Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!yale!bunker!wtm
From: campbell%hpdmd48@hplabs.HP.COM (Gary Campbell)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Japanese Abacus
Message-ID: <13549@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 16 Aug 90 19:09:27 GMT
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Reply-To: campbell%hpdmd48@hplabs.HP.COM (Gary Campbell)
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Phil.Scovell@f810.n104.z1.fidonet.org (Phil Scovell) writes:
>anyone else on blinktalk uses the abacus or is this an out dated device 
>I wonder?  It doesn't need batteries you know.

I learned it too, and it made the difference between hating math and
liking (or at least wanting to learn it)-- well, the abacus and wanting
to learn electronics theory.  (the alternative for arithmetic was the
brailler!)  I started to learn it, and soon after that my teacher kind
of got busy and didn't emphasize it any more, and I think some of the
other kids who wanted to learn it didn't get to.  When I saw that, I
crammed as fast as I could, not practicing like I should have.  I
haven't used it in the past few years much since I bought a Sharp EL620,
but my 620 is on the frits right now, so I'm using it again-- pretty
slow now, though.  I have a friend who is trying to break into the
tuning business who uses it-- one of those classmates who almost didn't
get the chance to learn it, or had to later, I don't remember-- and he
points out to me often that it is inexpensive and is accessible to those
who can't aford a talking calculator.

>P.S.  Doesn't that word, abacus, send your synthesizer for a loop?

My VP synthesizer (driven by JAWS) does pretty well with it.

--
Gary Campbell
Internet: campbell%hpdmd48.boi.HP.COM@hplabs.HP.COM