Working Daze by John Zakour and Scott Roberts for July 08, 2021

I see it arrived at the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.

My freshman year in college, the chemistry department had a room with several of the Marchant calculators (discussed by Richard Feynman in his “Los Alamos from Below” lecture.) Calculations involved a considerable amount of noise and motion of parts on/in the calculator. But they also had a Wang electronic calculator with Nixie tube display and it could do exponentials! And was silent and fast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marchant_calculator

Fun fact. When I was in fifth grade, our school decided to join the IT Revolution and get itself a brand-new computer thingy room. They filled it with state-of-the art 286 desktops with green phosphorus screens and 5’’ floppy readers… In 1994. The year Intel started selling Pentium processors.

My brother had a comptometer; all mechanical, it did add, subtract, multiply and divide using a 9’s compliment scheme. I barely understood it, but he was as fast as a calculator!

Dundaley Industrial really trips off of the tongue, don’t it. It’s got a rhythm to it.

It doesn’t work unless the answer is 42.

Slide rules rule!

Rotary calculators were very robust. I have used them.

My dad taught me how to use a mechanical adding machine in the ’50s. He taught me how to multiply on it. You had to pull on the lever many times.

A long history of broken product!

Has Ed been around that long so he actually remembers? If yes, all that sleeping seems to do wonders for his looks.

I remember one calculator we got in the early 70’s for work, it took up more than 1/4 of the desk!

S…ure

H…appy

I…t’s

T…hursday

Miracle calculators… if it’s a good calculator, it’s a Miracle.