4 ms·

Syncs with their phone app, to keep a track of bills and expenses. Based on the Espressif ESP32. Quite handy for small shop owners who can't have a full-blown c

Syncs with their phone app, to keep a track of bills and expenses. Based on the Espressif ESP32. Quite handy for small shop owners who can't have a full-blown computer+screen cash register. Disclaimer: I am working as a freelancer for their next version of hardware that will be based on Linux.

scoot 3y ago
/disclaimer/disclosure/
- anujdeshpande 3y ago
  Noted :)!
  - scoot 3y ago
    Great! Others could learn from your attitude :)
- scoot 3y ago
  I'll take the downvote as a measure of the number of HN contributors that still don't know the (important) difference. At least four people have hopefully learned from that comment. A strong signal to continue pointing it out.
pettycashstash2 3y ago
Necessity is mother of all inventions
OJFord 3y ago
I don't live in India (nor run a shop!) but I imagine for businesses that take both cash & PhonePe it could be a useful feature to collate the two, if there's some kind of API for that? i.e. so you'd have all sales in one place, regardless of payment method, and the daily/weekly/etc. total would cover everything. Just a thought. I like the design! Keeping it simple & familiar, calculator works (or almost, just missing feature), no need to reinvent that part. :)
LeafItAlone 3y ago
What is the hardware like in the next version?
- anujdeshpande 3y ago
  It's a lot more capable than the current version - but from the outside it's almost the same size and shape. - Denser display with full color range (current one is monochrome) - USB support - Cellular modem built-in (WiFi isn't always available in stores, shopkeepers mostly end up using phone hotspots. It will still have WiFi though) - Speakers
  - fuzzfactor 3y ago
    Would you say a shopkeeper could pick these up for themself or their salespeople and immediately continue with the same workflow, if they had been using a popular plain calculator up until then? And it could provide additional layers of local and remote data handling from an easy to administer server app on the owner's phone without the need to concern the end users of the calculators with software whatsoever? Seems to me one thing the calculator in hand can do is traditional real-time negotiating and discounting. Where something like the distraction of software could be a disadvantge compared to what came before.
  - jacknews 3y ago
    The current version looks like a great solution, because it's so basic. You risk adding too many features (and cost) in the next version. A cell modem is going to require certification and of course a separate sim-card/data plan. Do they need USB unless they have a computer already? And speakers? Is this to play the radio while tending shop? I'm sure even the most illiterate can still read numbers, so TTS would be just a gimmick IMHO.
nojvek 3y ago
Anujdesh, this is amazing. Is the calculator being manufactured fully in India or shipped from China? Curious. Love the WiFi connected ability. Does the user have any choice on what api they want to export to? Or it has to be a specific app? Even in the US, 90+% of gifts bought for Christmas are made in China. Almost anything containing electronics, plastics and some kind of plush fabric / faux leather seems to be made in China. I wish the world didn’t depend on China so much.
- porridgeraisin 3y ago
  The name is split as: Anuj Deshpande So Anuj is probably what you wanna call him on first name basis :)
  - nojvek 3y ago
    My bad. Should have just used the whole username.
- anujdeshpande 3y ago
  Components are from China - everything is assembled in India (Bengaluru). It's probably impossible to manufacture with locally sourced components in India in 2023(especially displays, processors, memories).
detourdog 3y ago
I think moving to a full blown operating system is moving in the wrong direction. I think moving in the other direction towards a strictly hardware double entry book keeping system would be progress. I think any operating system over complicates and encumbers the idea with un-needed dependices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  > I think any operating system over complicates and encumbers the idea with un-needed dependices. The prime problem is latency, which becomes both noticeably larger and unpredictable. Both those aspects cause huge loss of ergonomics. It's quite easy to tell whether a piece of hardware is doing things directly in firmware, or if it's running a full OS with a software stack - the latter has neither instant nor predictable feedback. A good example would be phones, for anyone who remembers the transition from feature phones to iOS and Android smartphones. That transition is where we lost predictable input latency, and thus ability to develop muscle memory and operate device without looking at it. E.g. texting people while keeping the phone in your pocket was a typical thing teenagers did, that became impossible with modern smartphones.
  - smabie 3y ago
    That's because we lost keyboards?
  - tokai 3y ago
    Nah it's all the fault of touchscreens.
    - TeMPOraL 3y ago
      It isn't. Forget texting from pocket. Consider why we can't really operate any of the common touchscreen devices, like phones, tablets and computers, without looking at them. It's because of unpredictable input latency, unpredictable UI timings, and unpredictable UI behavior all across the stack - from the apps with bullshit flashy UX, down to the OS which is not a real-time OS, and will introduce arbitrary latencies for arbitrary reasons. The touchscreens and their driving hardware is itself fine. It's the introduction of a proper, non-real-time OS, that's the "original sin" here. Everything else is just decades of practice of writing for such OSes, with the fundamental unstated assumption that interactivity means user is looking at the display while operating the device. This assumption bleeds all the way to the very core of *nixes and Windows.

