On Fri, 8 May 1998 Philip.Belben(a)powertech.co.uk
wrote:
The electronic one was interesting mainly for its
display. It was
fluorescent (greenish digits sealed in a long glass tube), but not
7-segment. Instead, there were (I think) nine segments, all of strange
curly shapes, which made up digits much easier to read than the angular,
blocky, 7-segment types. But I can no longer remember how these were
arranged, nor even any details like the manufacturer of the calculator.
Does anyone know of machines with such displays?
Somebody was describing this same calculator to me yesterday. It was the
Sharp EL-8 and had a 9-segment display.
At what date were they made?
Weren't these the first microprocessor-based calcs (4004) from around
1974?
The EL-8 was Sharp's original portable calculator from 1971 (in Japan in
late 1970) and cost $345 back then (for your basic 4-function
calculator!) The display is listed in my reference book as a flourescent
-type tube display.
I don't believe it used the 4004 chip - relatively few calculators
actually did use the 4004.
--Larry