Sometimes things start out in the most surprising way. Take the Casio watch company, for example. If you were asked to guess which was the first product Casio made, you may think it was the calculator or some other type of electronic product. You would be wrong. The Casio Company was founded in 1946 by Tadao Kashio. Please understand that this happened in Japan after WWII. The financial situation was dire in Japan at the time, to say the least. When Mr. Kashio started his company, he was a manufacturing engineer hoping for a big break.
His great opportunity manifested itself in a unique way. Tadao Kashio developed a product called yubiwa tube. Its design allowed it to be worn on the finger. It was used to hold a cigarette, allowing the smoker to smoke the cigarette in the filter, while still being able to use both hands. In the impoverished Japan of the time, cigarettes were a hot item and the product was an overwhelming success. The yubiwa pipe is a far cry from the calculators and watches that would follow, but it set the company on the road to success.
Since it is obvious that Mr. Kashio was an inventive type of man, it only took him a little time to decide to explore different products. At the Ginza, Japan business fair in 1949, he discovered electronic calculators. With the proceeds from the sale of the yubiwa pipes, Mr. Kashio and his brothers began experimenting with making their own calculators. At the time, most calculators were powered by gears. With diligence and hard work, the Casio Company introduced the first calculator to use solenoids. The new type of calculator went on sale in 1954. This calculator was also the first to have the 10-digit keypad and had only one display window compared to the competition that had three.
As you well know, calculators weren’t the only product made by Casio. After the release of the Model 14-A calculator, many more products were designed and released to the general public. The same year as the 14-A was released, the company also became Casio Computer Co., Inc. This is the time when Casio watches first made their mark in the watch industry. Casio has been well known for the great variety and innovation of its watches almost since the beginning of production. They were one of the first watch companies to make the now famous quartz glass watches. The quartz watches produced by Casio were available in both analog and digital styles. Perhaps the most memorable watch produced by this company is the calculating watch. For those of you who don’t remember, it featured all the amazing timekeeping capabilities of regular Casio watches, with one added feature. It had a small calculator complete with a miniature keyboard built into the clock. During his heyday, he was the nightmare of math teachers everywhere and the savior of all math deficient students.
Considering that the calculator watch was a lot of fun, Casio continued to raise the bar. This company was also the first to design and produce a watch that could provide its owner with some interesting details. One of these clocks could show the time of many different time zones at the touch of a button. Others were equipped to give meteorological details such as temperature and barometric pressure. Mountain climbers of bygone ages especially liked the version that came with a gauge to indicate altitude. While other watchmakers were stuck with business as usual, Casio consistently offered exciting new variations on the classic wristwatch.
With the true gadget fans of the world in mind, Casio devised a watch just for them. It is the Wave Ceptors line of watches. They really outdid themselves with this one. These watches are equipped to receive radio signals that allow the watch to keep accurate time. They can also tell time in different time zones, user can set alarms and timers. This line of watches also came with an incredibly extensive user manual to provide all the necessary instructions to the owner.
From the yubiwa pipe to the world’s best calculators and watches, Casio has come a long way from its humble beginnings. They continue to challenge themselves and their competitors to new higher peaks and offer the best products electronics can build.