One of only two extant Diversified Electronics Co. Inc., Model InstaMator 510, External Programmable Desktop Calculator. Price $2,200
Patents, click on any image to see larger image!
To avoid patent infringements, Diversified Electronics Co. Inc., found a way around the minefield of patent infringements with a new and genius idea. With their InstaMator 510, shown in Fig.5 on page 2 (SHEET 1) of the patent papers above, they offered a desktop calculator which could be programmed externally and the commands/signals feed into the desktop calculator through sockets located on the front of the calculator, see picture 13, thereby circumventing the keyboard.
On November 5, 1970, Diversified Electronics Co., filed the patent, protecting their idea, with the title, "CALCULATOR INPUT MEANS TO BYPASS CONVENTIONAL KEYBOARD INPUT."
While the desktop calculator was just a calculator, by circumventing the keyboard, the calculator could perform like a programmable calculator by controlling the calculator with externally generated commands/signals feed into the machine through wires connected by the three sockets shown and numbered 28, 30, and 32 on SHEET 1, patent papers page 2.
The calculator has a power switch on the right hand side, see picture 6 and 18. There is a chrome plated handle attached to the underside for convenance to carry the 11¼ lb calculator around. The measurements are, 10½ by 16 by 5¼ inches The InstaMator 510 had buffered inputs to handle signals too fast for the calculator, it could handle pre-set factors, automatic memory functions, and more. The desktop calculator could be used at any time also as a regular calculator. The InstaMator 510 was extremely versatile which made it also extremely complex. This becomes evident to everybody trying to read the eight pages of text included in the patent papers. Needless to say that a calculator which was only able to be programmed by a team of scientists consisting of an electrical engineer, a physicist, and a programmer, was doomed to fail.
There is only one other InstaMator 510 known to exist. This might be the reason why it is almost impossible to find any information about the InstaMator 510. This elusive calculator is not even known to computing historians, due to the lack of information available in the literature about the history of computing. There is also no information on the internet.
The InstaMator 510 manufactured by the Diversified Electronics Co., is so rare that most historians never heard of it. The serial number of this InstaMator on the decal in the back reads, "S/N 2325-0512". The first digit, the number "2" stands for the year of production, which is 1972, the next three digits, "325" stand for the day of the year, which is Monday, November 20, see picture 15. The actual serial number is 512, a very low serial number for a manufactured product.
It is possible that the InstaMator 510 failed as there was probably not enough advertising done to promote it. However, the approach to create a programmable desktop calculator by incorporating sockets through which commands/signals could by feed into the calculator, instead through the keyboard, was a novel idea and deserves to be acknowledged, it is part of history. The InstaMator 510 is an exceedingly rare artifact of computing history, and a museum piece for any calculator or computer museum, as a matter of fact for any museum of technology.
Condition:
This InstaMator 510 is in perfect condition. There is no way that I could fully test all the functions.
All the nixie tubes work and as far as I knew or was able to test the simple functions, everything works. This calculator has never been opened or tampered with as the warranty seals are still in place and unbroken, see pictures 14 and 16.
There is a little piece of the upper shell broken off, see picture 3, 4, and 14. The widest spot measures half an inch.
History:
"I dreamed of a machine able to learn and then quietly execute, a machine that allows us to store instructions and data, but whose instructions were simple and intuitive; a machine that could be used by everyone, not just a handful of specialists. For this to be possible it had to be affordable, above all, and be about the same size as the other office products people had grown accustomed to using."
These words were spoken by Pier Giorgio Perotto, the lead engineer on the Olivetti team that built the Programma 101, also known as Perottina, or P101, the world's first personal computer; the year was 1962.
click here or,
click here, to read more about the Olivetti Programma 101.
The Olivetti Programma 101 was officially launched/presented at the Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (BEMA) conference in New York in October of 1965, and Olivetti sold 44,000 units.
Literature:
NONE!
Inventory Number 09368;
Price: $ 2,200