Casio Pathfinder - Is It More Than A Watch?
Founded in 1946 by an engineer, Tadeo Kashio, Casio has made great strides as a watchmaker. Incredibly, the first product had nothing to do with watches or calculators. The yubiwa pipe was the first product and a first great success in Japan. A yubiwa pipe was a ring with a finger that held a cigarette that allowed the smoker to smoke the cigarette until a bulge. After World War II, cigarettes were a valuable product in impoverished Japan and smokers did not want to waste a single breath! In 1949, Kashio took the profits from the success of the yubiwa pipe and began working on the development of the first electromechanical calculator. In 1957, Casio launched the first fully electric calculator. Casio entered the wristwatch market in 1974. The watch industry had just discovered digital technology. At that time, Casio had the best technology for pocket calculators. The company was confident that it could develop watches that outperform the competition. Casio believed that a clock should ...