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bleepbleepblorpblop t1_j9gwrdo wrote

God that sound. I can hear it now...

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AnalogFeelGood OP t1_j9gzf8q wrote

Here, just for you.

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RealCowboyNeal t1_j9hr1y7 wrote

I'm an accountant old enough to remember the days when every accountant had one on their desk. My first firm had plenty of old timers clacking away on these things all day. I actually find that super satisfying, real soothing in an odd sort of way.

I had one at my desk when I was a rookie but being younger I used excel as god intended. A partner came over to my desk once to go over my work and he ran some numbers on the ten key I never used. I said no that's wrong, the real number is such and such, and couldn't figure out how to use the damn thing. The partner found it hysterical that a licensed cpa with degrees and everything didn't know how to use a ten key. (I find it amusing and depressing when they don't know how to use excel, but who asked me.)

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faates t1_j9ikw1j wrote

Im no fancy cpa but we use similar machines in the toll booth i work at. I did take classes in excel though and dear god i wish the state would buy us some new fucking equipment lol.

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StrangeRover t1_j9l6c7r wrote

Late-30s engineer here but I learned 10-key "helping out" at my family's small business back in the early 90s.

It still frustrates me up this day that Excel doesn't have an entry mode equivalent to the 0/00 switch on an old 10-key (e.g. "1547" comes up as "15.47"). Of course I could use a helper column, but the inconvenience isn't worth it for less than 50 or so lines.

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WhiskyTangoFoxtr0t t1_j9hv39q wrote

My Mom was an accountant and got hers sometime in the early 80's as well. She still uses it. I remember watching her use it, her fingers were so fast it was a blur, and when she stopped, it would take the printer several seconds to catch up.

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sealee1 t1_j9il6lu wrote

Ahhh my dad was an accountant with this same machine. I had forgotten about that lag and loved that too

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Blue-Bird780 t1_j9guqnd wrote

I had to double check the sun for a sec. Looks a lot like something you might find on r/mechanicalkeyboards at first glance.

But for real even the newer till-tape calculators are BFIL, it’s such a niche product that they have no reason to lower the build quality if the people that need them will continue paying top dollar to get the tool that works.

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ReferHvacGuy t1_j9h06kj wrote

My mom still uses this since one from the same time. She took a bookkeeping class in 1986 then bought it. I seriously still don’t understand why she still uses it. Blows my mind.

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AnalogFeelGood OP t1_j9h8yx9 wrote

A large number of financial institutions and bean counters still use them because they're easy to use (big numbers, big buttons), they're very reliable, you can review multiple printouts of long strings of additions and subtractions and then store said printouts with the records. No software, no bug, no printer, no dependency 🤟🏼

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erevoz t1_j9isfo0 wrote

It’s a beautiful piece of machinery and old electronics. It’s digital at its purest form. It just works and will keep working for decades more.

Plus, paper. You can’t beat paper.

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mets2016 t1_j9guzdv wrote

Is there any reason to prefer a tape calculator over a computer/spreadsheet/accounting software? These things are definitely cool and I have my dad/grandpas tape calculators in the basement, but I just don’t see the use outside of nostalgia

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DrKennethNoisewater- t1_j9gxxka wrote

There’s absolutely no reason to use it outside of nostalgia like you said or habit.

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AnalogFeelGood OP t1_j9h7oe9 wrote

Portability, reliability, big buttons, big clear numbers, the possibility to review and double-check multiple printouts of long strings of additions & substractions, removing said printouts to store them with records as proof of accuracy etc Many benefits that explain why a large number of financial institutions and bean counters still use these printing calculators.

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RealCowboyNeal t1_j9hqle7 wrote

Accounting is a very conservative profession slow to change, so a lot of old school partners at firms still have those big old things on their desk. I worked with a dinosaur for a while who knew exactly how old and out of touch he was and didn't apologize for it. Guy would print things out on paper and bang out a bunch of numbers on his ten key that was older than me. He knew his shit though and was really darn good in his own way, just..really really old..but yes you are right there's no reason except nostalgia or habit.

