Jakarta, domclub Indonesia
—
Tools
calculator
may not be able to keep up with the speed of mathematical calculations that utilize new technology.
Imitation intelligence (AI) capabilities to calculator applications in smartphones (
smartphones
) will it affect the production capacity and sales of various types of pocket calculators?
Responding to this, the boss of the giant manufacturer who makes calculators opened his voice.One of them is Casio, a company from Japan.
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Casio executive Tomoaki Sato said despite rapid advances in artificial intelligence, chatbots still sometimes struggle with basic additions.
Instead, “the calculator always gives the correct answer,” Tomoaki was quoted as saying
AFP
, Sunday (7/12).
However, he acknowledged that calculators could one day suffer the same fate as the abacus.An abacus is a manual calculating tool in the form of a frame with beads that slide on a rod or wire.
“It cannot be denied that the market for personal calculators used in business is experiencing a downward trend,” said Sato in Tokyo, Japan.
He said smartphones and web browsers can handle everyday calculations,.In addition, for the record, the AI model also managed to achieve a gold level score for the first time this year at a prestigious global mathematics contest.
But Sato said calculators are more affordable than cellphones.Moreover, those that can operate on batteries and solar power will be an added value for schools in developing countries.
Sato said that’s a potential growth area that calculator manufacturers are still tapping into.
“And the people who bought the calculators preferred the way they felt,” he said.
The optimism expressed by Sato was also expressed by Casio’s main manager in Thailand, Ryohei Saito.
“There is still demand for calculators,” he claims.
“Not all places in the world have smartphone connectivity, and calculators are tools that are optimized and focused on the necessary functions,” Saito continued.
One of the ‘pocket or desk calculator users’ is Thitinan Suntisubpool, one of the owners of a shop selling cute accessories in Bangkok’s Chinatown, Thailand.The 58-year-old woman admitted that she liked the durability of her large calculator, even though it had been dropped several times.
“In many ways, this calculator is more practical,” said Thitinan.
“We can use it to punch numbers and show them to [foreign] customers,” he said, “Thus avoiding misunderstandings due to language barriers.”
But at the kiosk next to him, Da – the kiosk keeper selling watches, flashlights and calculators – admitted that sales of pocket calculators were relatively ‘quiet’.
Casio is one of the most well-known calculator manufacturers in the world.Apart from Casio, other calculator manufacturers include Canon, Texas Instruments, Citizen, Victor, Deli, and Joyko from Indonesia.
Quoting from
AFP,
Casio by March 2025 sold 39 million calculators–both standard and scientific–in about 100 countries.This figure is lower than 45 million in the 2019-2020 sales period.
Engineering professor at Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana, Gregor Dolinar, says calculators–especially scientific calculators–may slowly disappear.The capabilities of scientific calculators, he said, are already in applications embedded in smart phones – at least those used by students.
“They can calculate everything over the phone,” said Gregor Dolinar who is also known as the President of the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
For your information, the history of calculators recently made headlines when the British auction house Christie’s suspended the sale of an early calculating machine, “La Pascaline”, which was in Paris.
The suspension came after a court ruled that the machines could not be taken outside France.
The auction house called the 1642 calculating device decorated with black wood “the first attempt in history to replace the human mind with a machine.”
(afp/kid)
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