Jerome Fine wrote, regarding the Friden mechanical calculators:
>
> It certainly seemed MUCH longer. But I don't ever remember using
> one myself to solve any actual problems. I suspect that by the time
> a Frieden was possible (I do seem to remember they were larger
> than a PC desktop box is today, probably larger than an old XT desktop
> box - although probably smaller than a BA23 in its shell), shortly after
> that, handheld calculators became possible.
A little historical elaboration.
First, Friden (it doesn't have an extra 'e' in it) began making
mechanical calculators as early as 1934, when the company was founded by
Carl Friden. These machines required human intervention to divide.
Later, in the 1940's, Friden came out with machines that were
electro-mechanical
and capable of automatic division. These machines proved very popular.
One of the most common fully-automatic four function electromechanical
calculators made by Friden was the Friden STW (see
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/fridenstw.html). These machines
were made between 1949 and 1966. The peak of electro-mechanical technology
was
the Friden SRW and SRQ machines. The SRW could perform the standard four
math functions, along with automatic square root. The SRQ could perform
the same operations as the SRW, along with automatic, single-entry squaring.
These machines were marketed in the 50's and 60's. The first electronic
*desktop* calculator, using miniature Thyratron tubes (see
http://www.geocities.com/anitaC-VIII.html), the Sumlock Comptometer Anita Mk
8,
was introduced in 1961. In '63, Friden introduced the first all-transistor
electronic *desktop* calculator, the Friden 130 (see
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/friden130.html). These machines
were nearly the same size and weight as their electro-mechanical
predecessors, *but*, they were quiet, and much faster.
(Imagine the noise created in a large room full of electro-mechanical Friden
calculators all running at once! -- such instances were quite common
in insurance [calculating actuarial tables] and government/military
[projectile trajectory work] during the 1940's). By 1966 to 1968, the trend
was very clear...electronic desktop calculators were taking over. But, the
machines were still rather large, heavy, and expensive [examples: Sharp
Compet 20 (
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/comp20.html) and Wang
LOCI-2 (
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/wangloci)]. Makers of the
mechanical
works of art such as Monroe, Marchant, and others (Olivetti, Olympia, etc.)
had to deeply discount their mechanical machines because the electronic
machines, while still more expensive, simply had advantages that made up for
their higher price. These mechanical calculaor makers also had to scramble
to attain expertise in design and manufacture of electronic machines, by
either home-growing it (as with Friden, Olympia, Olivetti), starting out
in electronic calculating from the get-go (Wang, Hewlett Packard), or
finding someone else (generally in Japan) to help them (Monroe with Canon,
Singer with Hitachi, and Burroughs with Sharp). As the '60s wound down,
desktop electronic calculators shrunk in size and price, using small and
medium-scale integrated circuits [examples being the Brother Calther 412
(
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/calther412), and Sharp Compet 16
(
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/comp16.html)]. By 1968, electronic
circuitry had come to the point where sophisticated scientific desktop
electronic calculators were possible, with machines like the Hewlett Packard
9100B (
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/hp9100b.html) and Wang
300-series (
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/wang360.html). Desktop
calculators
continued to advance, with HP's later 9800-series machines
(
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/hp9810a.html) and Wang's 700-series
machines (
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/wang720.html) blurring the
line between the then-popular mini-computers such as the Digital Equipment
PDP-8, and the Hewlett Packard 2100) and calculator.
In the late 1960's, the advent of Large Scale Integration came into play,
and the first 'portable' electronic calculators (though a far cry from
'pocket' calculators) were becoming available...machines such as the Sharp
ELSI-8 (
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/sharpel-8.html), the Canon
Pocketronic (
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators/pocketronic.html), and
others.
The first truly 'pocket' calculator came to market in late 1971, made by
Bowmar (using a single-chip calculator LSI made by Texas Instruments).
So, as you can see, there was quite a lapse of time from when Friden
introduced it's first mechanical calculators in 1934, and the time of the
first 'pocket' calculator. Even if you consider the 'fully automatic'
four function electro-mechanical Friden calculators (which came about in the
early 1940's), to the time of the Bowmar pocket calculator, there were still
over 30 years of time that progressed between these developments. As we
all know, with technology advancing so quickly (even back then), 30 years
seems an eternity.
You can see more information about a lot of different calculators at my
museum at
http://www.geocities.com/oldcalculators
Sure wish I could find one of those old IBM 604's, or a Casio 14-A relay
calculator, as these machines were truly the 'mainframe' predecessor to the
early desktop electronic calculators.
Rick Bensene
The Old Calculator Web Museum
Received on Tue Jul 03 2001 - 20:38:09 BST