I Am The Computer Now - Friden STW10 Mechanical Calculator

[@sheepco]

Obviously Riley is always a phenomenal host, but man, the set and b rolls, all around cinematography and production, was the best ive ever seen in an LTT video. Very nice work all around.

[@amoc8907]

Cannot agree more.

[@clmrsmn]

It's like the IBM keyboard video they did

[@bryanmanuelsalguero4729]

Though the same!

[@mdbbox5660]

I'm gonna need you to calm down.

[@Ollay245]

I came to LTT for Linus, I stayed for Riley (I love they way his mind works)

[@Lysus]

8:16 for those of you wondering, 10's complement is a way of representing decimal numbers as a negative without using a negative sign. So mechanical or even digital calculators can't just use a negative sign and automatically know it's a negative value and doesn't differentiate the numbers for example 54 from its negative. (Also edit at the bottom explaining a bit of 2's comp and how it's used in modern computers sort of) To get around this, complements are used (this is common in modern computers with 2's complement in binary). This is a different method of representing a negative number without the negative sign. This is done because number X and it's negative -X have a special property. That is that if you add X + -X it equals 0. So let's use 54 again. 54 + -54 = 0 But what if we can replace -54 with a positive number that still gets us 0. Normally this isn't possible but we can mess around with it a bit. So first say 54 + -54 is actually equal to 00 (two digits specifically). If we do this we can actually fake a 00 by using 100 instead. So we need to replace -54 with a number that satisfies 54 + C = 100 (C = complement). So we just do 100 - 54 and we get 46. 46 is the 10's complement of 54. Now let's practically do this. Let's do 78 - 54. So normal subtraction will give us 24. Now let's use 10's comp. 78 + -54 but we can now replace -54 with positive 46 so we get 78 + 46. This is equal to 124 So the 2 answers we have are 24 and 124. But for the 10s comp equation, we restrict ourselves to the first to digits so instead of 124, we actually have 24 with a 1 in front of it. this is how 10's comp works. So what do we do with the 1 then? The 1 is what is called the sign digit. This value indicates if the number is in normal decimal (positive) or in 10's comp form (negative). If we did a subtraction problem that gives a negative answer like 20 - 54 which is normally equal to -34 and use 10's comp we get 20 + 46 which is 66. However 66 can be read as 0 66, 0 representing that the number is in 10's comp (negative). To solve that we need to apply 10's complement to it. To do this we do 100 - 066 which = 34 hence it is -34. Hopefully that helped explain this. Thought I'd mention it cause Riley said 10's comp lol. EDIT: Grammar. Also an explanation of 2's complement in binary which is what modern computers and calculators use. 2's complement So nowadays, 10's comp isn't used as much anymore but 2's comp is. 2's comp is the method of getting "negative" numbers in Binary. 2 meaning base 2. So the concept is entirely the same where you get a number for example 101 (5 in binary) and getting it's complement by finding a number that adds to it and gets you 000 with a 1 in front. In the case of 101 it is 011 (3 in binary). So -101 = 011 (in 2's complement). So let's try using this in an equation. 111 (7) - 101 (5). Normally the answer to this is 010 (2). But let's use complements. So we already have the 2's comp of 101 so the equation is now 111 + 011 which is equal to 1010 and same as with 10's comp. We only focus on the last 3 bits (binary digits) and we have 010 with a 1 in front indicating it's sign. But what happens if we get a negative answer. Let's do 011 (3) - 101 (5) which is normally - 010 but now let's do it with 2's comp. 011 + 011 and this gives us 0110. however if we look at the last 3 bits and separate the sign it's 110 with a 0 indicating it's in 2's complement form so we need to reapply the algorithm. To do this we do 1000 - 0110 and that gives us 0010 or 010 that which is the same as the initial answer. (how 2's comp is applied in computers) So the way this is applied to computer systems is actually not the same as described above. So the normal algorithm for 2's or any base's comp is 1 followed by a set number of 0s. But in computer systems we are locked to a set number of bits in the system. so let's use a 4 bit system. We have to do all calculations in 4 bits which puts a limitation on 2's comp. This is that we can't use 10000 which is 5 bits. So if we tried doing the 2's comp of 1001 (9) we can't do 10000 - 1001. To get around this limitation we actually split up the 10000 into 1111 + 1 allowing us to work in 4 bits (or whatever bits we need). This means we do 1111 - 1001 (9) + 1 instead. Now if we look at the first section 1111 - 1001 (9), this gives us 0110. This actually gives us the inverse of 1001. so if we look carefully 1001 inverted is 0110. Hence the first step in 2's comp is invert. Then we add 1 Inversion can also be looked as the logical operation XOR where one input is always going to be 1 while the other is the number we're finding the complement for. This then can be used by a 4 bit system to do subtraction.

[@CassidyHansen]

Dude, it's awesome that you took the time to explain this. Thank you!

[@Lysus]

@@CassidyHansen Haha no problem, I'm just one of those super nerds who can't help but explain something random out of the blue that he knows about. And I enjoy talking about this stuff lol.

[@twelfthmanau]

This is a great explanation. Thankyou!

[@leoshork]

Thank you! Really good explanation!

[@unvergebeneid]

I mean, calculators _could_ work with minus signs but they'd basically need completely separate mechanisms or logics for addition and subtraction. So it's much easier to use complements and basically add numbers for subtraction.

[@aidanstarke8303]

This literally topped all other LTT videos the writing was good the camera work. Clearly people were knowledgable about the topic and the genuine enthusiasm was contagious

[@eurogael]

Couldn't agree more, my fave LTT vid to date.

