
custom	O
OS	O
installation	O
to	O
get	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
capabilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
10.7	I-Application
Lion	I-Application
and	O
earlier	O
,	O
Apple	O
's	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
was	O
voice-command	O
oriented	O
only	O
,	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
be	O
configured	O
to	O
listen	O
for	O
commands	O
when	O
a	O
hot	O
key	O
is	O
pressed	O
,	O
after	O
being	O
addressed	O
with	O
an	O
activation	O
phrase	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
Computer	O
"	O
,	O
or	O
"	O
Macintosh	B-Device
"	O
,	O
or	O
without	O
prompt	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
also	O
communicate	O
back	O
with	O
the	O
user	O
using	O
speech	B-Application
synthesis	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
provided	O
full	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
menus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
support	O
was	O
later	O
removed	O
,	O
since	O
it	O
required	O
too	O
many	O
resources	O
and	O
made	O
recognition	O
less	O
reliable	O
,	O
only	O
to	O
be	O
re-added	O
in	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
10.3	I-Operating_System
as	O
a	O
"	O
universal	O
access	O
technology	O
"	O
called	O
spoken	O
user	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
shipped	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
AppleScripts	B-Application
in	O
this	O
folder	O
,	O
but	O
aliases	B-Application
,	O
documents	O
and	O
folders	O
can	O
be	O
opened	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
way	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
application	B-Application
programming	I-Application
interface	I-Application
lets	O
programs	O
define	O
and	O
modify	O
an	O
available	O
vocabulary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
vocabulary	O
for	O
manipulating	O
files	B-Operating_System
and	O
windows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
10.8	I-Operating_System
Mountain	I-Operating_System
Lion	I-Operating_System
,	O
Apple	O
introduced	O
"	O
Dictation	O
,	O
"	O
intended	O
for	O
general	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
10.9	I-Operating_System
Mavericks	I-Operating_System
,	O
Apple	O
added	O
the	O
option	O
to	O
download	O
support	O
for	O
dictation	O
without	O
an	O
Internet	O
connection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
produced	O
two	O
microphones	O
under	O
the	O
product	O
name	O
"	O
Apple	B-Operating_System
PlainTalk	I-Operating_System
Microphone	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
shipped	O
inclusive	O
with	O
Macintosh	B-Device
LC	O
and	O
early	O
Performa	O
models	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
circular	O
in	O
appearance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
sit	O
in	O
a	O
holder	O
attached	O
to	O
the	O
side	O
of	O
a	O
CRT	B-Device
display	I-Device
,	O
and	O
be	O
lifted	O
out	O
and	O
held	O
by	O
the	O
mouth	O
when	O
talking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
second	O
model	O
was	O
introduced	O
alongside	O
the	O
AV	O
models	O
in	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Quadra	I-Device
series	O
in	O
1993	O
but	O
was	O
also	O
sold	O
separately	O
.	O
</s>
