Lofree’s Digit Calculator Is a Brilliant Update to a Timeless Classic

Young whippersnappers may not know this, but before cell phones could do everything from SMS messaging to your taxes, we had other pieces of hardware to do these tasks separately. Walkmans played music through cassette tapes, accountants did your taxes, and yes, even calculators had their own blocky, hefty designs.

Lofree’s Digit Calculator pays homage to this bygone age with its flat retro design, giant buttons and screen, and… you guessed it, mechanical switch keys.

While most of the features are based on the same calculators your parents used when balancing their finances, the keys themselves use blue mechanical switches to get some extra responsiveness whenever you press them. Just like the switches found in a computer keyboard, the clicking sound you get whenever you press them gives an odd sense of accomplishment, even when what you’re calculating may not be entirely correct.

20 dot keycaps are found on the Digit Calculator’s face and run on one AAA battery. It doesn’t sound like a lot of power, but apparently, it can push out 500 hours of working time, thanks in part to its built-in sleep mode. Unlike more modern computer keyboards though, these keys aren’t backlit with fancy lighting. You’re paying your taxes, after all, not putting on a laser light show.

As for the physical calculator, it weighs a total of 130g and measures 148mm long, 92mm wide, and 35mm tall. Just like the calculators of old, its screen sits at a 6º angle to make viewing your computations easier.

You’d think an “ancient” calculator wouldn’t see a lot of use nowadays, but the fact is the Digit Calculator’s Kickstarter campaign has already raised almost 50 times of its initial $1,274 goal. It now has funding of $49,580, meaning loads of folks are craving that lost feeling of crunching numbers on a traditional calculator.

More details can be found on the Digit Calculator’s Kickstarter page.

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