First Versions: Casio (calculator)

Casio logo 1957

Name: "Casio 14-A"

Categories: Electronics, Home - Office - School

Subcategory: Calculators

Developer: Toshio Kashio

Producer: Casio Computer Co., Ltd. (founded by Tadao Kashio in April 1946 as Kashio Seisakujo, the company name changed in Casio Computer Co., Ltd. on June 1, 1957)

Prototype made in: 1954

Production start: June 1957 - Tokyo, Japan

Discontinued: September 1959

First price: 485,000 JPY

Toshio Kashio
Tokyo, 1925 - 2012,
the engineer who invented
the Casio 14-A calculator

Features: Casio 14-A was the world's first compact all-electric calculator. The name 14-A indicates that the calculator operated with fourteen-digit numbers and was the first in its generation. Technology: 342 relays, housed in a cabinet on which the typewriter-size key-entry terminal sat. Weight: 140 kg. Dimensions: 1080 × 780 × 445 mm. Display: illuminating pad. Memory: 3 groups of 5 component digits. Power: 100V. Consumption: 300W.

Interesting facts: In 1946, Tadao Kashio set up his own business called Kashio Seisakujo, in Mitaka, Tokyo. At the end of 1956, the Kashio brothers decided to unveil their completed calculator in Sapporo, but they ran into a snag when taking the calculator to be loaded onto the plane at Haneda Airport. The person in charge told them that it exceeded the allowable size, and asked them if they could detach the top part. The brothers turned pale. The top part included the display and keys, which were very important for the operation of the calculator. They tried to protest by saying that the calculator could be irreparably damaged, but finally took the machine apart for loading. After arriving in Sapporo they put the calculator back together, but just as they had feared, it no longer worked. They tried in vain to repair it, but it was completely unsalvageable. Although they went ahead with the presentation using slides, it seemed to end as a failure. Just as the brothers arrived home, somewhat discouraged, a representative from Uchida Yoko Co., Ltd., paid them a visit and asked to see the calculator. The branch manager who had seen the presentation in Sapporo had told his head office to investigate the new invention. A contract was signed with Uchida Yoko as the exclusive dealer, and in June 1957, marketing for the world's first compact all-electric calculator, the "Casio 14-A" begins, and Casio Computer Co., Ltd., was established as the development and production company for the relay calculators.

Property: Casio Computer Co., Ltd.

Producer website: http://world.casio.com