Identify this calculator

[Bill Platt]

Terry Gross, sitting at a tape deck, (from NY Times article)

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/2...log427.jpg

[walter b]

You could ease the quest by telling us the year the picture was taken.

d:-?

[Bill Platt]

Hi Walter,

Yes, I could, but that would actually defeat the whole purpose. I believe the date may be wrong...

[Katie Wasserman]

(10-30-2015 12:12 PM)Bill Platt Wrote:  Hi Walter,

Yes, I could, but that would actually defeat the whole purpose. I believe the date may be wrong...

I haven't looked for this article yet, but I know that she's in her 60's now and that she looks like she's in her late 20's (maybe 30's) in the picture. So I think we're talking mid 1980's which agrees well with the apparent LCD display on the calculator. Which furthermore makes this a non-HP calculator (ignoring the color of the calculator which certainly implies that), so I should probably move this thread to a different forum........ should I?

[rprosperi]

(10-30-2015 02:25 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  ...Which furthermore makes this a non-HP calculator (ignoring the color of the calculator which certainly implies that), so I should probably move this thread to a different forum........ should I?

Since it's not an HP, sure.

And who is Terry Gross?

[walter b]

(10-30-2015 02:33 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  And who is Terry Gross?

1+

And the facts mentioned support my first guess pointing to a large manufacturer in a formerly Mexican province. So off to 'not remotely ...'!

d:-)

[Katie Wasserman]

(10-30-2015 02:33 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Since it's not an HP, sure.

Done.

Quote:And who is Terry Gross?

She hosts a very long running (and influential in the publishing industry) show on NPR, Fresh Air.

[rprosperi]

(10-30-2015 02:48 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  

(10-30-2015 02:33 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  Since it's not an HP, sure.

Done.

Quote:And who is Terry Gross?

She hosts a very long running (and influential in the publishing industry) show on NPR, Fresh Air.

Oh! That Terry Gross! I did not make the connection from context, though the headphones clearly should have been a clue... doh! Thanks Katie.

[Jlouis]

(10-30-2015 02:25 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  

(10-30-2015 12:12 PM)Bill Platt Wrote:  Hi Walter,

Yes, I could, but that would actually defeat the whole purpose. I believe the date may be wrong...

I haven't looked for this article yet, but I know that she's in her 60's now and that she looks like she's in her late 20's (maybe 30's) in the picture. So I think we're talking mid 1980's which agrees well with the apparent LCD display on the calculator. Which furthermore makes this a non-HP calculator (ignoring the color of the calculator which certainly implies that), so I should probably move this thread to a different forum........ should I?

With that hair, cloth, glasses, headphones and the kind of black and white photography, I can bet this is from mid to late 70's.

Canon f43? I don't know the year of this calculator, but that's only a initial guess.

By the way, it's a nice way of entertainment, thanks Bill

Besides I'm curios to know of who is she (he?) Too.

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

(10-30-2015 02:25 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  I know that she's in her 60's now and that she looks like she's in her late 20's (maybe 30's) in the picture. So I think we're talking mid 1980's which agrees well with the apparent LCD display on the calculator.

28 or 29 years old, I had imagined (but I'm not good at this: an engineering intern we had once asked me to guess her age. I was going to say 30 but I tried to be gentle and said 28. It turns out she was 23!). If we are right, this places the picture in the mid 70's.

Gerson.

[Jlouis]

8

(10-30-2015 03:43 PM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  

(10-30-2015 02:25 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  I know that she's in her 60's now and that she looks like she's in her late 20's (maybe 30's) in the picture. So I think we're talking mid 1980's which agrees well with the apparent LCD display on the calculator.

28 or 29 years old, I had imagined (but I'm not good at this: an engineering intern we had once asked me to guess her age. I was going to say 30 but I tried to be gentle and said 28. It turns out she was 23!). If we are right, this places the picture in the mid 70's.

Gerson.

Hi Gerson, when a lady askes to guess her age, always say 15....LOL

I guess it's not a Canon f43...

Edit.: Gerson, I guess almost everybody here lived that superb, crazy decade that was the 70's.
I have only one word to express my feelings about that time, that we both know, as native Portuguese speaker, that has no translation to other language, due that no-one can translate the feelings involved with that word:

Saudade

Cheers

JL

[Gerson W. Barbosa]

(10-30-2015 04:18 PM)Jlouis Wrote:  Gerson, I guess almost everybody here lived that superb, crazy decade that was the 70's.
I have only one word to express my feelings about that time, that we both know, as native Portuguese speaker, that has no translation to other language, due that no-one can translate the feelings involved with that word:

Saudade

Olá Jlouis,

Yes, those were the days, my friend! :-)

Também sinto muita saudade daquela época.

