4 ms·

Here's a demo video of a Curta calculator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYsOi6L_Pw4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYsOi6L_Pw4

• jacquesm 17y ago
  From the comments on that video: > Are you guys serious when you say that it costs more than $1000 ??? > I just bought one at a flea market for 13 Cents!!! Some people are just way too lucky.
  • Rod 17y ago
    I would not trust YouTube comments all that much. Buying a Curta for 13 cents would be the arbitrage opportunity of the decade. You could sell it on eBay for more than $1000 (there's no shortage of collectors looking for Curtas, myself included), which is more than 7500x the price you paid for it.
    • jacquesm 17y ago
      There is a follow up with the serial number and the buyer, I think I'll believe it. My dad once bought a painting on a flea market that is now on display in a museum. Weirder stuff happens.
      • Rod 17y ago
        Wow. Someone got extremely lucky, then. I know people who would prowl flea markets and antique stores, and sometimes they would find some seriously under-valued assets. And the academics say that the markets are efficient...
        • eru 17y ago
          They can still be efficient [1]: You have to factor in the time you have to spend at the flea market. [1] For certain values of efficient.
          • Rod 17y ago
            My comment on efficient markets was facetious. Sure, one must consider the time spent at the flea market, but what numerical value does one assign to 1 hour of one's time? In the end, I find that the question "are markets efficient?" is not even well-posed, as one must provide a precise definition of efficient in order to avoid engaging in endless pseudo-philosophical discussion.
            • eru 17y ago
              Yes, it's one of that questions that spawns a lot of interesting research, but it's to ill-defined on its own to have a good answer. One needs to add a good definition of `efficient' to make the question (and answers) meaningful.