A couple of days ago I was looking through boxes for some button cell batteries and I opened a box full of old electronics that contained among other things 11 calculators. One of them was a Sharp Elsi Mate EL-620 talking calculator. I still remember how excited my mother was to discover this at Sky City (not the same store, but IIRC it looked mostly like that.) It cost $100 in 1980-1982, which was the equivalent of around $275 today and probably at least equaled a week’s pay for her, and probably one of the most expensive “frivolous” things she ever bought for herself. I enjoyed playing with as a child, too, and it managed to still be around now close to 40 years later. Anyone else remember this little piece of consumer electronics history?
Several years ago, I gave (I thought, at the time, with her approval) kaylasmom’s away to one of our blind friends. She had another talking calculator at the time, so it was sort of a spare.
I’ve since learned not to involve myself in transactions of this nature.
Still, she doesn’t regret the absence of the EL-620 as much as the demise of her ELSI Quartz CT-660. That one plain wore out, though, so I don’t have to take a lot of heat for it.