RetroTech: The CalcuPen

Merge a pen with a calculator and you get the CalcuPen, a barely useable yet highly collectable piece of 1970s tech.
NOS LCD Pen Watches on eBay ebay.to/2zxVXDO
CalcuPens occasionally appear on eBay too: ebay.to/2rgArii
(Links are affiliated)
My previous video about the rise and fall of the LED watch • Pulsar P3 - When a Dig...
The outro can be seen on it's own here: • Ten
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---------Outro Music----------
Over Time - Vibe Tracks • Over Time - Vibe Track...
-----Outro Sound Effect-----
ThatSFXGuy - • Six Million Dollar man...
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[@John_Ridley]

Nope, still want the outtros :D

[@UNSTOPABLE40XBOX]

Yes

[@an1_uk]

Moar outros!

[@paulgascoigne5343]

I'd be happy with an intro.. and outro.. Maybe some content from the boring old man in between 😉

[@Tb0n3]

As long as he can have fun doing it, I'll have fun watching it.

[@zarni-dude]

MORE COWBELL !

[@Fifury161]

Appreciate the detail - I still have my watch pen & I even have that 4 pen pack with a solar power calculator attached to it! I used to collect keyring (and credit card) calculators, there are so many different designs!

[@Loveletters89]

Boi I thought you had yourself a nuralyzer from Men In Black there for a sec 😂

[@MartinWillett]

I think I was giving out those LCD watch pens free with 5 litres of Havoline motor oil in 1988. Do you remember when cars used oil between services and we were supposed to check the level every week and expect to have to top it up? Apparently many reps' cars seemed to use about 5 litres every other week. "Neat pen! Stick it on the fuel card, five litres, yeah, whatever." I think there must be garden sheds full of oil.

[@onffxiimanon]

I think you "accidentally" made my favorite outtro yet. Thanks for the great videos!

[@schristy3637]

DUDE back that Truck Up. I have been looking for Bullvine Calculator for years so I can converting Calf Pens into real numbers!!!! HA! HA! HA! Like your videos so much.

[@brycevo]

Calculator pen? That sounds convenient for any nerd or business person

[@BIackMoonCGI]

Very interesting. I never knew these things existed. Seems like they were made only "because they could".

[@SuperCartoonist]

I don't think the Puppets want to be apart of the outro anymore.

[@markwalsham7115]

Mat, as usual, great video. Maybe you should look at the Zanco Pen Phone!!!!

[@peterudbjorg]

It’s like those all-in-one Hi-Fi-centers that became so popular in the 70’s. Rather unwieldly things, their components weren’t that good, and if one component broke (which often happened…), youmd have to return the whole thing to the shop and be without entertainment for the time it took to fix. Of course, those clunky clumps of lo-fi were looked down upon from the hi-fi-crowd, who’d shell out astronomical sums for a turntable, an amp & a set of speakers. Like I did…

[@junkjouster]

The old pen flip trick which i guess was a thing for your generation i had a teacher about your age who had some pen flip tricks. Hard to believe that not just the pen flip trick but the pen it self is out of date!

[@megaman616]

thats freaking cool, reminds me of my dads casio steel calculator watch

[@KarriKoivusalo]

Douglas Adams was sarcastic about digital watch because back in the day digital watches had a button to show the time, running the display all the time would've drained the battery in hours. Needing both hands to use a watch was a pretty stupid idea. It wasn't about shunning new tech but utterly bad user interface.

[@allthebeesaredead188]

That cheered me up!

[@raywt3237]

oh, that skip joke 😂😂

[@TheDantheman12121]

I need one of these i would be like writing writing then i look at the time and say "oh time for my date with Joey"

[@chaos.corner]

Do that Casio calculator that could play music and had a game. I think they recently re-released a new version of it. The MG-880.

[@Techmoan]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3q9mK2YqcxooJo

[@chaos.corner]

@@Techmoan Nice. Fairly recent too. A guy in school had one of these but he only let me use it once.

