> >
> > Why did you ask if it was a programmable calculator?
>
> Until now I've only known Facit to have made calculators. I'd really like
> to see this. What year was it manufactured?
>
Just for reference, in the electronic calculator realm, Facit didn't
really make their own calculators. They had a partnership with Sharp in
Japan, who designed and manufactured most of the electronic calculators
sold under the Facit badge. Facit made wonderful mechanical calculators,
but
when the very fast transition between mechanical/electo-mechanical
calculators and electronic calculators came to pass, many makers of
mechanical calculators were caught off-guard and didn't have any of the
skills to move quickly into the electronic age. The solution that many
(such as Monroe, Facit, and others) came up with to stay in business was to
find a company that was in the electronics business to partner with for the
design and manufacture of electronic calculators.
They would quickly train their sales staff on the ways to sell electronic
calculators (the sales advantages were obvious...quiet, fast, more
capabilities). Along with training sales, they would have ramp up and/or
retrain their service staff to be able to repair the electronic machines,
which was the most difficult part of the exercise. The sad reality of
this whole thing is that many gifed mechanical engineers that designed
the wonderful mechanisms that made mechanical and electro-mechanical
calculators possible, very quickly ended up looking for work as their
jobs were displaced by electronics engineers.
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Web Museum
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators
Received on Thu Jul 20 2000 - 08:10:36 BST