[@ShukenFlash]

I love Friden calculators, there's just something so satisfying about them. This is one of the best LTT videos I've seen in a long time. The cinematography, B roll, lighting, everything was turned up to 11. Would love to see more of these little documentaries.

[@Danuxsy]

I love modern computers, there is just something fascinating about these transistors turning on and off.

[@TheElectronicChannel]

Modern computers have RGB to compensate for the lack of awesome mechanical functions to enjoy.

[@AustiuNoMatterWho]

This is probably the most aesthetically please LTT video I have seen in a while. Really feels nice and Riley just puts it all together so nicely for a topic like this one

[@papierbak]

You should watch the: Red camera review or the mkx mk2 case or the ibm model m keyboard video

[@sethstarrett2987]

Big fan of the quarterly "Professor Riley" videos. This historical context from a mainstream source is incredibly important.

[@johnboleyjr.1698]

The absolute eloquence, and sheer brute force determination of mankind to make it work, is why I absolutely love electromechanical, and mechanical mechanisms such as this. If you want to be impressed, take a look inside of a jukebox, or an autoloading record player. At first it all seems like chaos, until you start breaking it down to the simple systems that make it all happen, usually some form of an "on/off" switch. Typically they all work together in some mesmerizing ballet of cogs, wheels, levers, springs, etc..., most of the time orchestrated by a single motor. I'm pretty sure this calculator runs off of one single motor. Astounding.

[@chrisakaschulbus4903]

"If you want to be impressed, take a look inside of a jukebox, or an autoloading record player." Technology connections fan by any chance? :D

[@gigakoresh]

This just proves that people don't need programming languages to produce overcomplicated code

[@shapshooter7769]

Most computers run off a motor as well, usually known as a clock signal. This is synchronous computing in a nutshell whether it's motors or clocks.

[@wiz3404]

even the mechanisms in a bowling alley, its pretty neat

[@DeviDog305]

I hear ya! I crack open my Rolex and get a woody just watching the wheels go round and round 😜

[@oozer3827]

It blows my mind that computing power had come so far. Charging control boards are more powerful than the computers that Apollo 11 used

[@crashtfa]

The cheap solar powered calculator was more powerful than the Apollo 11 computers

[@tonnymiller123]

and still USA got to the moon in 1969...go figure

[@terrancevanliew1814]

@@tonnymiller123 we got to the moon with jets and fuel. The computers just collected data.

[@joshuadelaughter]

This thing isn't even a computer though. It's literally just mechanical.

[@rokku87]

I absolutely love the computer history lessons thing super cool keep it coming. I wish you guys had more time and budget to do actual documentaries about some of these little computers that lasted maybe 20 or 30 minutes. Or longer. That would be the dream

[@WickedGamerCollector]

What an amazing piece of tech from back in the day 😄

[@detingzonen7048]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🍑 NUDE.SNAPGIRLS.UNO/angelina?cutegirl Special Edition For You Live-HDRcam✰ MY DIRTY HOBBY 🎉 KZbin: This is fine Someone: Says "heck" KZbin: Be gone #однако #я #люблю #таких #рыбаков #Интересно #забавно #девушка #смешная #垃圾 #ライブ配信の再編ありがとうです！#この日のライブ配信は、#かならりやばかったですね！１#万人を超える人が見ていたもんね（笑）#やっぱり人参最高！#まさかのカメラ切り忘れでやら1かしたのもドキドキでした！#今後は気を付けないとね5). . !💖🖤❤#今後は気をライブ配信の再編ありがとうです！#この日のライブ配信は、#１万人を超える人が見ていたも ん（#笑）#やっぱり人参最高！#まさかのカメラ切り忘れでやら1かしたのもドキドキでした #今後は気をライブ配信の再編ありがとうです！（ #笑）#垃圾

[@JulesVonBasslake]

Something like this would make for an interesting showpiece for sure. I mean, sure modern calculators can do everything this can and more, but the mechanical nature of it makes it just so damn cool and interesting.

[@dennislacroix5478]

Was never really someone into mechanical type devices but this, this is a beautiful work of art if you ask me. You won't get the those sounds of work being done with digital equipment. Who remembers the sound of grunting floppy drives when you turned on the computer? Now everything is just silent.

[@rikker6617]

My laptop would like to have a word

[@Dong_Harvey]

Hell, you used to be able to hear hard drives on boot up as well.. But of course, who remembers what a hard drive is?

[@grn1]

I still hear my fans and Blu-ray drive (which I never use despite having Blu-rays I've been meaning to watch).

[@randomgeocacher]

Extremely cinematic lighting etc. and the presentation is incredible. Feels like LTT went above and beyond to make this oldie shine!

[@nulla4711]

LTTDiscovery channel. This is quite intriguing and hopefully there's more in the future like this.

[@SunIsLost]

Yes lol

[@SunIsLost]

We hope

[@dtemp132]

LTT should do it like they do on the Discovery Channel

[@Niros8889]

One Condition. The Snazzy Jacket has to stay.

[@0xTJ]

I absolutely love these mechanical calculators. It's still wild to me that they could design these.

[@a_d3mon]

How about the fact that the ancient greeks had an analog device that could predict the positions of celestial bodies, especially the sun and moon? They referenced it actually by name in this video now that I've watched a bit more... The device I mentioned that is... That thing that looked like a plate that Riley said they would talk about in a later video.