[@piktas.pienas1]

Cool pen

[@dominateeye]

So, is this your way of saying you don't enjoy doing the puppet bits anymore?

[@Gadgetonomy]

I had the LCD pen!!

[@farajaraf]

Yayyyyy it's you

[@altothex9648]

The 80’s: Everything is a calculator.

[@teecchnoboy]

my gf had a dildo with calculator

[@themaninthebox4906]

@@teecchnoboy whaaaaaaaaat!?!? I have soooo many questions Where did she get it from? Why would you need to do mathematical calculations when you know, you're doing that

[@МайорПаранойя-ю2ч]

@Phoenix smartANYTHING

[@justincarawan-carawanco.pu1639]

The 00s everything is a clock. The 2020s everything is a TV/phone. The 2040s everything is a teleporter.

[@timweber4318]

@@teecchnoboy really??

[@Quxxy]

Honestly, I think you should start having the tech stuff be the outro bonus for episodes of The Moans. I can just see you being interviewed in a decade, sobbing into a microphone about how you just wanted to make tech videos, but *nooo*, all anyone cares about are these stupid puppets, and now they're making a movie and nothing makes sense any more.

[@panicBoydotcom]

Full-length Moans feature film. Now there’s a thought. I’m in.

[@michaelmartin9022]

Kickstart it.

[@JoseReyes73]

Now I'm imagining that during that interview Tracey Ullman comes in from off screen to hug him while saying,”There there.”

[@Flymochairman1]

LOLZ! I think the ppl who own the rights to The Muppets and Sesame Street might want a cut there. It'd be a cute li'l DVD project that y'find years later...like the Ogri cartoons DVD. !:^)

[@AmyDaisy69]

I want a puppet movie!

[@SkeletonSyskey]

5318008 = Important Calculation. lol.

[@cjmillsnun]

@@Tangobaldy try replacing the L with an I. 7 is L 1 is I

[@Tactical_Hotdog]

That's a number, not a calculation.

[@Viraqua]

But the 5 needs to be a 2 D:

[@penfold5095]

@@Tangobaldy Or SHELLOIL

[@thehollowowl9469]

531boob

[@Astfgl]

The more meta these puppet episodes become, the more we enjoy them. This one was extremely shameless filler material, I love it! ;)

[@remo687]

@Zero Cool The Royal We

[@TheRealColBosch]

We were amused.

[@benjaminmiddaugh2729]

@Zero Cool Yes, we. (At least this part of the we agrees with the above part of the we.

[@MrROTD]

Absolutely

[@gtoger]

More Outro, please!

[@jonglass]

"I think this might be the one that pushes us over the edge". Nope. Not at all. Huge laughs! Keep 'em comin'!

[@Bakamoichigei]

3:37 "...to perform really serious and important calculations." Looked up from my meal, wasn't disappointed. 😂

[@urglegurgle5807]

Yep. Me too.

[@KennethSiewersMller]

On the contrary, now I want even more outtros 😂

[@keiyakins]

There comes a point where the topic is do absurdly banal that it becomes fun to watch again. This is past it.

[@erikvonthein3039]

The more surreal and meta they get the better

[@fordtechchris]

Douglas Adams reference.... CHECK Bovine Containment Device.... CHECK Childish calculations..... CHECK A man battling a ball point pen and loosing....CHECK So lame it's funny outro.... CHECK Yup, this video had it all!

[@Absquatula]

3:26 "...really serious and important calculations..." lol

[@Aidinshadnezhad]

This number is still important.

[@rageagainstthehygiene2357]

Haha I get it, because sine of 5318008 is almost exactly 1 for both radian and degree measure. That's insane. What a cool number

[@vitorjunior2023]

I understand the reference! LoL

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

like how many hours per/lb to cook that christmas turkey!

[@RaimarLunardi]

this comment not being on top means the humanity is doomed!!!

[@Pinkhair3d]

I have to say, that display is incredibly aesthetically pleasing to me.

