SHORT: Meiwa 'Alexe' Mechanical Calculator
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 21 июн 2024
- Patented in 1965, the Meiwa 'Alexe' was one of the final evolutions of the affordable compact mechanical pocket adding machines before the advent of electronic pocket calculators. Capable of calculating up to five figures, it featured a clever addition-subtraction shift mechanism and quick-clearing mechanism.
SOURCES
patents.google.com/patent/US3...
www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/alex...
www.rechnerlexikon.de/en/arti...
www.retrocalculators.com/Rico...
Honestly, this is the best channel I’ve found in the last 1-2 years
I had a device just like this in the early '70's called the 'Add-a-Mite'. It was red. Really cool. You could take it to the grocery store. But it could only add up to 2000. Wish I still had it!
Added another Ian McCollum achievement to your growing "rivalry" - pushing a trigger and having things *ptoing* all over the place!
Ah but it doesn't have a miss named 'trunnion' inside...
❤😂 I was born in 1966 and growing up I distinctly remember my parents having a version of this, it was red and white. I remember using it to help my mom count savings from coupons in the newspaper of all things lol. Love your channel and your presentations!
Yes! There were three- and four-'window' versions of this, and they were marketed primarily as 'supermarket calculators'. I seem to recall seeing one on a blister package called a 'budget minder'. The three window variety had windows that displayed dimes and cents; the third actually counted up to 19. The four-window version came out in the 1970s as prices were rising beyond the capacity of the earlier 3-window units; they could display up to 99.99.. They didn't have the subtract feature the one in the video does, though.
The idea was you took it with you while grocery shopping, and 'clicked' the individual buttons - pennies, dimes, dollars - as you put your items in the cart. I was the 'keeper' of the counter when I shopped with mom - she would tell me the price of whatever she put in the basket, and I would happily click away. She was a smart woman - it kept me close at hand because I had a job to do, as well as teaching me how a budget works - and why that bag of candy wasn't really necessary, lol.. The one we had was the three-window type, so it was also my job to tell her if it rolled over, or if we went beyond the specified figure.
I remember a similar device that was sold at supermarkets. It was intended for you to keep track of how much you had put into your cart so you wouldn't be surprised when you got to the checkout and overspent.
I remember playing with one of these as a child.
Its amazing how much engineering went into making all that work and be reliable, then simply replaced with electronic,and it became almost a toy
For anyone else that didn't quite get it at first, it's painfully simple to operate. You press the buttons until you have the first number you want. Then select addition or subtraction with the lever on the side. Then you enter in your second number, and the answer will be displayed. It's that simple. As an example 124+88, so from zero, press the hundreds button once, the tens button twice, and the ones button four times. Select addition, then press the tens button eight times and the ones button eight times, and it should display the answer of 212. All the calculator is actually doing is single digit addition/subtraction, just like you were taught in elementary school.
A slightly shorter method would be using pencil and paper, which was probably one other reason these didn't sell for very long.
Unless it's new math....😂
Preemptive congratulations on 100k subs and the richly deserved play button that will follow.
I guess the Curta calculator would be quite interesting to you
I was thinking of the Curta too.
At three G notes... I hope Gilles does not try to take one apart.
I use to Time-Speed-Distance car Rally with one.
My co-driver does not know where it went...
In my first jobs we sometimes used an "Addometer". It was flat, about 12 inches long with 8 wheels arranged similarly to the ones in this Alexe. The numbers were printed on the housing with holes in the wheels. To use it a stylus was inserted in a hole to move the wheel clockwise or counterclockwise. There was a bar pulled from the side to clear it. I remember it feeling 'solid metal cheap.' That is, made of steel, but designed to work, not to feel substantial and valuable.
The only shorts that don't suck.
Eat my shorts, man?
