7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
The ultimate watch
Date of Review: Aug 27, 2005
The Bottom Line: Despite its shortcomings, I have to recommend this product highly because for its price; it is an exceptional value and a piece of watch history.
Many years ago, watches were devices you had to wind up and had a hard time keeping the correct time. They broke easily and were fairly expensive to replace. Often, they were more fashion accessories than they were tools to actually tell time, left unwound until the owner had occasion to dress up.
Enter the digital watch. This took care of a lot of problems that watches had been having. They didn't have to be wound, they kept near perfect time, they were very durable, they were inexpensive once they were mass produced, and they turned the watch into something the common man (and woman) could wear every day. With their Quartz crystal keeping time, they formed the basis of solid, cheap, reliable analog and digital watches we enjoy today.
One aspect that became apparent with digital watch technology was the fact that they could do more than just tell time. They were also able to tell the date. Yes, analog watches could also tell the date, but often they had to be set at the end of months that only had 30, 29 or 28 days in them. Then digital watches could tell you the day of the week. An alarm was added. Then a stopwatch function. Even a light.
At the same time, calculator technology was shrinking along with the computer industry. Actually, digital watches and calculators were in fact computers, based on the exact same technology. All this shrinking happened during the 1970's, when some brilliant people realized that combining the digital watch with a calculator would make for the perfect watch.
It wasn't until the 1980's when the price of calculator watches came down to the range of the common man (and woman), led by Casio and their C-801. By the mid-1980's, there were so many cheap calculator watches on the market, they became un-cool as people reverted back to analog watches to show that they have style.
Today, they can add anything to digital watches. TV, radio, MP3 player, day planner...you name it, it can probably be put on your wrist. However, the calculator was not only one of the first non-time related feature added to a watch, but it was also the most useful. As far as I'm concerned, it was also the coolest. There's a certain point when you have to say, enough is enough. The calculator watch is that point.
This watch is cheap to buy, probably because it is made in Korea. Unlike earlier calculator watches, it has a very slim profile. It's actually water resistant, though I doubt it'd be suitable for diving. It has all the typical watch functions; date, time, stopwatch, day of week, alarm. It also features the year, so it can accomodate things like leap year and set the day of week automatically, and yes, it is Y2k compliant. It also has a 2nd time zone setting (I use it for daylight savings time). And of course, a basic, 8 digit, four-function calculator.
It needs a light. It also needs a scratch resistant display. I find the buttons easy enough to operate, but some people may find them too small. However, it is the classic calculator watch, and things like not having a light, having tiny buttons to press, and needing to take care not to scratch it all make this all the more genuine as not only a useful and functional watch, but also as a piece of retro 80's fashion that every Gen-X'er ought to own. Get yours today before they either stop making them or jack the price up and call it retro.