[@TheFlyingPineapple]

the chad mechanical engineer vs the virgin electrical engineer

[@a_d3mon]

@@TheFlyingPineapple Let's be honest... both types are chads... Without them, we wouldn't have near as much technology (or at least as much super advanced technology) as we have now.

[@Cinkodacs]

@@a_d3mon Antikythera mechanism?

[@nfnworldpeace1992]

@@Cinkodacs that one yes there is a channel on here that has a building it video with a whole bunch of ancient maker tricks

[@richfiles]

Interestingly enough, Friden also made the SRW-10, which had a single key square root calculation function! It basically automated the process demonstrated in this video. They are something of a holy grail to vintage calculating machine collectors. I wish I had one! I do have a pair of STW-10s, like the one featured in this video, that I'd love to restore someday. I have a massive collection of both mechanical and electronic adding machines and calculators. One of my STW-10s is fully jammed, but the other only has a frozen multiplicand advance. The accumulator will happily sit there and multiply any number for eternity. It only got "stuck" in the past decade or so, so I think it may be mostly a lubrication issue... I hope. I'm just not set up with the needed space to even consider attempting repairs right now... As for my collection, I have a Sony Sobax ICC-600W that I fully restored (the nixie tube calculator famous from the Superposition benchmark), as well as an SCM Cogito 240SR, a Friden EC-132 (square root version of the EC-130 featured in this video), an HP 9100A (Hewlett Packard's first calculator), an HP 9825 (a "calculator" that ran a 16-bit CPU at 10 MHz, with up to 32K RAM, in 1976... It was a calculator in name only, and literally a ploy to let engineers get a computer on their desk at a time when there was often a lot of red tape for a business to approve a computer, but not a calculator, LOL), and many, many other machines! I have over 100 pocket and desktop machines!

[@jimmypockrus7725]

I worked for a structural steel detailer back in 1983. Structural steel details for architectural drawings is done in feet, inches and fractions of inches, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 , 1/32, & 1/64 of an inch. We had a calculator similar to this one but was about 2 1/2 times wider than this on and had over 100 keys. It was amazing to watch it add, subtract, multiply and divide with fractions to out to 63/64" It would spin and click for about a minute and spit out an answer. How it was able to find a common denominator for an entire list of fractions, convert all the fractions to the same denominator. perform the math function and split out the corrict answer. We did all of the math long hand on paper and used the desktop sized computer to check our math. Over 42 years of working in drafting/architecture/engineering things have really changed with the computers that I have used but there are still things like calculating parts of a circle or curve that I have to rely on pencil and paper because the programmers of the drafting software don't always give us all the tools we need.

[@cup_and_cone]

Underappreciated how engineers built remarkable technology like this using only slide rules and pencils.

[@toriless]

My grandfather who worked at Boeing had a slide rule. I have it now. They still flew anyway.

[@ericepperson8409]

@@toriless The father of one of my best friends worked at McDonnel Douglas (later bought by Boeing). He studied Engineering in the the 60's and had a small collection of slide rules, including one that was over 2 feet long. His favorite was a circular one. Watching him figure calculations on one was like watching voodoo magic.

[@michaelmichael8406]

I have a wristwatch with a circular slide rule built into the bezel. It's an E6B flight computer, with the appropriate markings to make fuel, flight time, and other calculations. Granted, by the time you break this out, the one built into the plane, the electronic one in your bag, your phone, and the mechanical one in the bottom of your flight bag have all somehow broken or gone missing, but it's neat to calculate the tip by twisting the dial and glancing at your wrist.

[@cypherfunc]

Heck, even slide rules are remarkable technology!

[@n10ask]

It has to be said, Riley is a great presenter. He's got such great comedic timing hahaha

[@pantzforhire]

@@FlameOnTheBeat dug him out of that dumpster against his will. apparently he developed an affinity for the taste of garbage

[@joshw2929]

He's the best!

[@Nerzgul]

Is almost as if Riley was made for this videos, he has the looks and the charisma

[@TH3C001]

I really like this guy, it’s been too long since he’s hosted a vid here, wasnt the last one he was in one with Linus and the all white pc?

[@r3mpuh]

@@TH3C001 Techlinked?

[@fyzxnerd]

I cannot help but notice the fact that Riley is wearing A very, surprisingly, similar outfit to Technology Connections.

[@Damasiofa]

Even his hand gestures are similar. I dont think it's an accident.

[@Steamrick]

They've used that look before in videos about old tech... the video about old keyboards comes to mind: kzbin.info/www/bejne/emjanoCQorKcpK8 Back then, LTT was closing in on 10 million subs while technology connections had only recently moved past 100k subs I believe.

[@douglas8568]

true indeed one more video about heat pumps please!

[@blueberry1c2]

All he needs is is an EPCOT t-shirt :)

[@gregorymccoy6797]

That jacket is magic. If I had one, I could start my own channel.

[@Tigurius]

It's really sad that this will be an underperforming video, with probably lower views than most videos you put out. This was amazing. The production, the host, and just the calculator are AMAZING. You rarely get to see this kind of things, and it's a shame that it won't be rewarded with the views it deserves, when a cheap 'we bought every wish watercooling' video will get triple or quadruple the amount. Hope you keep making videos like this !

[@glujaz]

Honestly, KZbin didn't even show it to me... so it was a missed episode although I look Daily into the subscribe tab... I think the title here is definitely not helping...

[@COLT45Studios]

These "history of computers" type videos are my favorite and Riley does a fantastic job presenting the information.

[@mikkelgeorgsen]

Amazing cinematography and Riley's comedic timing is on point - one of the best LTT videos yet!