I got a cheaper version of that in a gift bag in 1978 when I was in the 3rd grade. I thought it was kind of neat but I wanted to see how it worked. So I took it apart and couldn't come close to putting it back together. No adult I asked seemed interested in dealing with the pile of springs and gears, some of which were probably missing, so I dumped the parts in the junk drawer and forgot about it until just now when I saw this video.
What a blast from the past! I remember these! Thanks!
I like your suit. Very classy…gray with the blue tie….props and dap….❤ the channel, Sir
CONGRATS ON 100K!!!!
Deceptively simple, it’s like the plastic version of something a deep sea explorer will eventually find with “Antikythera Inc, Made in Greece” etched into the bronze.
phenomenal vid! its a travesty u dont already have a million subs. they will come
EDIT: i dunno what it was called, but as a kid i remember my mom had a completely mechanical "push button" adder kinda like this, for the grocery store. to keep track of your expected bill before you got to the checkout
I like this very much, but I would have liked to see how to perform a single simple addition on it. I still don't know if I can see the second number displayed to make sure I entered it right, or if each digit accumulates the addition as I enter the second number.
Great video, Gilles...👍
The same device was sold under the Penol name.
technically, what the zeroing bar is doing is "decrementing", not "incrementing"
I remember when I was a child we had one similar to that one. It wasn't as complicated as it.
I think it had 4 digets and I'm not sure if it was for pounds shillings and pence or it was just 10 digits.
I remember it was red with white buttons. This was back in the sixties in Australia. Cheers from OZ!!
I lost your channel. Been subbed for a long time. Couldn't find your videos. First time in forever they were in a feed.
RUclips is pushing their approved/owned junk quite a bit more these days.
I have the bell selected and all, but I find myself digging a lot further in the feed to find my more educational or obscure creators.
I already pay for the RUclips basics already, I think they have a more "premium " subscription now, though.
Step 1: Subscribe to channel. Step 2: Go to the subscriptions tab. Step 3: Watch all the content from the channels you're subscribed to. Do not rely on the RUclips algorithm to show you stuff. Last video wasn't popular? Next one is hidden. Guy took a vacation so they haven't posted a video in a month? Next video is hidden. Video contains content RUclips doesn't like (guns, violence, certain historical & political content, etc)? That video is hidden. And so on.
I still haven't got used to my Magic Brain.
The only way to get used to a Magic Brain calculator is to use it regularly-eventually, it becomes almost automatic.
I have a version of the simple one flying around somewhere. Not very practical for doing random additions or subtractions as you can likely do it faster in your brain than doing all these button pushes (and these are not easy going keyboard keys). What you can use it for (although it's rather large for that) is for counting up or down repetitive stuff passing by, without having to look at the little machine all the time. (For counting up singles there are of course much smaller devices and likely already where available at that time.)
“Fiddly bits” it’s a technical term. 😊
"Eat my shorts" - Bart Simpson. Cool device! I shall Ebay one.
Instead of saying 'increment downwards', you might simply say 'decrement'.
Minor point in an otherwise enjoyable video :)
It's amazing how old mechanical toys can inspire us, software doesn't have quite the same appeal...
Q: "ptoink!"
isn't that a sort of tossed ball game from the south of France?
(meant to be played on the town square, while consuming a carafe or two of dry white wine)
A: nein!nein!nein!nein!nein!
If someone sends you a deluxe version , go ahead, open it, I dare ya! I double dog dare ya!
Bingo🎉
Musst du mich mit meinem ehemaligen Führer so erschrecken ? 😮😢🎉😂
I've always heard Ricoh pronounced as Ree-Coh, not Rye-Coh. Is this a regional thing, or have I been wrong for a number of decades?
I guess that makes me second.😅
silent x, alei
And here I am using google as a calculator... the epitome of resource abuse.
Ironic that the first Alexa is just as over complicated as the current one
I wasn't expecting Hitler 😄
I’m 3rd!
I guess I’m Nein-th
First. Finally.
Gratuliere 😊
No one cares.
So, literally first and last?