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.
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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.