[@QJDWG]

Damn, this is really fucking cool. More of this, please!

[@NccsChannel]

Definitely! A whole series on the history of computing would be so awesome!

[@Marco_Onyxheart]

If I lived in Canada or they were willing to travel all the way to the Netherlands, I'd let them borrow my Friden EC-130. It's one of the first fully electronic calculators.

[@GenesisRasphotos]

Riley was the perfect cast for this role..everyone already thought he was a hipster...now we know he is! 😂

[@GFG2gifted]

Anything but that Mac guy. 😂 #yellowteethsnoozefest

[@breearbor4275]

Would love to see more of these historical tech videos. This was super interesting!

[@purrfectmistake3902]

The amount of engineering that would've gone into this is incredible.

[@rajikkali2381]

The evolution of this channel is incredible

[@CatSovietski]

Linus really did put the effort to turn the channel into a media group or even more than that...

[@mihan2d]

The evolution of a humble calculator is even more incredible to be honest

[@cate01a]

@@mihan2d meh not sure, you got the math which is unchanging, and you perhaps got some revolutionary time saving formulas/hacks to make equations simpler for specific machines - but mainly it's about designing maths to be done mechanically then electronically. Perhaps an interesting step but I don't reckon there's anything more to it than just literally that.

[@SunIsLost]

Yeas

[@ZRubidium]

This honestly was one of the coolest video's in a long time. Learning about the "early" days, it's cool and funny.

[@ash36230]

More history lessons. It was quite fascinating as part of my Comp Sci degree to go through the history of computing from the difference engine to tiny little things with no moving parts that sit in the palm of your hand. Here for Professor Riley, only thing missing is patches on the jacket sleeve elbows.

[@proCaylak]

those machines make a lot of sense why some things like registers and bit/digit shifting exist.

[@CoNMaN-bw1nj]

You know what makes a great presenter, someone who can any subject, and make it enjoyable. Riley, you did a great job with this video.

[@Neojhun]

When LMG brings out the Tweed Jacket. It's going to be a powerhouse of a shortfilm.

[@devilmikey00]

There is just something inherently satisfying with old stuff like this. Pushing the button and seeing the gears and stuff whirl around and do their thing. Gives mundane things like simple math a sense of weight and grandeur.

[@phoenix7240]

This is the reason steampunk is a thing

[@tamptasian857]

Brandon’s style of cinematography is amazing as always. Hope to see more of his work on the channel!

[@felixottl4316]

Although this kind of content is probably not that successful as others, but I love that you do it anyways. Go LTT

[@dylanjesus1552]

ltt is already geek with all their toys but somehow this felt geekier

[@MaxMichel89]

Thus ist probably more of a Long running Video. Which is still interesting in a few years

[@mikew7168]

I feel like the more successful videos help pay for these ones.

[@WhoLover]

I love how they're giving us step-by-step instructions on how to use this as if everyone has this in their household

[@RK-kg6on]

You mean u dont have 1?

[@MisterSixty]

OMG, I actually used one of those in 1974!!! ONE wrong move and you had to start from scratch! Our office replaced it in 1975 with a TI SR50 (or 51??) - that little led screen - loved it! THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!

[@TheDivinepromise]

It's mind boggling how the engineers were able to design and develop these using raw brain power. So much sophistication. So amazing.

[@Blacktronics]

yeah, all that without CAD, or even the calculator.

[@mickolesmana5899]

@@Blacktronics slide rule rules

[@Blacktronics]

@@mickolesmana5899 imagine it didn't

[@Werdna12345]

Loved the video! The “here’s how do square roots” section i think could have benefited from a smaller number, tighter editing, or showing us the calculation steps as he was computing them

[@cjchristopher]

... It's because the number they are sqrt'ing is 69420.. such meme.

[@PascalBrax]

It's for comedy's effect

[@willgallatin2802]

The blueprints to make this just may have been on par with those of the Apollo spacecraft. I feel for the machinist that had to make all the parts.

[@Johanneslol11]

My mother worked with similiar things only then for IBM. She said they had special rooms with security guards and so just to protect the technology from this. It was extreme rare to see something like this.

[@timothygibney159]

It most of cost a fortune back in the day as a result

[@Dong_Harvey]

@@Johanneslol11 there is an antique restoration channel that manages to clean up and repair a 1900s era IBM cheese cutter IBM is scary

[@Plunz]

From the calculator to Riley's hosting to the Pals for Life reference, this has quickly become my favorite LTT video by far.

[@LautaroQ2812]

I want to be a dick and say: -I don't think anyone else would've been as perfect for this video as Riley -This looks SUPER COOL but who the fuck has this around? Is it memorabilia? Do they still use it? WHY? -This looks cool, like really cool. Seriously. But I would bet hearing these noises and the waiting until the counts are done EVERYTIME, for hours, for days... would've driven you nuts. Imagine Linus who gets upset he has to look for updates for 10 seconds having to operate one of these bad boys daily. Upside, he can't drop it because you can barely move it. I feel this is one of those "OH MY GOD LOOK AT IT GO! FROM THE OLD DAYS" wonders that is amazing to see in a beautifully produced 13 minute video. And for that, I give my like. Really great video. One of the best of the... year? It's 2022, so we'll see.

[@cloakedclover]

Its very cool to see all these unique videos inspired by LMG staff! 😄

[@kelm102]

This was super interesting to watch. It's always fun when Riley's the host. To whoever wrote the script for this, or Riley if he did it off the cuff, bravo for the reference at 6:58. It was perfectly appropriate.