[@AndersEngerJensen]

Now.. if only they could implement a way to store music on these pens in a retro fashion and have someone manufacture them... I'd have a new medium to release albums on! ^_^

[@keiyakins]

Might be able to cram a couple minutes of wire recorder wire wrapped around the cartridge?

[@rimmersbryggeri]

You could easily fit 8 gig in a pen so it could probably even be lossless audio. (Considering you use instruments with such high dynamic range). I personally think a BT calculator watch would be more suitable.

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Maybe there could even be a rudimentary synth chip in it so you could play notes on the buttons all of 14 notes of squarewave madness. Would be something for Dave to sink his teeth into. LOL

[@SkyCharger001]

Reminds me of the ACME Stealth Pencorder from the last season of WITWICS. (sometimes the battery ... wasn't fresh, and other times the recorder was put in 'backwards')

[@makebabymake]

MP3 pens exist

[@paulhayes5724]

I loved the "combining two functional and useful devices into something which can barely perform either job," very good!

[@GHDEFIANT]

Great puppet episode, could make a spin off channel staring them, could get dabchuk to guest star

[@olik136]

I think they had their own channel- but got "downgraded" to a playlist on this channel kzbin.info/aero/PLN2yCnHTG_6rlyYFpwUX2u0m_HVHpHO0F

[@nexgenhippy]

The channel is still up. It's called 'KZbin Pedant'

[@GHDEFIANT]

Excellent! Thanks for the link

[@erik61801]

whoa that little pen flip was badass!

[@BLY99]

Nice try, but we loved the puppet outro. Remember Mat, you are only filler for the puppet content.

[@gnamp]

I repurposed one of those digital watch pens to help an anxious friend of mine pass an exam. Though the output was rather on the small side, it still worked perfectly- and even had a means of cycling through the stored text using the button at the top. Since we both learned the material while setting-up the thing, I was able to talk him out of cheating. He said he'd feel more confident if I joined him so I signed up to take the exam too. We both passed with flying colours- all without any recourse to sneaky digital aides-memoire. I still have that pen to this day in my display cabinet of treasured things.

[@ww2069]

No NO NNNNNNNOOOOO Don't stop the outtros!!!! We love them!!!

[@SojournerDidimus]

"Me dinner's going cold." "What are you having?" "Gazpacho soup followed by a tuna salad." Oi.

[@kevinjokipii4260]

Digital tuna or analog?

[@SojournerDidimus]

@@kevinjokipii4260 the analogue oscillator is using a quartz tuna fork

[@markderoller7645]

I had the clock pen. Thanks for restoring that memory.

[@maicod]

me too

[@azog23]

Gazpacho soup? Arnold Rimmer's last words!

[@mel_arky]

Don't forget to ask for it warmed up xD

[@panicBoydotcom]

And don’t forget to ask for the freely-dispensing chilled champagne.

[@ru5t397]

The original smeghead.

[@IanJTaylor]

Souper!

[@deltib]

I'm glad Rimmer taught be about gazpacho, it allowed me to get the "my dinner's going cold" joke.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

"Bovine Containment" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO ... I'm still laughing out loud 30 second later

[@rrp6405]

KZbin has ruined itself with making creator blab on for the10 min mark, never on techmoan, quality content :)

[@AfferbeckBeats]

I remember when youtubers tried to make their videos as short and sweet as possible and were always worried about their 'audience retention' statistics because most people don't watch more than a few minutes of a video. Now they do the opposite and try to string them along as much as possible in the hopes they'll see more ads.

[@TheRealColBosch]

I get that KZbin is trying to prevent people from gaming the system, but when the consistently most-watched videos are low-budget "Mackey Mouse" cartoons, I kind of feel like they're not quite getting it.

[@michelvanbriemen3459]

Not just more ads, but more future recommendations in the list of videos besides the comments section too. One video of Ahoy flooded my list with all his work which while admirable, is only because that one video was 40 minutes in length and KZbin's magic algorithm thought I was REALLY interested in him.

