Awesome April 23, 2008 posted by Nigel

World’s Largest Abacus – faster than a calculator and a little bit bigger than a bus

world 27slargestabacus Worlds Largest Abacus faster than a calculator and a little bit bigger than a bus

This 18 foot long Thai abacus has got to be the world’s biggest non-electric calculator. It’s currently in use in a resort town pharmacy and can calculate drug bills faster than a calculator. We’re kind of wondering whether the speed includes running back and forth time. We’d love to see a video of this thing in action so if anyone is near Rayong in Thailand…?

A Thai pharmacist uses a 5.5-metre-long (18-foot-long) abacus in the resort town of Rayong, 205 km (127 miles) southeast from Bangkok, on August 30, 2001. The owner, who made the device four years ago to calculate drugs bills faster than a calculator, believes it is the world’s largest abacus.

Tags: gadget, world’s+longest+abacus, calculator

About the Author:

Nigel is the managing editor of the Red Ferret, as well as a freelance columnist for the Sunday Times newspaper in London. Loves tech and fancies himself as a bit of a futurist, but then don't we all?

Nigel – who has written 5153 posts on The Red Ferret Journal.

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. Why not subscribe to our free RSS feed, Twitter or Facebook page and stay updated with more fab Ferret fun?

Frank

Since each row is a digit in base-16 on that abacus it seems quite obvious that the universe does not contain enough numbers to have to run back and forth on that thing. Seems to me it is a convenience thing… you don't have to run fetch an abacus from the other end of the long desk, you can just use the section right infront of you.
brad

i saw one bigger in a resaurant in ADDISON, IL. Check out Wok 'n' Fire.