[@LucidStrike]

Riley writes most of the scripts in general I think.

[@owen_brady]

It says who the writer was in their end screen.

[@skilly114]

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOY JEEEEEEEEEENNNKIIIIIIIIIIINSSSSS. Sorry, had to.

[@misckkuser6962]

" Ma, Can I get a mechanical gaming keyboard ? " " We have mechanical gaming keyboard at home "

[@hassoon1999]

One of the best videos I've seen from LTT in a very long time.

[@jeffhunter12]

Man i love how just beautiful machinery like that is and how someone actually thought up how to make that, every gear and button all working together to do math! thank you so much i really enjoyed seeing and learning about this machine

[@asj3419]

A number calculator companies collapsed after the switchover to digital machines. They had some of the best mechanical engineers and designs they could get their hands on, but EVERYTHING they had was being made obsolete by the advent of transistor machines during the 1970s. I think the reason division by 0 leads to a infinite loop might be that the calculator is using Euclid's algorithm. To calculate what the divided value is, simply count how many times you can repeatedly subtract the divisor from the value until it is less or equal to the divisor. The number of subtractions is the divided value. If the divisor is zero, the value will never decrease, so the calculator will keep dividing forever. That's just my guess.

[@Ardyvee]

There is a video around where you get to see (and hear) the glorious division by zero and it is exactly as you believe!

[@JF-gr2tc]

Thanks guys, I've been stuck on question 4 of my math homework for a while now. Thanks for showing me how to do the square roots!

[@vladgulyaev4927]

I remember finding similar mechanism in my school in Russia. It's called "ariphmometer" (don't know if its a right translation). It had the same functionality, but was much smaller (around 2kg in total, if I remember things right)

[@xplinux22]

Whoa, that's so cool! Also, I love the translation. I would probably guess the equivalent would be something like "arithmometer," which sounds almost like a thermometer for arithmetic to me, haha. Like a measuring device for numbers, counting, arithmetic, etc...

[@BenCrews]

One of my top 5 LTT videos now. Great job, guys!!

[@freakofnature9580]

Congrats to the team who worked on this - it’s a gem!

[@Animated__Freak]

One of the best videos you've done in a while. Amazing, please do more content like this

[@WesleyRanger]

I really appreciate having the more technical segment with Tynan. More videos and time on how stuff physically works would be great (For this, for the upcoming "antique mechanism" video, for future turbo nerd videos... everything.)

[@anarchangel7]

These are super cool. The idea of designing a machine like that is crazy.

[@twothreebravo]

This is a video that only Prof. Riley could have presented and it was knocked out of the park by all involved! I am very much looking forward to the Antikythera Mechanism video.

[@2nd-place]

One of my prized possessions as a child was a solar powered calculator that looked exactly like a floppy disk and fit into the slot. The metal sliding protective gate was functional as well, sliding over the LCD and solar cell when not in use, making it even more stealth. I think I might actually still have it in a box in my basement if Linus wants to buy it off of me for like $3000 so I can finally afford a GPU.

[@stefa4013]

This thing explains why my math teacher back in the day was buffed as hell. He literally was the most buffed guy there giving even the sport guys in my high school a run for their money

[@YungEagle3k]

Yea but who asked

[@bizzellkris]

This video is all of my favorite things in one: LTT, computer history, and math!!

[@toriless]

How do you figure those as your favorites??

[@Vixeneye1]

I LOVED this video. Really feel like the scope of computers and how far we've come hasn't been covered enough! I sincerely love this

[@BeesKneesBenjamin]

I own an ascota 170, it's like the friden, but heavily on steroids, designed in the DDR (former East Germany) by some absolutely mindbogglingly talented engineers. They're not super rare, and all the documentation is still available online if you're interested to take a peek into its inner workings (sadly not in English, but in many different other languages like German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian, etc.). Shy of a 100 kilos heavy, It's actually a turing complete mechanical computer (a bookkeeping machine) that can run two programs on a carriage, do loops, has multiple arithmetic units, logic, registers, rudimentary I/O you name it. I believe they were made well into the 1970s and were super popular as they were very reliable and reasonably priced for small businesses. Mine kinda partially works, but it's still in need of some repair due to not having seen use since the early 90s and being stored in a damp shed for decades. I haven't found the time to do a proper restoration sadly :/. When I bought the device, the owner was actually the original operator of that device for decades. She said it saw daily use but apart from having to put some sewing machine oil in every now and then, it never stalled. Then the iron curtain fell, the business she worked for went bankrupt, she was allowed to keep it and she and her husband loaded up the device in their Trabbi to seek out a new life in the west of a "unified" Germany. They got old, wanted to live smaller and hence it was put online trying to find someone to take good care of it for future generations :-). The Trabant was still in the shed as well hahaha.

[@Shoelid]

I feel like I've seen a couple of these mini-doc style videos from you guys and i LOVE THEM please make more and put 'em into a fancy little playlist to watch them through

[@GroudFrank]

I'm more impressed with this than a lot of the modern technology we have today. The eingeering behind this is incredibly impressive.

[@johncarlramirez609]

It's impressive because it had a deep history. The future generations will look at today's computers as impressive despite the fact that they'll have quantum computers on their pockets with entire cities powered by Dyson spheres. But their technology is way way more impressive and technical, in an engineering perspective. Just like how decades of development in computer science led to a supercomputer on your pocket. I get your point, but c'mon, today's technologies are more impressive than anything in the previous century.