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99bottlesofderp t1_j9jvfib wrote

I still use one of these at work. They can be pretty useful when showing work. I make the people I train learn it because I kept catching them hard coding cells in excel and when they do the calculation wrong it takes forever to find.

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shihchiun t1_j9k12yx wrote

I use it for doing math with my left hand. Don’t have to move windows around or move my right hand from whatever it was doing.

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StrangeRover t1_j9la4q6 wrote

Computer keyboards aren't optimized for 10-key data entry. The operations don't fall naturally to hand in the same way.

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edcculus t1_j9h5iku wrote

Oh man, I had forgotten I had to use one of these every night to add up the credit card receipts and count up the drawers at the sporting goods store I worked at. That was 2002 ish too… they were pretty far behind the times.

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tacobusta t1_j9kd4m7 wrote

I used one for the same thing in 2012. I’m sure there are places still doing this today

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hanimal16 t1_j9hw3re wrote

My uncle had one of these for his business and he would get after me and my cousin for playing on it and messing up his numbers 😂

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KenJyi30 t1_j9hyebz wrote

I’ve been doing taxes for 25 years and not once did having/using this thing ever make sense

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jn29 t1_j9i7xxm wrote

I still use one at work. It's "procedure" to add up the checks you deposit to make sure it matches excel.

I don't know. It just is what it is at this point.

And I have coworkers who use them because they can't find the calculator on their computer?

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99bottlesofderp t1_j9jwlxe wrote

It’s to show your work and verify your totals. If you have to add a bunch of numbers you want to see that they did in fact add everything. The reason you may not want to use the calculator on your computer is that you aren’t able to see everything you added. You can use excel but you would be surprised the amount of people who will hard code the sum total rather than using the sum function which creates the potential for errors. It’s the biggest pain to find the error on why your numbers don’t reconcile when this happens because you’re checking the totals and they are wrong.

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jn29 t1_j9jxnwy wrote

In my case I think if the check scanning software matches my excel spreadsheet it should be verified. The damn adding machine is redundant.

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99bottlesofderp t1_j9jyu28 wrote

I mean I don’t mind using excel. I use it pretty heavily and ngl I’m generally not a big fan of using the 10 key for my everyday work but as someone who reviews work I require the people I train use it in the beginning. I’ve literally seen people incorrectly hardcore the total into the spreadsheet rather than sum it to make it match their total. You can’t really do that with these calculators.

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[deleted] t1_j9k0q5g wrote

[deleted]

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99bottlesofderp t1_j9k1opu wrote

Again it’s to show your work. Unless you’re your own boss, someone should be reviewing the cash collection and making sure the totals are right. Often cash collections and even AR departments list and sum up the transactions received. You aren’t exporting your calculations from your phone. The next most common replacement is excel and the amount of people who will hard code totals rather than use a sum function will blow your mind. That’s why these are still used. I can see that you actually went through and added the figures up, and you can’t just hardcore a total that you think is correct/matches with these. It’s a check against mistakes.

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PrestigeMaster t1_j9ie892 wrote

This might be a “buy it for life” since it will likely last many years to come (as will damn near every NES console that’s ever existed, especially with a cheap new pin connector), but is it “use it for life”?

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StevenTM t1_j9j157p wrote

Yeah for real, this is used for 4 hours per year

By that metric even a tamagochi is BIFL

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PrestigeMaster t1_j9jpx5b wrote

Dunno about that one. Dropped my tamagotchi in the toilet like 2 weeks after I got it and it never worked again. My mom did the bag of rice and everything.

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rmg t1_j9jsk5i wrote

Sharp still makes them and sells them, so yes, apparently enough folks still use them.

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eveningtrain t1_j9ipwy3 wrote

My dad and mom had one of these at home (neither were accountants) and I definitely spent too much time playing with it!

