Comptometer - Calculator Comparison

[@chrisw6704]

When I started work in a finance department in 1970 in the UK comptometers were still being used. The operators had mostly been to 'Comp School' and obtained diplomas and were exceptionally fast. As a curious 16 year old I used to speak to the operators and watch them. Whilst there are 10 vertical keys the professional operators when adding did not use beyond 5 to reduce moving up the keyboard. So if they had a 9 they would do two strokes, a five and four which was quicker than moving up and down to the 9 key. Where they would make full use of the whole 10 verticals keys was when multiplying which was a function of adding. The comptometers in my office could also subtract which was used obviously for subtracting but more importantly for division. The operator used to have tables of how to do things like square roots, caculating cubic cabacity, converting imperial measurements to metric.

[@fortuner123]

A professional operator was lightning fast. You had to see it to believe it.

[@pkguy3]

My first job in the early 70's was in a billing/accounting dept for a large national firm and I was shocked to see some employee's still using these, even older models than yours, as well as newer electric ones (from the 50's) . Yup there were electric ones too. I was always intrigued by them and all the other old style office equipment. Most of the old time employee's who had been using these things for years if not decades could operate them, and fast, pretty much without ever looking at the keys.

[@georgiacrane6126]

Hi Joe, I still have my electric comptometer. I used it at my work in the 70s and 80s for payroll, quarter tax reports etc. I was proficient on both an adding machine and comptometer...the comptometer is much faster.

[@caoimhin7122]

I used to work in check processing at a bank. The speed you can achieve with ten-key when you are practiced, is pretty amazing. But I can't help but think that you would gain that kind of speed with a comptometer too, if you practiced enough. It would be a lot like playing chords on a piano! (I'm amazed you didn't complete your analogy. You kept mentioning 'musical instrument'.) It's really similar to an old, old mechanical cash register.

[@briansinclair8824]

Hi I used to teach people to use comptometers and I was interested in your technique for trying to add. Firstly it is not necessary to press the keys simultaneously. It is much quicker to do it one at a time then you do not need to keep twisting fingers into different shapes. Secondly it is much quicker instead of moving your hands to the top for higher numbers for 9 you press 4 and then 5 for 8 for twice etc. Using these methods I can assure you a comptometer is much faster than a calculator. I think to be able to use it correctly a demonstration is more helpful than reading instructions. Regards Carole Sinclair

[@jphili]

Your channel is like the adult version of Tim's Toys

[@Frisenette]

Essentially it's the difference between vector processing where you set up the operator and then input a stream of numbers in this case even in parallel. As opposed to the serial scalar way.This is probably where the idea originally stemmed!Also a very good example of why the market is not good at securing the best usability and interface. Anything that has a slight learning curve is filtered out.You could argue that manual entry of large sets is not that common any more but I'd wager that that is completely untrue. There would be plenty of applications for a keyboard of this type today.

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Great thoughts!

[@gerardodalchielelueiro6818]

Hi joe when I was 20 years old I worked with a comtometer similar at this you exhibit but know I am 67 years old and not remember how to use ir but i think it was very usefull

[@Joe_VanCleave]

Very interesting, thank you!

[@prisonersforprofit]

i've worked with people whose hand is a blur on a computer number pad, apparently they were just as fast with a comptometer, obviously if you can enter numbers simultaneously you theoretically are much faster on a comptometer.

[@glennsprigg2378]

Hi... Because of the 'problem' of having to reach so far with say 3 fingers, I recently saw a demo where operators would break down numbers! Say you wanted to enter 385, they would enter say 345, and then the middle finger on just the 4 in the 10's column, so very little hand/finger movement!!

[@michaelwalters7333]

Awesome, thanks for the Video

[@_landro_1092]

As comment below: you're more familiar with the pocket calculator keybord and, even more important: typing overhead is easier for a single digit that for a three digit number to be entered at once. Why not repeat this test when you can see the keys from your side.

[@suetube13]

You are more familiar with the 10 digit key pad.

[@trainmaster35]

Call me crazy, but here I am, a 20 something looking at replacing my electronic calculator with a mechanical one. Looking at the half height models like the contex and speedee, for reasons listed below. Did you ever do a follow up? Are you getting better at it?

[@Joe_VanCleave]

I haven't done a follow up! I ended up storing the comptometer away, due to space considerations on my desk, but I do get it out once in a while and use it. Maybe when I retire I'll practice at it.

[@AtelierDBurgoyne]

​@@Joe_VanCleavehey, time to get it out again Joe! Take Care. Daniel

[@johnnichols6073]

Any update? Did you get a chance to practice on this some more?

[@ke0nc]

I would say no. I have been looking for a video with someone using a comptometer at full speed. Can't find any.

[@JoePani1]

And you did it upside down and backwards.

[@tarikabaraka2251]

El comptómetro fue la primera calculadora mecánica de tecla pulsada, de éxito comercial, patentada en los Estados Unidos en 1887 por Dorr E. Felt.