And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Mechanical Complexity: The open side view of an old calculator
I wouldn't touch that with a 10' pole with a 20' extension. It's one of those things that you try to fix but end up with it halfway torn apart and no end in sight so you just gather it all up and throw it in the shitcan. Kinda like a modern day space heater, or most anything else built in the last 50 years.
In 1974 I met a couple in Sinop, Turkey. He was an office equipment repairman with a Top Secret security clearance. That combination makes you employable anywhere the US Government has an office, which is everywhere.
They had a long list of places they has been and people they met. pretty much all 3rd world countries, their preferred choice. he retired just before the PC became a thing and ended his career.
it's like life came along and decided to be good to just this one couple just this one time.
My Dad had one of those old "adding machines". I liked to play with it when I was a kid. It made some great mechanical noises. Dad replaced it with a Canon calculator. It did everything the adding machine did, but without paper tape. The 10 digit red LED display was cool looking. The thing had a thick power cord (think desktop computer) and a grounded plug. If I remember right it cost him $200. Not nearly as cool as the old machine. Thanks for the pic of the inside.
My dad was an adding machine mechanic for Underwood from the Depression until the mid-50's when he went to work for an independent office-supply place. Then in the 60's calculators killed the business. Fortunately, his employer made him the warehouse manager. Hard to believe that someone could know all the parts in one of those things. His family were all mechanics. It's genetic.
i worked at Singer Computer in San Leandro, Ca. must have been 74 or 75. Just after they brought out the first point of sale electronic cash register. they sold 25,000 of them to Macy's and lost money on every one of them. the place used to be Frieden Calculator. while there, they were selling off thousands off machine tools to make all those little bitty parts. of course this was after getting rid of all of the machinist's. prices were real cheap. being a draftsman, i was interested and bought an electric raise/lower/tilt drafting board for $100. at the time i think they were selling new for $500 to $800. it was strange working there. i was a temp. they were laying off all the permanent people. a company division in its death throes. Friden sold itself to Singer the day they heard about the first successful portable hand held electronic digital calculator. a buggy whip company.
I wouldn't touch that with a 10' pole with a 20' extension.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those things that you try to fix but end up with it halfway torn apart and no end in sight so you just gather it all up and throw it in the shitcan. Kinda like a modern day space heater, or most anything else built in the last 50 years.
And for some reason upon first glance it looks sorta like a T-Rex skull.
ReplyDeleteI thought it looked like a new "steampunk" Nike shoe.
DeleteLOL, now that you mention it.
DeleteIn 1974 I met a couple in Sinop, Turkey. He was an office equipment repairman with a Top Secret security clearance. That combination makes you employable anywhere the US Government has an office, which is everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThey had a long list of places they has been and people they met. pretty much all 3rd world countries, their preferred choice. he retired just before the PC became a thing and ended his career.
it's like life came along and decided to be good to just this one couple just this one time.
I remember using those.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad had one of those old "adding machines". I liked to play with it when I was a kid. It made some great mechanical noises. Dad replaced it with a Canon calculator. It did everything the adding machine did, but without paper tape. The 10 digit red LED display was cool looking. The thing had a thick power cord (think desktop computer) and a grounded plug. If I remember right it cost him $200. Not nearly as cool as the old machine. Thanks for the pic of the inside.
ReplyDeleteThe metal components remind me of when I was learning to repair Bell System teletypes like the 28RO and the 35KSR in 1970.
ReplyDeleteI was Teletype/Crypto maintenance in the Air Force. That reminds me of the Model 19 Teletype or kleinschmidt teletype. Mechanical nightmares
DeleteMy dad was an adding machine mechanic for Underwood from the Depression until the mid-50's when he went to work for an independent office-supply place. Then in the 60's calculators killed the business. Fortunately, his employer made him the warehouse manager. Hard to believe that someone could know all the parts in one of those things. His family were all mechanics. It's genetic.
ReplyDeleteThat machine was more than an adding machine. It would multiply, divide, add and subtract. It took awhile but it is a mechanical marvel.
ReplyDeleteAnd all designed on the drafting board in 2d...genius.
ReplyDeleteNone of the so-called drafters at the outfit where I work would even know where to start.
ReplyDeletei worked at Singer Computer in San Leandro, Ca. must have been 74 or 75. Just after they brought out the first point of sale electronic cash register. they sold 25,000 of them to Macy's and lost money on every one of them. the place used to be Frieden Calculator. while there, they were selling off thousands off machine tools to make all those little bitty parts. of course this was after getting rid of all of the machinist's. prices were real cheap. being a draftsman, i was interested and bought an electric raise/lower/tilt drafting board for $100. at the time i think they were selling new for $500 to $800. it was strange working there. i was a temp. they were laying off all the permanent people. a company division in its death throes. Friden sold itself to Singer the day they heard about the first successful portable hand held electronic digital calculator. a buggy whip company.
ReplyDelete