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[deleted] t1_j9j07jt wrote

Does it come with a little green visor and half frame bifocals?

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Helenius t1_j9jcoko wrote

Doesn't the government just tell you what you owe them in taxes?

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DonConnection t1_j9jd8bj wrote

Not in America. It’s fucking bullshit the way they do things here

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Helenius t1_j9jgq59 wrote

Shithole country.

(Quote from your previous POTUS)

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Tsiah16 t1_j9ihc3z wrote

Taxes? That thing is for punching buttons and making noise!

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3yoyoyo t1_j9jqxke wrote

If he is still using it it means he never got a tax refund 😜

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Cryptic_Hunter t1_j9gzt3a wrote

Wow this brings back memories of my father He had one of these as well 🤟🏼

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ScarecrowJohnny t1_j9hr1ej wrote

My dad had one of those. It outlived him.

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Pointlessboat t1_j9hryuc wrote

This looks useful for Satisfactory

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ChondroArt t1_j9i6nzs wrote

Think they were all this color in the 80s. My dads looked almost exactly like this .

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SoNotThatGullible t1_j9ibohe wrote

Jealous! Had one that was ruined and I miss mine!

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TheDrunkPianist t1_j9iggfv wrote

You don’t even need to calculate anything manually to do basic personal income taxes.

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AnalogFeelGood OP t1_j9ihwno wrote

I don't know if I should be happy for you or sad :-/ I hope you are doing well, friend.

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flappinginthewind69 t1_j9ih5by wrote

Lol my 63 year old CPA mom rocked one of these for decades

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tumblerrjin t1_j9iod39 wrote

Nice. My dads got a similar one in his office!

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2sad4snacks t1_j9irqne wrote

My mom still uses one of these too

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TupperwareParTAY t1_j9iwx0z wrote

I used my Mom's for my accounting class in 2012.

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pug_fugly_moe t1_j9j80ay wrote

Sooo so good to use one. I miss my 10 key, but I don’t miss preparing tax returns.

Compromise: my laptop has a 10 key on it. I use it all the time.

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ionshower t1_j9j8fl6 wrote

Does it do MIDI?

​

Edit: r/synthesizercirclejerk would appreciate this picture and give some humorous comments.

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ChoiceD t1_j9jbv5m wrote

IIRC, I used one just like this when I learned 10-key in high school.

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t_25_t t1_j9jc461 wrote

I'm not an accountant, but I have a newer version, and it isn't as satisfying to use as the old school ones like you have.

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kalpol t1_j9jjg7q wrote

I used one of these up until about 2010 or so. It was still really excellent for showing work in recalculating someone else's work in audits.

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fatherofhenry t1_j9k72ed wrote

many find deductions have been taken with this : )

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Elethiomel77 t1_j9k74r7 wrote

I've got an EL-1607R that my mom used to use. Still use it every day. Something about the buttons just feels better.

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lsbem t1_j9kbwyd wrote

Still have mine .. 10 key by touch! Remember putting that on my résumé! 😀

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livelylou4 t1_j9l7ein wrote

I have one at work too, use that bad boy every day! (Accounting)

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AnalogFeelGood OP t1_j9lkupq wrote

No spreadsheets, no mercy!!

lol

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livelylou4 t1_j9lnquc wrote

Yeah our auditor prefers the actual tape instead of printed excel (I’ve tried I’m over it it’s fine) plus I feel like a pianist lol

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TimTheEnchanter623 t1_j9myw7r wrote

I remember being gifted a Sharp Elsi Mate calculator at age 10 or so, had that same screen. That was in 1976. I thought it was super cool.

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AnalogFeelGood OP t1_j9n32lp wrote

>Sharp Elsi Mate calculator

I just had a look. they're neat! I need to find one.

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SirGothamHatt t1_j9wwihm wrote

My grandfather had one of these and I played around with it a lot

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