Hi:

I'm not old enough to go back to the age of the abacus; how about the slide
ruler ?
Do anyone have one ?
Better yet, does anyone still remember how to use it and would you be willing to
teach your
children its functionality ?

Olav.

Art Bahrs wrote:

> Hi Greg :)
>     um.... what about the abacus?  They are handheld, they are used to
> perform calculations and can be as fast as some of the old calculators, when
> the user is good on a abacus....
>
> Art "Just wondering? " Bahrs
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Stigers, Greg [And]" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 12:50 PM
> Subject: [HP3000-L] OT: the first information appliance
>
> > X-no-Archive:yes
> > Carly stated during her address that HP invented the first information
> > appliance, the handheld calculator. Now, this is an interesting idea, and
> I
> > find it likewise interesting that a few visionaries and sci-fi writers
> have
> > seen the value in a practical handheld device that accepts input,
> processes
> > or stores it, and produces output. And others may have or may care to shed
> > light on the similarities and differences between various iterations of
> > "adding machines" and a handheld "calculator" (besides being handheld and
> > battery powered and not necessarily having paper tape, what other
> > differences were there in early calculators that offered the four basic
> > functions?). And I do not begrudge her those bragging rights. She is right
> > to take pride in that.
> >
> > But it seems to me that another earlier device was an information
> appliance
> > of a sort - clocks and watches. While it accepted no input in the form of
> > data other than setting the time initially (one can argue about the
> profound
> > insight of using regulated motion to drive the machine to output time, in
> > analog or digitally), there seem to me to be another level of importance
> to
> > you and I agreeing to meet for dinner at 5, and arriving at the restaurant
> > within minutes of each other.
> >
> > And, when some bright aviator decided that a pocket watch did not work
> well
> > for a pilot, did he develop the first wearable information appliance?
> >
> > Greg Stigers
> > http://www.cgiusa.com
> > my watch's interface appears to be analog