[@TheRealColBosch]

@@michelvanbriemen3459 Good thing Ahoy is very watchable. Nuclear Fruit is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. But I get your point. The algorithm only seems to suggest new channels I actually want to watch perhaps once every six months or so.

[@deadfreightwest5956]

We are still so amazingly primitive that some people think a washing machine with WiFi is a pretty neat idea.

[@ColossalZonko]

honestly though....

[@dashcamandy2242]

Remember the refrigerator with built-in TV? Who do you call when the TV section dies, the TV repairman or the fridge repair guy? If the TV section has to get sent out for repair, do you cover the hole in the door with a piece of cardboard? LOL

[@tomokokuroki2506]

That's not primitive. Thinking that's a good idea is just stupid.

[@alexdhall]

The fact that nobody picked up on you quoting "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy". Replacing digital watches with washing machines with WiFi. 😄

[@lawrenceh1405]

Look, let's forget about washing machines and WiFi. Some of us think coming down out of the trees was a bad idea. And others of us have decided that leaving the ocean in the first place was where it all went wrong.

[@verdatum]

Good lord, even as a tech geek, that is one seriously ugly pen. Thanks for showing it to us.

[@Christopher-N]

Really. It could be *LGR* _Oddware_ worthy. Surely Clint has already seen this video.

[@joseph181516]

Hi, it would be a great idea if you add english subs on your videos!

[@XOIIOXOIIO]

There must be a way to "re-hydrate" the ink in those cartridges, or maybe use printer ink and a needle and fill them from the back end, then seal with wax or something.

[@Rarirama]

5:51 sick move

[@Plazmasoftware]

0:30 how

[@duab404]

Oi rarirama

[@TheDrunkenBeard]

3am and I am watching a video on an Calculator Pen... Now I want a calculator pen thanks a lot!

[@peterjf7723]

I want a pocket bovine containment device.

[@prismstudios001]

Drunken Beard Wow, how did you get it to display on that tiny screen....Also, I now realize that sarcasm needs a font.

[@fordtechchris]

@@prismstudios001 Well played

[@qibble455]

+10 for the puppets! No we will never tire of them so keep 'em rolling.

[@fireaza]

"It's thick, it's heavy and it's oddly-shaped. It's uncomfortable to hold." That's what she said! ... Wait...

[@davidjgomm]

More puppets!

[@Felecc]

3:31 ah yes, yes, those are the most important of calculations, especially to the kid sitting in a desk text to me ;)

[@Sheppards1984]

hm. Come to think of it, vast majority of your videos are longer than 10 mins :) Which is good in my opinion. And yes, I agree, the puppet scene at the end of the video should be a regular :)

[@More_Row]

I was hoping it would calculate the numbers you wrote on paper lol.

[@braelinmichelus]

That we actually be kind of cool. And with gyroscopes and handwriting recognition tech, may not be all that impossible.

[@xmlthegreat]

Mat's hands being covered in ink is so reminiscent of the time in school I became the de facto Pen Doctor of my class.

[@markderoller7645]

Love the outro

[@Buapo]

Matt, you'd never drone on about a pen that doesn't work. Now, to watch this new video...

[@ancientflounder]

That ‘skip’ joke made me laugh harder than I thought it would.

[@SnowBunneh]

If you get sick of the puppets please just take a break and bring them back as you like. I enjoy them but don't want to if you are miserable.

[@anononomous]

Same basically goes for all the content. Generally it's enjoyable because you can sense it was enjoyable to make. If it ends up being a feedback loop (beyond useful and interesting suggestions) it all tends to go down hill.

[@rolls_8798]

I was afraid those buggers had gotten away with 'liquid retina' and everyone else had just let it slip past them. I absolutely love the look of these old LED displays and I wouldn't be totally averse to seeing a resurgence of them today

[@SmoothEmJay]

Said it before, but you could make a video about anything and I'd watch it. Haven't missed a single one so far and always found it educational and interesting.

[@jls9225]

🙏Please do not stop puppet out tros, they are Witty and fun. 😊😊Thank You.

