Nibble 39 - The Anatomy of a Calculator

 May revisit this nibble in future.

This nibble on Flickr

References and Further info

The Pocket Calculator Race (vintagecalculators.com)

Commodore Calculators (vintagecalculators.com)

epocalc - Commodore

Virtual Museum of Calculators (arithmomuseum.com)

CALCUSEUM COMMODORE: SR36 (version-3)

Commodore SR-36 - Old Crap Vintage Computing

calculators/Commodore SR36 - calculator.org

Commodore SR-36 (thimet.de)

The Anatomy of a Calculator

The 1970s saw a revolution in electronics. The development of the transistor 20 years earlier had already shrunk once bulky circuits in many devices, from radios to computers. Requiring little space, transistor electronics were even appearing in domestic appliances. But all that was peanuts compared to what happened next. The development of the microchip made complex circuits smaller and cheaper to make. What once took up large rooms and cost a fortune to build could now be made handheld and mass-produced to the price of peanuts. One device that epitomizes this revolution is the electronic calculator. The first all-electronic desktop calculator (the Saumlock ANITA) was launched in 1961. In 1963 the first all-transistorized desktop unit (the Friden EC-130) was introduced. Then came the microchip. The first electronic calculator built entirely out of chips (the Victor 3900) was released (after some production problems) in 1967. In that same year, the first prototype handheld calculator was made by Texas Instruments. Handheld models soon appeared, for real, in 1970 (with the Sharp Compet QT-8B been the first battery-powered model in 1970).  In 1971, the first true “pocket calculator” (the Busicom LE-120A “HANDY”) was released. From then on, a worldwide “Calculator War” drove innovation, making calculators smaller, cheaper, and more advanced. In 1972, the first pocket-sized scientific calculator (the Hewett-Packard HP-35) was released. In 1974 the first programmable pocket-sized calculator (the Hewett-Packard HP-65) was released. In 1975, calculators began to be built into wristwatches (beginning with the Calcron LED Wrist Calculator). 1978 saw the first credit-card-sized calculator (the Casio Mini Card LC-78). By 1980, thanks to the Calculator War, what was once an expensive luxury item that took up space on a desk was now small and thin enough to be placed in anything and cost pennies to make. They could even be given away in breakfast cereals.

 “Research and development from our U.S.A., English and Japanese factories has produced a sophisticated range of Calculators at down-to-earth prices.” – print ad advertising the CBM SR36

 

Commodore SR-36 (1974)

Commodore Business Machines (CBM) entered the calculator game (with cooperation with Bowmar) in 1971, with the C110. They made their first scientific calculator in 1974, with this electronic “Slide Rule” been an early example. Measuring 150 x 80 x 33mm, and weighing 145g, it is a fully- featured model, with 23 functions, a ten-digit LED display, plus two-digit exponent. It is powered by rechargeable battery, which is charged by a mains adaptor. This is a third version model, with 37 keys, all printed.

 

Price

Electronics is a fast-changing field in technology, and it shows in how quick the prices of calculators fell throughout the 1970s. A new model once costing hundreds of dollars would be selling for a faction of its original price months later. In August 1974, the SR-36 was sold by Calgary-based retailer, Calculator World Limited, for $219.95. By October 1974, that same retailer, advertising in the same newspaper, was selling it for $169.95. Meanwhile in the UK, in 1975, the CBM SR-36 had a retail price of £53.95. In July, Bridgers Electrical Discount Centre, in Paisley, Scotland, had it on sale for £35.95. By November 1975, they were selling it for £26.95.