Anch'io ho molta nostalgia di quei tempi.

Ces années me manquent, à moi aussi.

I miss those years too.

I hope my attempts to translate the untranslatable are right :-)

Gerson.

[Jlouis]

(10-30-2015 06:27 PM)Gerson W. Barbosa Wrote:  

(10-30-2015 04:18 PM)Jlouis Wrote:  Gerson, I guess almost everybody here lived that superb, crazy decade that was the 70's.
I have only one word to express my feelings about that time, that we both know, as native Portuguese speaker, that has no translation to other language, due that no-one can translate the feelings involved with that word:

Saudade

Olá Jlouis,

Yes, those were the days, my friend! :-)

Também sinto muita saudade daquela época.

Anch'io ho molta nostalgia di quei tempi.

Ces années me manquent, à moi aussi.

I miss those years too.

I hope my attempts to translate the untranslatable are right :-)

Gerson.

forgive me the off topic,

Gerson, they are only attempts, really.

In fact, "saudade" is the 7th more difficult word to translate in the world.

Check it out

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade

I remember William Hurt speech after winning the Oscar for best actor, for the Brazilian movie Kiss of the Spider woman, trying to mean what saudade is after filming many months in Brazil.

Cheers

JL

[Jlouis]

As for the mysterious calculator, it's a very hard guess...I give up.

[jjohnson873]

I looked at the NY Times article and found the picture. Even when you enlarge the picture it's not clear to me how you can see enough detail to tell what this very blurry view of a calculator might be. Certainly it has an LCD display. It has some fascinating dimples in the case on either side of the display, which almost leads you to believe that you can tilt the display. However the dimples are right in the middle of the LCD glass which would make it difficult to tilt. I can't even make out how many rows and columns of keys there are. There's not enough contrast to tell what is printed on the top row of keys. And there's an intriguing black line at the top of the calculator that I can't tell if it's part of the calculator, or just a flat, black surface that is below the calculator.

Btw....the picture was taken in the "late 70's". Terry Gross is 64 today.

Bill, do you, in fact, know what calculator it is?

[René Franquinet]

(10-30-2015 11:47 AM)Bill Platt Wrote:  Terry Gross, sitting at a tape deck, (from NY Times article)

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/2...log427.jpg

See: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/c...brary.html

[Jlouis]

(10-31-2015 10:22 AM)René Franquinet Wrote:  

(10-30-2015 11:47 AM)Bill Platt Wrote:  Terry Gross, sitting at a tape deck, (from NY Times article)

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/10/2...log427.jpg

See: http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/c...brary.html

Hi Rene,

I looked there, but couldn't find any similar, although I haven't looked all the brands, just the principals.

Maybe someone is luckier than me.

Cheers

JL

[BruceH]

(10-30-2015 11:25 PM)jjohnson873 Wrote:  I looked at the NY Times article and found the picture. Even when you enlarge the picture it's not clear to me how you can see enough detail to tell what this very blurry view of a calculator might be. Certainly it has an LCD display. It has some fascinating dimples in the case on either side of the display, which almost leads you to believe that you can tilt the display. However the dimples are right in the middle of the LCD glass which would make it difficult to tilt. I can't even make out how many rows and columns of keys there are. There's not enough contrast to tell what is printed on the top row of keys. And there's an intriguing black line at the top of the calculator that I can't tell if it's part of the calculator, or just a flat, black surface that is below the calculator.

I think the dimples are a piece of wire or maybe recording tape lying across the display. Whatever it is, it continues off the edge of the calc and over the desk.

The black line looks like it comes from a piece of black backing that the calc is mounted onto. I don't recall any model from any manufacturer sold in that way so it might be a home brew protective backing, to protect the mixing desk, if she used it there a lot?

There are two blobs under the display that look as though they might be slide switches. Perhaps "on/off" and "f/cut/5/4" that Casios used to have - except that the button style doesn't quite look like the ones Casio used.

Probably easiest to just ask her and see if she remembers!

[Bill Platt]

On the hunt! Haha!
The reason I posted it (as you can imagine) is that I thought the date too early. My first reactions were, "some sort of TI and after the RED LEDs...which made me think after 1980. But, BUT, then again, I remember some tiny LCD machines in 7th or 8th grade--which would be, 79/80....

But just as has been pointed out, it is blurry--which makes it that much more challenging.

Also fun: if the picture really is 1978, it was taken less than 20km from my house at the time. If later, it is 200 km :-)

[Bill Platt]

This is one of the general arrangements that came to mind. But there is another one I remember in my mind but cannot find. I'll keep looking:

http://www.rskey.org/ti56