[@jamesevans1601]

Techmoan puppet outros are the purest artform on KZbin. They are here to stay. There...that's settled then.

[@izzieb]

The bad outros are the main reason I'm subscribed. You won't scare me away!

[@ColinJonesPonder]

Whenever the main video is ending I check how much is left to go so I can guess if there's a puppet outro. Keep 'em coming 😂

[@DRDCC]

The puppets.......About a pen that does not work. Hilarious. Thanks for sharing.

[@DocFlareon]

The outtros featuring the Moans must continue! Indeed you should ask them to close out all of your videos.

[@cheaterman49]

Man you probably already guessed, but the way you broke the 4th wall in that outro makes it really awesome :-P "we're just here to waste KZbin time and fill the 10 mins mark!" basically, I think it's so much better when people acknowledge they are doing it in general, and at least I felt like I got something out of it hahaha!

[@TheAbysswalker]

This looks like a tool from The Predator...

[@samago20]

I can't believe just one person realised of the "BOOBIES" joke.

[@BLY99]

You seem to have released a video 3 days ago, but retarded KZbin seems to think i didn't want to see it, so it didn't show up in my subscription box.

[@lolbobs]

That was on purpose, check the description.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Haze Anderson The description of the _other_ video...

[@jacksat2252]

I got one in 1982 ,everyone in school wanted one ,was 12 years old at the time and in 1985 there was the game watch hype ,everybody wanted a watch that played Pacman or Donkey Kong.

[@0311Mushroom]

The biggest problem with the LED was in using one outside. They were damned near impossible to see in the daylight.

[@DasZaku]

Need more outros

[@CanadianBakin42O]

The best part is when he spelled Boobies on the CalcuPen

[@gregkrobinson]

Only the most serious calculations

[@alsantour8835]

More silly puppet outros please!!

[@rogersowers9837]

I had the watch pens, also the Pedometer pen too....also the pen with radio, and the pen with built in recorder.....and last year the Pen with video recording and camera.....the pen is mightier then the swords.

[@cerebralaudio5587]

Using the puppets to make a 10 minute video...yawn. Using the puppets to break the fourth wall AND make a 10 minute video...giggle. Adding in the bit about the dinner...lol. So...don't think you pushed it over the edge...

[@ThumpertTheFascistCottontail]

3:31 The man has his priorities in order.

[@Fluteboy]

Every man loves 5318008!

[@save9624]

Using his power only for important... hemm... calculation...

[@ZaneDaMagicPufferDragon]

I’m sorry 😐 but what’s with your silly question “I do wonder how bad do these outros have to get before people stop asking for more?” ??? I’m hooked on the outros involving the puppets of you and your dad almost simply because you made puppets of you guys but then you add to that the crotchety old manisms of your dad, I’m bummed wayyyy more when there’s no stupid puppets!!!!!! ☹️☹️☹️

[@Barnaclebeard]

Oh gosh, the moment I saw that first LCD watch pen I remembered being a kid in the early eighties when I saw one for the first time at Christmas. Uncanny, like catching an ocour you haven't smelled since childhood.

[@prismstudios001]

Barnaclebeard Nice to find another geezer in my age bracket! I remember going to department stores,and being amazed by all that "futuristic " tech in those cases. I vividly remember normal calculators being locked in display cases,and they were expensive as well.

[@greenaum]

@@prismstudios001 Another geezer in your age bracket? How old do you think the rest of us are? We're ALL that age!

[@prismstudios001]

greenaum Most of the people I run into here are millennials, or younger. People who refer to the 90’s as vintage.

[@greenaum]

@@prismstudios001 What, on Techmoan videos? Hadn't noticed that.

[@han_pritcher]

I'm going to have to comment on this "rotting carcass of a video" to ask if anyone knows of any modern-day manufacturers of LED-based, or VFD calculators? I know everyone uses their phones for simple calculations now, but there is something convenient about grabbing a simple calculator. LCDs have poor legibility though in dimly-lit rooms, which is mostly where I work.

