The $200 calculator

[kusmi]

It exists and is not from HP...

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/amazon-tabl...calculator

I'm wondering if they really sell 5000 per year?

[Sukiari]

It's tough to tell what the goal here was. Perhaps they just wanted to make a corporate pride project? Japan seems to be big on those.

[BobVA]

My HP-25 did like this part though:

Quote:The numbers and words on its keys are integrated as part of the molding process, not slapped on afterward, meaning they won’t wear down under the strain of repeated tapping.

[Katie Wasserman]

(09-21-2015 07:58 PM)kusmi Wrote:  It exists and is not from HP...

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/amazon-tabl...calculator

I'm wondering if they really sell 5000 per year?

I think that they will easily do that. They understand the idea of "limited edition" in a way that HP didn't with their 15C LE -- they never said how many they would produce. HP would have had no trouble selling 50,000 of them at $220 (as demonstrated from the resales of the MIB ones). Sure the 15C does a lot more than the Casio S100, but the 15C appeals to a tiny audience while anyone can appreciate an S100. (Actually this seems targeted towards accounts.)

[Sukiari]

Looking more closely at the machine, there are photos of a man holding it if you use Google Image Search. It looks positively enormous!

Though I am not about to spend $200 on this particular calculator, and thus probably won't ever use one, there are some things that are evident about it.

The good: The screen is angled toward the operator. This should be the standard for any instrument! It also appears to have an antireflective coating. This is good to see - we live in a crazy world where everything from laptops, to calculators, to even televisions, have glossy screens for some reason which escapes me.

The bad: This is a very basic calculator. Square root, percent, memory, and a currency converter. Plus it looks to be even larger than my TI-95 Procalc.

To be fair, it does include some sales tax functions, what looks like multiple memories and a "grand total" button, and an intriguing button that is labeled with the universal sign for "play." Perhaps this indicates a keystroke program capability? Anyway the key shape will have its critics as well, but I personally like concave keycaps.

I think this calculator is destined to be used in upscale retail shops. The large size, 0, 00, tax, and grand total buttons make me suspect this anyway.

[rivest]

The Casio S100 costs 30,000 Yen on rakuten. (the only place I could find)

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/akibamac/4971850033110

That's about $250 excluding shipping and taxes.