[@kronik907]

They brute forced it so we don't have to. I have a lot of respect for what previous people have been able to do with what they had to get us here today.

[@boredandagitated]

@@johncarlramirez609 I think the fact that modern tech is so advanced and complicated that it becomes a sort of black box to a layman doesn’t help either. This electromechanical machine is much less complex but it’s still pretty complex, and levers and springs and motors are more tangible and closer to understanding for a normal person.

[@johncarlramirez609]

@@boredandagitated Yeah I can see that. Mostly, the modern things around us are tend to be underappreciated because people never really think that profoundly about them, so they, mostly, will take the technologies we had today for granted. It is a very understandable position, however, any sane person will not say that the past have technologies more impressive than today. That's like some boomers saying that music today sucks, but worse than that.

[@GroudFrank]

@@johncarlramirez609 Technology today and in the future do and will have the benefit of piggybacking, to a much larger degree than technologies in the past, off the work of technologies that came before it. The leap from a steam engine to a calculator like this will always be more impressive to me than the leap from smartphone to quantum computers because engineers in the early 20th century had much less to work with in terms of the depth of knowledge we had access to.

[@johngamble5270]

One of my high school math teachers dragged one of these out a decade after the company stopped making them. It was fascinating to watch, but I was happy to stick with my Rockwell (yes really) calculator. Oh, and doing square roots by hand is dead easy, with only a little more bookkeeping than long division.

[@LoopinFool]

We also had a Rockwell pocket calculator. Worst hard but mushy rounded buttons ever. So glad when HP and TI took it to the next level!

[@666Tomato666]

ah, yes, there is that crazy algorithm where you do two digits at a time so glad I can just execute python; import math; math.sqrt(arbitrary number) instead of it... or use dc "v" command to calculate it to arbitrary precision, if for some reason I don't have gmpy installed...

[@darksam1212]

My grandmother was hired as a human calculator for an insurance company and she would use this, then she was offered a new job she never heard before called programmer, and thats where she learned IBM mainframe assembly. She can talk for hours about little odd things that were just starting out, which today run her life without her knowing. This section of computer history is facinating.

[@loficampingguy9664]

This is probably one of the coolest videos on this channel, no idea how I had not seen it until now. It feels kind of like Technology Connections and LTT were mashed together.

[@MrDarkbluewater]

I love the "You won't have a calculator in your pocket wherever you go." because last time a teacher told me that, we did already all have a calculator in our pockets. Funnily for two of us it was actually a calculator because we didn't have phones.

[@LtDan907]

This is really cool. Love learning the history of tech. More of this, please.

[@spookyweeb5563]

if you like tech history there are a ton of channels doing videos about this stuff, channels like cathode ray dude, techmoan and curiousmarc should get you started if you want more videos on old tech. personally my favorite is curiousmarc, he focuses more on the really older computers and he actually has an entire series where he repairs one of the actual apollo computers that as far as i know actually went to space.

[@irwainnornossa4605]

That machine is absolutely amazing. The sheer engineering that must've been done to make it work… It also makes you appretiate modern tech more.

[@JoeCastellon]

This brings so much nostalgia! My dad used to repair these machines and other models that were nearly four times as large and could only be carried by two strong men. They were used at banks before AS400 became mainstream. He would take them apart completely into thousands of gears, cogs, levers and bars. It always amazed me how he was capable of putting those thousands of pieces together into a fully working accounting machine.

[@ChiRat22]

I have currently come across one of these. I was not sure what it was but I plugged it in. Sounded it like it was a bmb. I unplugged it quickly. I left it and came home to find this video. Thanks

[@MGlBlaze]

A mechanical computer. A heard a little about them before, and the engineering and machinistry needed for one of them is pretty mind-boggling stuff. This is before the invention of the integrated circuit.

[@budthecyborg4575]

Prior to this the only examples of mechanical computers I had heard about were huge, it's actually really neat to see a tabletop mech calculator.

[@nastybandit322]

The airforce used insanely complicated mechanical computers in the USA in ww2.

[@SupaKoopaTroopa64]

@@budthecyborg4575 Some of the really big ones could run programs, as opposed to just mathematical operations.

[@budthecyborg4575]

@@SupaKoopaTroopa64 I suppose building a mechanical computer would just be a matter of making machines to give and receive numbers from more machines like this, so a 1 Ton mechanical computer probably could play Crysis at about 1 frame per century.

[@drsupergood8978]

@@budthecyborg4575 I am not sure such computer system could ever run Crysis, no matter the size. The reliability of them due to all moving parts would likely mean a failure or calculation mistake would occur before the first frame could be finished being calculated. It is also unlikely that 1 Ton could support enough mechanical memory for the game.

[@RichHuff]

Brings back memories of the "Comptometer" machines in the office when I was a co-op student in 1969. They were relics from a bygone era, even then...

[@ryhanzfx1641]

How old are you right now?

[@paulgilbert9346]

When I first started work in 1975 in the City of London these machines were still used by accountants to check computer printouts from the large financial institutions. When the audit team came to check your books there would be a few “comptometers” who sat pumping page after page of fanfold printout to make sure that they all added up correctly. I guess that they were called comptometers by then because they checking on the actual computers and the programming that was being done by computers. How long it continued I couldn’t sat as I moved into commodity dealing and never saw them again.

[@BenSch100]

Excellent high quality video about tech from yester-yesterday! More of this please!

[@1981AdamGs]

This is the best produced video LTT has ever done in my opinion. Mad props to all the team for this one.

[@Cephalopadre]

Thanks for retro content and for the variety.

