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I've personally witnessed scammers using people's trust in calculators being correct to cheat them. It was at the Zambia-Zimbabwe border at Victoria Falls in 1

I've personally witnessed scammers using people's trust in calculators being correct to cheat them. It was at the Zambia-Zimbabwe border at Victoria Falls in 1999. We needed to change USD into Zimbabwe dollars and were approached by an informal money changer who ostentatiously did the calculation on his calculator in full view. We knew roughly what the exchange rate should be and confirmed that the money changer was using close to that on the calculator. However, the final result of the multiplication on the calculator was fraudulently low. I thought the result was "off" but given the relatively high exchange rate (this was pre-hyperinflation), by the time I'd done the math in my head he'd taken our USD and disappeared. Not a huge deal as we were only out by maybe tens of USD, and we had to grudgingly admit that it was a very effective scam.

jlg23 7y ago
> I've personally witnessed scammers using people's trust in calculators being correct to cheat them. Whenever people shove a calculator into my face, I expect a scam. One of the oldest, used a lot in restaurants: 50+0 (showing customer the zero) + one coffee + ...
- achow 7y ago
  Without calculator how would one calculate things in places like Zimbabwe or any Mom-Pop place where there are no computers. Apart from building 'trust', calculator plays important job of communication - people in places like Zambia probably do not know how to write in numbers in English (or are not very fluent) and also probably do not know how to say the numbers in English. Being traders however they would recognize numbers readily, so they communicate via calculator by punching out the numbers. That is, calculator is used even when there is no calculation involved. [Edit - Corrected the Roman numerals to English numbers]
  - jlg23 7y ago
    Yes, when they are mere displays, no problem. The scam I talked about only works when adding up larger number of items (like a table of 4 at a restaurant) but there it is pervasive. With honest traders I never had a problem, neither in Africa nor in South America: Calculator on the table, reset in front of me, slowly, step by step, add up the items so I have time to punch it into my own calculator/phone.
  - username90 7y ago
    > Without calculator how would one calculate things in places like Zimbabwe or any Mom-Pop place where there are no computers. People can calculate things in their heads, have you never bought something where there wasn't a calculator?
    - carlmr 7y ago
      Also I feel like most people now own smartphones?
      - vectorEQ 7y ago
        nah, there's no computers or anything in africa :'D
    - achow 7y ago
      I'm sure people would do that in many cases (counting in their head). But the point is in a shop without a computer, a calculator is de rigueur if it is accessible and affordable; if nothing else than for accounting, stock taking, book keeping etc. And as mentioned, calculator I have seen being used as a communication mechanism (You ask what's price? Seller taps on the calculator and shoves it under your nose without uttering a single word : 72.50)
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - toxik 7y ago
    Roman numerals would be an extremely inconvenient way of expressing prices.
    - achow 7y ago
      Thanks. Corrected.
  - prmph 7y ago
    > people in places like Zambia probably do not know how to write in numbers in English (or are not very fluent) and also probably do not know how to say the numbers in English. Don't know where you get this impression from; based on my first-hand experience, it is very likely wrong. If you are referring to people who are illiterate in English, fair enough (although even then they most likely can say the numbers in English). But then you would need to check the rate of illiteracy in Zambia (and their language of business) before making a blanket statement like above
    - achow 7y ago
      Literacy =/= fluency. Imagine Germany, Russia, Indonesia, China, S.Korea...
  - papln 7y ago
    Despite English alphabet being Roman/Latin, our numbers are Arabic numerals.
    - blacksmith_tb 7y ago
      Even more oddly, modern Arabic uses a different set of numerals[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals

jlg23 7y ago

> I've personally witnessed scammers using people's trust in calculators being correct to cheat them. Whenever people shove a calculator into my face, I expect a scam. One of the oldest, used a lot in restaurants: 50+0 (showing customer the zero) + one coffee + ...

achow 7y ago
Without calculator how would one calculate things in places like Zimbabwe or any Mom-Pop place where there are no computers. Apart from building 'trust', calculator plays important job of communication - people in places like Zambia probably do not know how to write in numbers in English (or are not very fluent) and also probably do not know how to say the numbers in English. Being traders however they would recognize numbers readily, so they communicate via calculator by punching out the numbers. That is, calculator is used even when there is no calculation involved. [Edit - Corrected the Roman numerals to English numbers]
- jlg23 7y ago
  Yes, when they are mere displays, no problem. The scam I talked about only works when adding up larger number of items (like a table of 4 at a restaurant) but there it is pervasive. With honest traders I never had a problem, neither in Africa nor in South America: Calculator on the table, reset in front of me, slowly, step by step, add up the items so I have time to punch it into my own calculator/phone.
- username90 7y ago
  > Without calculator how would one calculate things in places like Zimbabwe or any Mom-Pop place where there are no computers. People can calculate things in their heads, have you never bought something where there wasn't a calculator?
  - carlmr 7y ago
    Also I feel like most people now own smartphones?
    - vectorEQ 7y ago
      nah, there's no computers or anything in africa :'D
  - achow 7y ago
    I'm sure people would do that in many cases (counting in their head). But the point is in a shop without a computer, a calculator is de rigueur if it is accessible and affordable; if nothing else than for accounting, stock taking, book keeping etc. And as mentioned, calculator I have seen being used as a communication mechanism (You ask what's price? Seller taps on the calculator and shoves it under your nose without uttering a single word : 72.50)
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- toxik 7y ago
  Roman numerals would be an extremely inconvenient way of expressing prices.
  - achow 7y ago
    Thanks. Corrected.
- prmph 7y ago
  > people in places like Zambia probably do not know how to write in numbers in English (or are not very fluent) and also probably do not know how to say the numbers in English. Don't know where you get this impression from; based on my first-hand experience, it is very likely wrong. If you are referring to people who are illiterate in English, fair enough (although even then they most likely can say the numbers in English). But then you would need to check the rate of illiteracy in Zambia (and their language of business) before making a blanket statement like above
  - achow 7y ago
    Literacy =/= fluency. Imagine Germany, Russia, Indonesia, China, S.Korea...
- papln 7y ago
  Despite English alphabet being Roman/Latin, our numbers are Arabic numerals.
  - blacksmith_tb 7y ago
    Even more oddly, modern Arabic uses a different set of numerals[1]. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Arabic_numerals