Victor 3900
1965 electronic calculator / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Victor 3900 is the first electronic calculator to have been built entirely of integrated circuits (ICs).[1][2] For its era, the 3900 is extremely advanced; it has a 4-inch (100 mm) cathode ray tube screen to produce a 5-line display, has separate memory for storing three intermediate results, supports numerical rounding, and is still "smaller than a typewriter".[3]
Developer | Victor Comptometer |
---|---|
Manufacturer | General Micro-electronics |
Release date | 1967; 57 years ago (1967) |
Discontinued | June 1968 (1968-06) |
Display | 5-line CRT |
Input | Numerical keypad |
The original prototype was built by Victor Comptometer using vacuum tubes in 1963. When this was successful, the company sought a semiconductor firm to reduce it to IC form. It contracted with General Micro-electronics (GMe) in 1964 to introduce it to the market in early 1966. It was announced in October 1965 and first demonstrated at the Business Equipment Exposition later that month.
GMe had problems producing the PMOS ICs in quantity, ultimately requiring half of the 29 chips to be redesigned to wider tolerances. Bordering on insolvency, GMe was purchased by Philco-Ford in 1966. Development continued with the first examples shipping in 1967, but continued problems led Victor to cancel the contract. Philco continued offering the device for a short period, but gave up and closed GMe in 1968. By this time, a number of companies had competing products at lower price points.