People I work with are too dependent on Electronics – during Inventory, one woman added a string of 9 numbers between 30 and 62 and wrote 37,406,195 on the ticket
Good for you, my wife gets mad every time I do that. She then gets out a calculator and checks me—one time she made a ‘big deal’ about the fact that I was one cent off but it took her a minute to find it out with a calculator !
Calculators weren’t invented until I was in my mid twenties. Kids now can’t figure out how to make change without an electronic cash register telling them the amount. SAD.
stlmaddog5: Calculators are older than electronics. The Romans has grooves cut into their tables to hold calculating gravel to form an abacus (easier than with Roman numerals). In Roman Briton, these were called counters, which is still the table over which merchandise is sold. Until the mid-20th century, a calculator was a person, not a machine. Babbage called his a differencing engine..Woody 157: When I first saw chismbop demonstrated (I think on Carson’s Tonight Show), it took me about five seconds before I laughed and said “an abacus” out loud. I still have my soroban as a back-up.
I occasionally work behind the counter at an antique mall. I still do the sales tax in my head. The younger one’s jaws drop. “You did that in your head?” is a standard reply to the demonstration. What would they be able to do without batteries?
A couple of my friends had to carry a card telling them how to tip 10% . . . they were amazed that I could do it in my head and were astonished that I could do all the percentages, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, etc. faster than they could find their cards or calculators. It is so sad that in McD’s not only do they need electric machines to show them how much change to give, but electric pictures on the counter which send the changes to the cash registers because they do not know how to run them. I here that the upgrade is pictures on the registers themselves because customers were laughing at the counter staff and sometimes at the shift managers.
hsawlrae about 10 years ago
We did it the old fashion way…with litle wheels in our head.
Celarius Premium Member about 10 years ago
how many of genx could do that in their head?
bubjerryk about 10 years ago
People I work with are too dependent on Electronics – during Inventory, one woman added a string of 9 numbers between 30 and 62 and wrote 37,406,195 on the ticket
flyertom about 10 years ago
With the new Common Core method, ANY answer is correct.
IndyMan about 10 years ago
Good for you, my wife gets mad every time I do that. She then gets out a calculator and checks me—one time she made a ‘big deal’ about the fact that I was one cent off but it took her a minute to find it out with a calculator !
stlmaddog5 about 10 years ago
Calculators weren’t invented until I was in my mid twenties. Kids now can’t figure out how to make change without an electronic cash register telling them the amount. SAD.
sbchamp about 10 years ago
Can almost hear the gears turnin’ over…
Woody157 about 10 years ago
Thank goodness for chismbop.Us old pluggers have to stick together.
hippogriff about 10 years ago
stlmaddog5: Calculators are older than electronics. The Romans has grooves cut into their tables to hold calculating gravel to form an abacus (easier than with Roman numerals). In Roman Briton, these were called counters, which is still the table over which merchandise is sold. Until the mid-20th century, a calculator was a person, not a machine. Babbage called his a differencing engine..Woody 157: When I first saw chismbop demonstrated (I think on Carson’s Tonight Show), it took me about five seconds before I laughed and said “an abacus” out loud. I still have my soroban as a back-up.
gaslightguy about 10 years ago
I occasionally work behind the counter at an antique mall. I still do the sales tax in my head. The younger one’s jaws drop. “You did that in your head?” is a standard reply to the demonstration. What would they be able to do without batteries?
Linda1259 about 10 years ago
A couple of my friends had to carry a card telling them how to tip 10% . . . they were amazed that I could do it in my head and were astonished that I could do all the percentages, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, etc. faster than they could find their cards or calculators. It is so sad that in McD’s not only do they need electric machines to show them how much change to give, but electric pictures on the counter which send the changes to the cash registers because they do not know how to run them. I here that the upgrade is pictures on the registers themselves because customers were laughing at the counter staff and sometimes at the shift managers.