The EC 130 uses Reverse Polish input, and was the first calculator to employ this method. Similarly, Friden no doubt found it easy and natural to design an intricate and beautiful case, while Dr Wang and others judged that a simple box would cover the internals until the customer saw what the calculator could actually do. This attention to detail would have seemed reasonable to Friden but was not shared by people like Dr Wang who judged that once people appreciated the power and economy of electronic calculators they would forgive a harsh and clicky keyboard. The EC 130 keyboard is an intricate piece of mechanism and is responsible for the special keyboard action.
Friden had long experience in the calculator market and carried this concern for feel through to the EC 130. The "feel" of the keyboard was very important to these operators and new models with the wrong feel would be received poorly. In the mechanical calculator world skilled operators worked at very high rates without looking at the keyboard, similar to touch typists. The special feel of the EC 130 keyboard cannot be denied and was actually based on business reasons that appeared sound at the time.
The keys on an EC 130 operate with the same feel as a luxury car door. The key locks while the electronics do their work then there is a soft click and the key rises rapidly and smoothly ready for the next input. In use it says "quality" at every keypress, the keys going down with a silky swoosh against a gentle constant resistance. The EC 130 is an arresting first sight and it still appears modern, over fifty years from its debut. It arose from a special intersection of circumstances and is utterly a product of its time, born as electronic logic first flowered, and of its place, built by a company expert in mechanical construction and committed to craftsmanship. The Friden EC 130 is a marvellous machine.
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