[anujdeshpande]

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.

[detourdog]

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

[TeMPOraL]

> 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.

[wolpoli]

It's gotten worse since the introduction of smartphones. Instead of a button being hit changing into a pressed state instantly, they added animation that looks nice, but they end up making UI feels laggy and unresponsive.

[smabie]

That's because we lost keyboards?

[tokai]

Nah it's all the fault of touchscreens.

[TeMPOraL]

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.

[tokai]

Nothing wild about using Linux on an embedded system. It's done extensively.

[ska]

Lots of embedded work won't tolerate an OS, sometimes not even an RTOS, which I think was GPs point - nothing specific about Linux.

Or to put it another way, the only reason you would want to move to an OS is to add complexity to what the device is doing. GP is arguing that's a bad trade off.

[detourdog]

My thinking from a digital system point of view is that double entry book keeping is the beautiful concept. This concept can easily be expressed using computers but it loses its beauty at each abstraction layer.

The beauty is lost because the user is using a device for double entry book keeping but many other back ground tasks could fail that are not directly related to the task of book keeping.

The user is now faced with needing to understand their goal book keeping plus anything that makes the book keeping device function.

I think a digital aesthetic can be found by creating simple digital devices that are highly specialized but would need something similar to phone to add all the fantastic features that a network device provides.

Imagine how great cars would be with physical buttons but an optional screen to mirror one's phone like device.

Finally I'm actively working on this idea with an 8 unit mixed use building. I'm trying to make it as sophisticated as possible with very simple circuits that don't relay on the internet to function.

The idea is that the industry is overly focused on the internet and completely ignoring all the very simple things that can be done digital devices. I think by establishing a digital aesthetic we can start to say something simple that requires the internet or an operating system is ugly.

[OJFord]

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. :)

[nojvek]

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.

[anujdeshpande]

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).

[porridgeraisin]

The name is split as:

Anuj Deshpande

So Anuj is probably what you wanna call him on first name basis :)

[nojvek]

My bad. Should have just used the whole username.

[pettycashstash2]

Necessity is mother of all inventions

[LeafItAlone]

What is the hardware like in the next version?

[anujdeshpande]

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]

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]

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.

[scoot]

/disclaimer/disclosure/

[scoot]

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.

[anujdeshpande]

Noted :)!

[scoot]

Great! Others could learn from your attitude :)