Saved by Alex Dobrenko
Curta calculator: The mechanical marvel born in a Nazi death camp
The counter was so useful when it did work that our customers tolerated its unreliability.
David Packard • The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company (Collins Business Essentials)
There was a will from 1913 and my parents each left everything to the other partner so that there could be no dispute. This will was still in existence but my mother did not want to use it. Instead she suggested, "You get the factory and your brother Ernst, will get the cinema and I will receive a pension from each of you." That was '37, '38 and we... See more
Curt Herzstark • An Interview with Curt Herzstark
But in '43 two people from our factory were arrested and one was decapitated. They had listened to English radio stations and transcribed the broadcasts on a typewriter and passed it on. This was discovered because of the typed copy. The typewriter was identified and the owner, he was one of our mechanics, his name was Zur, he was beheaded. The sec... See more
Curt Herzstark • An Interview with Curt Herzstark
How the Sounds of a Calculator Ended Up on Sublime's Website
Alex Dobrenkosublimeinternet.substack.com
His original purpose was parochial: to automate the production of tables of mathematical functions such as logarithms and cosines, which were heavily used in navigation and engineering.
David Deutsch • The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World
These calculators had existed from the start of the century or before, but as far as Frank could tell, no one used them. It was like avoiding the scale when you