The abacus was used in Russian even as late as 1976 in grocery stores in Moscow. Basically any country that does not have access to a cheap pocket calculator. I'm sure you can find many places in third world countries that use it for business transactions. It needs no batteries and when used by a person proficient in abacus, it can provide a correct answer as quick as a calculator.
Chat with our AI personalities
An abacus is a calculating tool used primarily in parts of Asia for arithmetic. The abacus was in use centuries before the written modern numeral system and is still used by merchants, traders and clerks in Asia and Africa.
There was evidence of the abacus going back as early as 2700 B.C. And it is still commonly used in certain countries and places like Japan, China, Russia, and the Middle East.
The abacus has been around for millennia, in various countries. No record of the inventor was made.
The Chinese abacus was developed about 5000 years ago. It was built out of wood and beads. It could be held and carried around easily. The abacus was so successful that its use spread form China to many other countries. The abacus does not actually do the computing, as today's calculators do. It helps people keep track of numbers as they do the computing.
Thailand vegetable vendors use abacus, nowadays abacus is gaining popularity in India, US and taught by many schools