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Calculator
watches are watches with a calculator function appeared in
the Mid 1970s introduced by Pulsar and Hewlett Packard.
Several watch manufacturers
have made various qualities of CWs over the years, but the Japanese
electronics company Casio, being the most prolific, has
produced a plethora of models over the years. Thus, Casio
is considered the main player in calculator watches. In
the mid-1980s, Casio also created the Data Bank calculator watch,
which not only performed standard mathematical functions, but
also stored appointments, names, addresses, and phone numbers.
Currently, Casio sells only a few "pure" calculator
watches (i.e. CA-58W) and consider a calculator as merely
a function on their Data Bank watches. The eData version of its
Data Bank watch, that features these aforementioned storage capabilities,
also has greater memory and the ability to store computer passwords.
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The
Pulsar calculator watch 3822-2 in calculator mode showing
the 6-digit LED display
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When
calculator watches first appeared in the early 1980s,(golden
age being the mid 80's) the high-tech community demand created
a "feature war" of one-up-manship between watch manufacturers
(i.e. Casio scientific calculator watch CFX-400 in 1985)
and also were considered fashionable or hip. Calculator watches
as a fashion accessory example, in a poster for The Police's album
Synchronicity, front man Sting can be seen with his arms folded,
proudly sporting a black plastic Casio calculator watch).
However, as the novelty of this new electronic fad watch wore
off, they became, much like pocket protectors and thick glasses,
associated with nerds and were no longer cool to most fickle style
monsters. Today, the overall style status of the calculator watch
is uncertain. Depictions of them in today's media abound, but
with no single type of wearer. For example, Al, the seemingly
normal middle-aged pilot in the Tom Hanks film Cast Away is seen
wearing one as he's pouring a cup of coffee right before the crash
scene. In many trades and technical fields, calculator watches
are more common as used in an ommage by Dwight Schrute, playing
the annoying and nerdy character on NBC's The Office wears a Casio
Data Bank watch. With the recent geek chic phenomenon gaining
momentum, many fashion commentators predict that the calculator
watch, like thick-rimmed Henry Kissinger-style eyeglasses and
Members Only jackets, will become a must-have fashion accessory
for the intellectual hipster (some may even realize its utility).
In addition to their questionable status as a fashion accessory,
the future of the calculator watch as a practical and useful
electronic device is also uncertain. In an age of ubiquitous PDAs,
cell phones, and other powerful and compact computing devices
capable of storing many megabytes of information, there likely
may not be much of a need for a digital watch that holds a fraction
of the information and displays it on a tiny monochromatic screen
and has hard to use miniature buttons. On the other hand, one
could also argue that advances in electronics and voice recognition
could result in many qualities of PDAs, cell phones, and other
powerful and compact computing devices being incorporated into
a watch format(just as the Data Bank absorbed the calculator function,
TV controller, and camera in some models). PCOnHand.com offered
a really nifty PC/PDA/calculator wrist watch but, as of April
07, 2006 have ceased selling this device. So, who knows the shape
of things to come for CWs. Granted it is hard to make such a useful
utilitarian device stylish, but the instant access of a calculator
watch for shopping, business, and conversions makes it hard
to replace unless one carries another device. Calculator watches
almost qualify as "wearable computers" that is a digital
device that is worn rather than carried.
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