Joao Medeiros, Wired:
Hawking lost his ability to speak in 1985, when, on a trip to CERN in Geneva, he caught pneumonia. In the hospital, he was put on a ventilator. His condition was critical. The doctors asked Hawking’s then-wife, Jane, whether they should turn off the life support. She vehemently refused. Hawking was flown to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, in Cambridge, where the doctors managed to contain the infection. To help him breathe, they also performed a tracheotomy, which involved cutting a hole in his neck and placing a tube into his windpipe. As a result, Hawking irreversibly lost the ability to speak.
This is a fascinating story, starting with a program that ran on an Apple II, then evolving over the years, all while keeping that original synthesized voice.
Back in the days of the Apple II, Apple had as corporate office to deal specifically with accessibility for the disabled. This helped it maintain a lead in the education market. Many users (and vendors!) favored Apple II accessibility options, even after the 6502 was relatively obsolete.
I hope Professor Hawking’s wheelchair makes it’s way to the Smithsonian. It is both tragic and inspiring, the doorway in which a brilliant mind was able to connect with the world.
I worked out of that office and then out of Apple corporate with the worldwide disabilities group. Worked on easy access and other ways the Mac could be connected to switches and other accessibility tools. I wish Apple had gotten involved with Hawking, we/they had the chops and connections with all the same speech and switch vendors.