[@EggBastion]

Or an adding machine, they ain't easy to find either.

[@johnfrancisdoe1563]

Han Pritcher Maybe look for OLED calculators, same idea but more fashionable these days.

[@phillipsofthedriver]

Just had a quick look through amazon, there's a couple desktop models (flourescent blue display), and some DIY kits for pocket sized LED calculators, some with red LED modules (the ones that come with the yy3631bh LED).

[@Agamemnon2]

So it's an awkward, power-hungry calculator with an awkward, hard-to-refill pen bolted on? What amazing feats of engineering were these.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

I had a motorized "Hotwheels" car as a kid that took an "N" size battery :)

[@AuntieFan]

I can remember having to procure 'N'-size cells back in the late '60s, just cannot remember what for! (It was either a toy or something as mundane a flashlight.)

[@MikeBaxterABC]

@@AuntieFan I had a flashlight back in the 70's that took "Sub 'C' " batteries (C cells that were one third shorter), and I remember on a construction site in the 80's the flashlights supplied by the company, took "long 'D' " batteries (D cells that we're 1/3 longer) :)

[@greenaum]

@@MikeBaxterABC The long-D's might have been some effort to stop people nicking them and using them at home, if you could only get the batteries from work. Of course I suppose you could nick the batteries too.

[@MikeBaxterABC]

@@greenaum Good point! ... I'll wager that was it! :)

[@greenaum]

@@MikeBaxterABC Actually now I think about it, it's more likely it was to stop you stealing the batteries, since the flashlights would be more easily missed. Duh! D batteries aren't cheap, especially alkalines.

[@onedeadsaint]

love the meta outro! more please!

[@Cammi_Rosalie]

"Serious and important calculation..." Yes. Yes it is... I ♥ 5318008 On a side note: It is quite obvious that most of your viewers enjoy the puppet outros. (Including me!) They would be missed if you were to stop making them. Finally, I've been here since the dashcam days. I don't think I have ever skipped an episode. Keep up the great work!

[@quitteable]

The GDR had table centrifuges to refill ballpoint pens with ink.

[@jameslatimer1432]

Hi friend do you remember the WATCH Pac man 70s 80s and could you do a video as I had one and the whole class room used to play it and it was REALLY amazing watch thanks love your cool vids GOOD memories school was Hackney FREE in Lansdowne drive close to Dalston Junction

[@spicy110]

Hahaha I love the puppet skits!

[@ukcardcast6711]

Doh! Everytime I watch a Technoan video, I feel the urge to go onto eBay to find something I either didn’t know I wanted again, or didn’t know existed. I had one of those stainless steel LCD pens back in the day - and now I want one again…

[@heidirichter]

Sorry, still amused by the outro puppets. Great video, fascinating stuff. Makes me wonder what else there is like this out there that was such an odd mix. Keep up the good work!

[@blakegriplingph]

The novel yet awkward form factor reminds me of the Nokia 7280 and 7380 phones which were marketed in the mid to late 2000s as fashion accessories. It was just as barely usable and impractical especially when you need to call or text someone in a whim.

[@espurious]

I had the Samsung X830, which came out around the same time and was just as awkward to use. Also, it wasn't a phone, it was a "Phone enabled MP3 player"

[@blakegriplingph]

@@espurious I remember seeing that at a tech magazine a decade ago. At least that one has a half-decent dial pad than just a jog wheel on the Nokia.

[@JBannerAutos]

MORE PUPPETS. I DEMAND IT! Wait... I'm not KZbin, so I can't demand anything from a video.

[@MayaPosch]

Still waiting for that The Moans movie. Would be much more awesome than any dodgy calculator pen :)

[@jpl56]

I love when you reach the conclusion to an interesting and well done video ... and the time counter is far from the end. That means "Yes! Puppets! :) ".

[@04dram04]

That LED display looks so beautiful compared to LCD

[@10p6]

Oh, the boobs game on the d-pad's. Eat your heart out Nintendo.