[@me217]

I love the engineering that had gone into this thing. I could just watch it all day.

[@ChiralWolf]

This was great! Riley did an amazing job, his cadence and presentation fit this type of content so well

[@fionafiona1146]

Not to mention tweedy suit jackets, love those enough to overlook the facial hair 😉

[@aritheory]

The quality of the content you guys are putting out now is incredible. It feels like I'm reading those old PC mags from the newsagents with the free CD on the front. Awesome stuff.

[@thunderingeagle]

Ikrr 🔥 !!

[@alanfreeman1838]

Hello there. I was a friden calculator Instructor way back in the late 60.s and early 70,s I am in my 90,s now I still have a friden STW 8 . plus many small parts. Alan Freeman.

[@SgtMustang]

I own several Fridens as a part of my collection of calculating machines from the 20th century. Small detail @3:05, that is a *multiplier* register, *multiplicands* are entered in the main keyboard. It's a small distinction but it can be noted in the original documentation. Here's hoping this niche doesn't get completely drowned and decimated like the CRT market did! To anyone who at a glance is interested in getting into this hobby, let me give some precautions, as someone who has dedicated a significant portion of their intellectual life to calculators alone: I would NOT recommend anyone who does not have significant experience in historical preservation, mechanical engineering, electronics, hands on mechanical work like rebuilding automotive engines, and computer science even attempt to restore one of these. If the idea of properly restoring a 100 year old typewriter or cash register sounds like a challenge, this is a dozen times more so. In many ways, it is comparable to rebuilding a very small, high precision, extremely high part count mechanical clock from the early 1900s. ALL mechanical calculators, despite being built into the 70s in some cases, were essentially simple derivations of designs from the late 1800s and first decades of the 1900s. The models produced in the 60s and very early 70s were using designs that were 50+ years old at that point, albeit with more features stacked on top of the already complicated machinery. Of the units that are left, those that do remain should be maintained, REGULARLY operated, and preserved for future generations. There are no service centers or outside sources who can do the work for you. If you break anything, it is irreplaceable as there is no extant production of replacement parts for these machines, and all the companies who produced them have long since disappeared. If they are not operated on a regular basis (at least weekly), you will begin to get sticking, seizing, and jams. I use all of my restored mechanical calculators on a daily/weekly basis to keep them running well. If you get one of these, you are going to do 100% of the work and research yourself. When you take on one of these, you are diving into the mind of engineers who were born in the 1800s or before WWI, and have a completely different conception of what makes a computer than you do, and they speak in arcane language and use esoteric terminology in the documentation and patents. There are no central websites that aggregate all of the information - you're going to need to do really deep searches through government patent databases, the Internet Archive, long-closed but archived websites and dig through the 10-100 views section of KZbin to maybe find the bit of information you need. There is no "Stack Exchange" equivalent where you can find someone who had the same problem and copy+paste the solution, every machine is unique and there is no way to fix it without true understanding. They are NOT built to modern electrical standards and run on mains AC voltage. They have no fuses and the switches are placed in the circuit such that the entire circuit is live at all times. There are numerous points on the machine internally which will electrocute you (AC mains can kill you) if touched, and a stray wire or piece of metal can easily short and destroy critical components. Before the 40s, they were not even grounded, so if a short develops internally the entire case will become live and potentially kill you if you are unlucky. If you are not highly experienced with dealing with mains power and electromechanical circuits, I would highly recommend taking some time to get experienced with some simpler projects before purchasing one of these. The motors have a mechanical RPM governor that is not documented anywhere and must be intuited by the user, and each brand had a different design. You will need to find a way to measure and set the timing so that the calculator operates at the cycles per minute specified. Too much or too little and you risk damaging the motor or the rest of the mechanisms. Any unit that has not been restored by a professional or experienced hobbyist will be completely jammed due to lack of maintenance and dried grease, and must not be operated out of the box. Most of the components are usually seized and will require extensive takedown, use of solvents, and hours of detailwork and hand manipulation to free up (with tiny precision mechanical tools). Even the most simple mechanical calculators had thousands of pieces; Fridens are among the most complicated that were ever produced. They are highly specific about the kind of oil and grease they require; those specced in the service manual are not produced anymore and modern equivalents must be researched and sourced by you. The service manual for an STW is +150 pages and is REQUIRED reading, and 100 of those pages are just the parts list/blown up diagrams, and over 30 pages are dedicated just to 1/100 inch level adjustments for every single moving part on the machine. If any of these parts are out of alignment, not lubricated where they should be, or lubricated when they should NOT be, the machine will fail to operate correctly. I have had major failures that cropped up as a result of oil spreading and causing parts to stick when they should be dry. The service manual was designed for technicians operating on these units when they were only a few years old. We are now 60-80 years down the line for these units and all new problems have cropped up due to time that Friden obviously did not provide for in their manuals. Springs have often drifted out of spec and need to be replaced with appropriately tensioned ones (too tight or too loose, and parts will not release and engage in proper sequence). I have spent hours superheating and reforming metal parts to urge things back into proper alignment, while simultaneously avoiding shifting other parts out of alignment. Shipping can easily warp and bend internal pieces in a way that can be virtually impossible to detect without comprehensive understanding. The machines were frequently revised and your machine will likely differ from the exact revision detailed in the few manuals that do exist online. In the process of servicing the Fridens in my collection of calculating machines, I often need to consult the (over 100) original patents to understand a particular mechanism. There is no way to service or maintain these long term without weeks of study and months of hands-on experience. I just completed a rebuild that stemmed from not touching one of my Fridens for a month; the motor switch contacts, which are buried in the machine in a way that requires removing the keyboard to access, which by design only have a ~1mm gap, began to stick together due to age related contact welding, keeping the motor from shutting off. I needed to completely take down the machine to make compensating adjustments. There is not one, but two mechanical clutches that must be properly adjusted or the motor could seize during operation and destroy the motor. I ended up writing more than I intended to originally here, but to summarize, if you want to do it right, it will likely be the most complicated, detailed hand-assembly project you ever undertake. If you do it sloppily, you could end up damaging or rendering permanently inoperable a truly remarkable piece of technological history. None of this should dissuade the genuine, well-experienced potential hobbyist who is willing to put in the hard work, money, and enormous time required to do justice to these old machines, but if you feel like you are not up to it, try out something like a typewriter or a clock, things that are cheaper and more common, and if you can do one of those well, then think about moving to one of these, or one of the simpler adding machines that existed during the same period.

