The abacus: Soon everyone will want one
In Rome in the first century BC, a new model from China threatened to change everything.
The scene: CORNELIA and JULIA, both distinguished women of the Roman Empire. chat at a street café.
The scene: CORNELIA and JULIA, both distinguished women of the Roman Empire. chat at a street café.
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CORNELIA:
JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: CORNELIA: JULIA: |
"So. What's he like?"
"He's amazing." "How was Saturday?" "Great. We saw a fantastic show together. Then coffee with my friends." "You're gloating. What's the catch." "There's no catch." "Of course there's a catch. Tell me." "It's nothing really. He's got one of those new things. An abacus." "Oh, I've heard of them. They're so big and bulky. So what's the problem?" "It's embarrassing. Everywhere we go he has to bring it out." [Shrugs shoulders.] "At the cafe, he goes on and on about how amazing it is. Adding, dividing, even square root, he says." "Was it awkward?" "Awkward?! It was terrible. He's got it on table most of the time. It's like he's only half-listening to me." "What did you do?" "I couldn't do a thing. When it was time to leave he calculated the bill with it." "Was Geoff there?" [Nods.] "You know what he's like with numbers. Marcus really cut him down with that stupid abacus. It's like he was bragging with it." "Poor Geoff." "And it gets worse. He sees a friend sitting half way across the cafe, and he does something on the abacus, holds it up to this guy, who just laughs. And then they're going back and forth, messaging each other with it. How rude!" "I'll never get one. Let's hope it's just a fad." "Marcus thinks it's the biggest thing since agriculture. He reckons everyone's going to have an abacus by 1 AD. All his mates have them." "Who wants to lug something like that around?" "Not me. But he told me they're getting smaller each year. He said that China’s working on one as small as two loaves of bread." "Oh yeah. I could almost see that working." "Not you too!" "I'm just saying!" "And he says that there's even one where you can customise the colours of the beads." "Ooow, that sounds nice." "And soon there'll be one with sat-nav." "What's that?" "Sorry, I'm taking on Marcus's lingo now. It's where you can do these quick sums to plot the stars and it tells you exactly where you are and how to get anywhere." "Well, that would be a safety thing really." "Marcus told me that it'll get to a point where you'll just need one for everyday stuff. If you're bargaining with a vendor, and someone else calculates a better price quicker, you'll just miss out." "Choose your own colours? Messaging friends? Sat nav? Shopping? Hmmm." "When you put it that way." "It's not really a gimmick. It's kind of essential. Some of these side streets are very dark at night." "Have you got any plans for the afternoon?" "Nothing really." "What say I find a public speaker and see if we can track Marcus down. We could get him to show us how they work." |
Apparently v2.0 comes with sat nav
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