scoot 3y ago

/disclaimer/disclosure/

anujdeshpande 3y ago
Noted :)!
- scoot 3y ago
  Great! Others could learn from your attitude :)
scoot 3y ago
I'll take the downvote as a measure of the number of HN contributors that still don't know the (important) difference. At least four people have hopefully learned from that comment. A strong signal to continue pointing it out.

pettycashstash2 3y ago

Necessity is mother of all inventions

OJFord 3y ago

I don't live in India (nor run a shop!) but I imagine for businesses that take both cash & PhonePe it could be a useful feature to collate the two, if there's some kind of API for that? i.e. so you'd have all sales in one place, regardless of payment method, and the daily/weekly/etc. total would cover everything. Just a thought. I like the design! Keeping it simple & familiar, calculator works (or almost, just missing feature), no need to reinvent that part. :)

LeafItAlone 3y ago

What is the hardware like in the next version?

anujdeshpande 3y ago
It's a lot more capable than the current version - but from the outside it's almost the same size and shape. - Denser display with full color range (current one is monochrome) - USB support - Cellular modem built-in (WiFi isn't always available in stores, shopkeepers mostly end up using phone hotspots. It will still have WiFi though) - Speakers
- fuzzfactor 3y ago
  Would you say a shopkeeper could pick these up for themself or their salespeople and immediately continue with the same workflow, if they had been using a popular plain calculator up until then? And it could provide additional layers of local and remote data handling from an easy to administer server app on the owner's phone without the need to concern the end users of the calculators with software whatsoever? Seems to me one thing the calculator in hand can do is traditional real-time negotiating and discounting. Where something like the distraction of software could be a disadvantge compared to what came before.
- jacknews 3y ago
  The current version looks like a great solution, because it's so basic. You risk adding too many features (and cost) in the next version. A cell modem is going to require certification and of course a separate sim-card/data plan. Do they need USB unless they have a computer already? And speakers? Is this to play the radio while tending shop? I'm sure even the most illiterate can still read numbers, so TTS would be just a gimmick IMHO.

nojvek 3y ago

Anujdesh, this is amazing. Is the calculator being manufactured fully in India or shipped from China? Curious. Love the WiFi connected ability. Does the user have any choice on what api they want to export to? Or it has to be a specific app? Even in the US, 90+% of gifts bought for Christmas are made in China. Almost anything containing electronics, plastics and some kind of plush fabric / faux leather seems to be made in China. I wish the world didn’t depend on China so much.

porridgeraisin 3y ago
The name is split as: Anuj Deshpande So Anuj is probably what you wanna call him on first name basis :)
- nojvek 3y ago
  My bad. Should have just used the whole username.
anujdeshpande 3y ago
Components are from China - everything is assembled in India (Bengaluru). It's probably impossible to manufacture with locally sourced components in India in 2023(especially displays, processors, memories).

detourdog 3y ago

I think moving to a full blown operating system is moving in the wrong direction. I think moving in the other direction towards a strictly hardware double entry book keeping system would be progress. I think any operating system over complicates and encumbers the idea with un-needed dependices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping

TeMPOraL 3y ago
> I think any operating system over complicates and encumbers the idea with un-needed dependices. The prime problem is latency, which becomes both noticeably larger and unpredictable. Both those aspects cause huge loss of ergonomics. It's quite easy to tell whether a piece of hardware is doing things directly in firmware, or if it's running a full OS with a software stack - the latter has neither instant nor predictable feedback. A good example would be phones, for anyone who remembers the transition from feature phones to iOS and Android smartphones. That transition is where we lost predictable input latency, and thus ability to develop muscle memory and operate device without looking at it. E.g. texting people while keeping the phone in your pocket was a typical thing teenagers did, that became impossible with modern smartphones.
- smabie 3y ago
  That's because we lost keyboards?
- tokai 3y ago
  Nah it's all the fault of touchscreens.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    It isn't. Forget texting from pocket. Consider why we can't really operate any of the common touchscreen devices, like phones, tablets and computers, without looking at them. It's because of unpredictable input latency, unpredictable UI timings, and unpredictable UI behavior all across the stack - from the apps with bullshit flashy UX, down to the OS which is not a real-time OS, and will introduce arbitrary latencies for arbitrary reasons. The touchscreens and their driving hardware is itself fine. It's the introduction of a proper, non-real-time OS, that's the "original sin" here. Everything else is just decades of practice of writing for such OSes, with the fundamental unstated assumption that interactivity means user is looking at the display while operating the device. This assumption bleeds all the way to the very core of *nixes and Windows.