Play with a Curta caclulator without spending hundreds on eBay
Jan Meyer's created a Flash simulation of the Curta, a classic mechanical hand-cranked calculator. First sold in 1948, the Curta is pure gadget porn, able to perform all the fundamental arithmetical operations, but still fit in your pocket.
Amid the blasted heath of an irradiated post-oil America, these will revive the forgotten and arcane magic of accountancy.
Image: Dan Rutter
Unfortunately, they haven't been made since 1970, and they're insanely expensive expensive collector's items. Here's a YouTube video that offers instructions on how to use it, shows how tiny it is, and lets you hear the deeply satisfying noise it makes when cranked.
Simulator [Curta.de via jwz]
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I love my Curta almost enough to justify it's outrageous cost. I got one after I read William Gibson's 'Pattern Recognition'. I'd use it more often, but I don't want to drive my office-mate insane.
That is amazing. I want.
Oi. That's my picture of my Curta that's on my shelf in my house.
At least link to the blog post, you Google-Images-usin' bandit!
We're bastards! Sorry about that. I updated the post.
Dan, sorry about stealing your Curta shot. I thought I was stealing it from Wired!
Well, that's all right, then :-)!
Hands up who went straight to eBay to find out how much they go for?
Somebody needs to start making these again. I want one. But not quite enough to spend that sort of money.
Aha! You guys just earned back all the cred you've been losing with the constant Lego posts...
I have my Dad's Type 1 Curta that he bought new in the early 60s...I'm telling you, if you guys like steampunk and Babbage Difference Engines, sell some of your Lego sets and buy a Curta! It's like having a Victorian science fiction device in your hand...tell me that's not worth $800...
Ahh, the old hand-cranked "Peppermill" - a valuable asset to the Time/Speed/Distance Car Rallyes we ran in the early '70s back when the world was young (and gas was 34.9 a gallon!)
Got a type 1 in the late 60s to use in combination with a 6" sliderule, a 10" sliderule, an 0tis cylindrical sliderule - about 5 ft long equivalent and a Galilean sector. The 6" went in my shirt pocket, the Otis in my front right jeans pocket and the Curta went in the optional humungous leather carrying case on my belt. Everybody assumed it was some sort of lens until I got it out and started cranking. I've seen a number on ebay but never with the belt case. I swear, that leather is sooo thick. I also had a thin leather case that hung on a shoulder loop but it seemed too fragile so I never used it and lost it years ago. About once a year I take it out and do a square root just so's to remember how.