[@neolordie]

CRT have a reason to be popular as they are better for the game created for them in mind, I think your calculators are safe x)

[@richardhaas39]

I agree with this and note that if Friden was like Teletype there were probably tools that were only available from Friden to work on the product. Teletype sold a set of specialized feeler gauges and also a tuning fork for setting the RPM of the governed motor to keep it at the correct baud rate.

[@110gotrek]

Would love Riley to get deeper into computer science from university courses. All the way from mechanical items, math, information science, FPMGs, first computers, and how operating systems work.

[@AlphaHorst]

Some people "managed to get square roots on this thing." "How you ask" I am still wondering how to do square roots on anything that is supposed to do it to be honest. But wizardry seems to be the answere in all cases Edit: ok watching him actually do this actually helped me understand how speedruners broke Ocarina of Time. I fully expected him to glitch spawn in the Ganondorf bosfight at the end of it all.

[@spactus]

Me wondering why the f they didn’t just multiply it by itself

[@1aboPLZ]

@@spactus because that's not the square root?

[@SamuelLudden]

More please. There are entire channels dedicated to this type of historical committing tech, and I can't get enough!

[@musiquestar]

I simply adore Riley…but MY GOD who is Tynan and how do we get more of him?! 😍💜 He is simply delightful. I need to visit Canada…

[@CreamAle]

Tynan looks like a lovechild between James and Linus. I can't unseen that. Gotta love these old machines, engineering is pretty neato.

[@austinverlinden2236]

lol I see it now too. Is that why Tynan is so good looking? :D

[@ERREX]

This just goes to show that old tech was ment to stay, the quality is outstanding!!!

[@bungholio81]

Is it bad that I got the Leroy Jenkins reference? 32.33% recurring of course.... Leeeeerrroooyyy Jennnnnkkkkiiiinnnnzz 🤣

[@aldenroswell8504]

I would love to see more videos on mechanical and/or analog computers. I love these things and want to see how they work more

[@juanfra1997]

Finally a video that actually is fun to see and not boring reviews about really expensive products that most of the viewers are not able to buy

[@BrianRoediger]

Riley is so good at these videos. I absolutely love these historical tech videos and him as the host is perfect. Keep doing these!!

[@lazarus2950]

Loving these videos. Nice to learn more about this era stuff. Ps. If you're doing an episode on the antikythera mechanism, you should have a chat to Chris on the channel Clickspring, a horologist who is making one using era-appropiate techniques

[@known-bug]

100% this

[@FL4SHK]

I am a computer engineer, and I love computing history!

[@OscarTroya]

So cool. Nice video. Had a lot of fun watching it. The engineer who made this thing is a genius

[@michaelmichael8406]

This was a very interesting, and well made, video. Kudos to the team! You might also be interested in the Curta mechanical calculator. Designed by Curt Herzstark while in a WWII concentration camp, it was a small cylindrical, purely mechanical, device with a rotating lever on top and numerical selector slides on the side. It's been called 'the Peppermill or (my preferred name) 'the math grenade'. After they were mentioned in Gibson's "Patern Recognition" they've become insanely collectable; I'm very fortunate to have one. I'd be happy to let y'all shoot a segment on it, but I doubt you want to come all the way to the mid-Atlantic area of the US for it. :)

[@drorange2261]

Keep going with this kind of content. Antique computers, behind the scenes demo hardware , limited edition things , mainframes.

[@A-Brax]

And we thought computers were complex now. This thing is so cool. The training for this thing must have been a month lol

[@wclifton968gameplaystutorials]

Now you guys need to make a video on Liechtenstien's most valuable piece of "computing" technology, the Curta Calculator of which development was funded by the Princely House of Liechtenstien (I believe this is true but idk)... The Curta Calculator is just a portable, mechanical calculator which is extremely complex and nowadays expensive for the most-part holding it's value over 60-70 years since it's manufacture

[@bennetreinecke9317]

The Curta is so cool and I would love to see it featured in this type of video! It's development wasn't funded by Liechtenstein though, the Curta was at least partially patented when Curt Herzstark founded a company and needed investments (which he likely received from Liechtenstein) to begin manufacturing. It's got such an intense story behind it and some incredible engineering. I can see why the small curta is worth way more money than this friden calculator.

[@Brendonjharrington]

The vintage style scene props including the cigarette around @4:18 had me lmfao - Well played, love some quality attention to detail.

[@JasonEllins]

Amazing video! Really loved the cinematography!

[@jakejasonread980]

More stuff like this for sure LTT! Really awesome and interesting stuff!