Postfix algebraic scientific calculators still in production

[burkhard]

Both videos were amazing. I'm not sure I'd practice 9AM → 9PM as one of the girls interviewed discussed, but I'm glad somebody does!

I am wondering the actual age of the videos... somehow they seemed dated... 1990s, maybe? Are the squads of "calculator women" still found in Japanese businesses? How about the school competitions?

You can buy some plastic, yet very nice student-grade sorobans for only a couple of $ off eBay. I got one a while ago and quickly trained myself how to do the calculations. When I was practicing, I could go reasonably quickly (4 or 5 digit numbers, nothing really big), but nowhere near what even a Japanese 8 year old can do.

I do think that, as with a slide rule, these manual tools demand that the brain work more actively throughout the calculation and this instills better, more fluid, numeracy, especially in young children. I really cringe to see young gradeschool kids moving to calculators as early as they typically do now (at least in the USA, where my experience lies).

I'd rather some years be spent first on non-electronic methods: pencil/paper, mental, soroban, slide rule, ruler & compass geometric constructs. Calculators are amazing, but understanding what is going on and why should come first.