The Curta Calculator
From Boing Boing Gadgets, here is a video about the Curta — an incredibly beautiful, hand-cranked mechanical calculator. The video shows it in action, in all its magic and elegance, including its inner workings. Apparently, the Curta was invented in the early 1940s by a prisoner at a concentration camp. It can do all kinds of things, just like your average pocket calculator, but with satisfying clicks instead of the cold silence of the digital screen.
Very sadly, they haven’t been made for over thirty years.
Emily said,
May 23, 2008 at 4:33 pm
That narrator is hilarious.
Daisy said,
May 23, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Indeed.
Tyler said,
May 24, 2008 at 12:31 am
lol goodbye
Emily said,
May 24, 2008 at 7:25 am
Goodbye?
kyledeb said,
May 26, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Dear Emily and Daisy,
I just noticed you linked to Citizen Orange and I wanted to thank you. Send me an email when you get the chance at kyle at citizenorange dot com. I’d be interested in getting in touch with either of you. I hope all is well, and I’m glad you have time to read about the migrant struggle in addition to the important topics you write on here.
Tyler said,
May 28, 2008 at 9:11 am
This is so cool and it does have a musical quality. I said goodbye because I was flabbergasted when I first watched the video! Would you mind if I just copy your blog, word for word, and use it as my own content on my own blog? JUST KIDDING! hahah
Old Mechanical Calculators « Our Descent Into Madness said,
September 7, 2008 at 10:39 am
[...] mechanical calculators. The first half or so is all about the wonderful Curta, which we’ve talked about here before. The post goes on to feature clunking Soviet arithmometers, which look sort of like a cross between [...]