Have you ever in your entire lives used an Abacus before?

[Still-alive]

The abacus is a calculating tool which has been used since ancient times. It was used in the ancient Near East, Europe, China, and Russia, centuries before the adoption of the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. The exact origin of the abacus has not yet emerged. It consists of rows of movable beads, or similar objects, strung on a wire. They represent digits. One of the two numbers is set up, and the beads are manipulated to perform an operation such as addition, or even a square or cubic root. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus

Yes i have used one of those before

No i have never used one of those before

I've never even heard of these before

[zeitgeist057]

Yes, I've purchased and used an abacus for calculating. People who are adept with an abacus can do some calculations faster than with a calculator, due to a fewer number of steps required to do certain tasks. (I believe these are more to do with accounting related tasks?)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/yj7XbnYrIk0

Or it may have to do with larger numbers?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GQtqlB-jXO0

I thought it pretty cool in the first video, the girl isn't actually using a physical abacus, she simply has a virtual one in her head that is visualized by her finger movement, but it's enough for her to do the calculations. Pretty handy to have this skill.

[WindAtMyBack]

We still used slide rules when I was in school. A slide rule class was also required in college for some majors - although it was only part of another class.

When I started working in engineering in the late 70s I still used a slide rule for a lot of things, even after I got a calculator. I thought the slide rule was faster for some things. I still have several slide rules.

[nolabels]

I've messed around with an abacus on occasion. There was one at my childhood home.

I never used it for anything of import, just played around with it.

[melanieeeB]

We had them in kindergarten and in elementary school, I also had one at home

[menina]

Yes, I've used one when I was in elementary school. It was fun.

[Aerissa_Jade]

Had one in the doctors waiting room when I was a kid, just played with it like a boring toy that it was.

[SnowedIn]

I have used one! Learned in school. They're fun.

[CrazyGirl2]

We learned to use them in my private elementary school.

[irifebeck]

I’ve never used on to count but I used to play with them for fun

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes i have used one of those before

[goaded]

Yes, and I even have a slide-rule in the next room.

[clampfan101]

I’ve played around with one as a kid, but don’t remember if I ever learned how to properly use it. They do look interesting, though.

[douride2]

Yes I have used one of those before.

[AsaKyo]

Yeah, when I was little

[Sparkie460]

I used it when I was a kid in grade school

[Batsy01010101]

when i was a kid i used it

[Dinosaursandanime65]

I don’t think so

[Guardian45]

I LOVE abacuses!