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The history of Casio watches

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121–130 of 177 posts

Re: The history of Casio watches

#121

The incredible Sensor Watch after-market board is really worth a mention on a thread like this: https://www.sensorwatch.net/ Joey et al.’s work ports the SPICE astronavigation library to the on board ARM m0 giving you a complete orrery in a classic F91W “Terrorist” watch. It is fantastic ! I really love being able to get an estimate of when and where The Moon will rise, or where Saturn is right now. Timekeeping and a…

> a complete orrery in a classic F91W “Terrorist” watch

It took me a bit of searching, but sure enough:

https://www.sensorwatch.net/docs/watchfaces/complication/#or...

Seems very tedious to actually use, but very cool to have it in the unassuming wristwatch.

Re: The history of Casio watches

#122
post #121

The incredible Sensor Watch after-market board is really worth a mention on a thread like this: https://www.sensorwatch.net/ Joey et al.’s work ports the SPICE astronavigation library to the on board ARM m0 giving you a complete orrery in a classic F91W “Terrorist” watch. It is fantastic ! I really love being able to get an estimate of when and where The Moon will rise, or where Saturn is right now. Timekeeping and a…

> a complete orrery in a classic F91W “Terrorist” watch It took me a bit of searching, but sure enough: https://www.sensorwatch.net/docs/watchfaces/complication/#or... Seems very tedious to actually use, but very cool to have it in the unassuming wristwatch.

The astronomy face is superior as it calculates the altitude and azimuth of the selected object based on your programmed location and, of course, the current time:

https://www.sensorwatch.net/docs/watchfaces/complication/#as...

What would be even better would be to acknowledge that altitude is somewhat moot when all these objects are in the ecliptic plane — unsurprisingly Jupiter at Jovian noon is roughly where The Sun was at lunchtime! — and instead cycle through the azimuths of each object in the sky, in the order in which they are visible.

Re: The history of Casio watches

#123
post #97

I’ve always wondered what “resin” means on watch ads. Presumably it’s a kind of plastic, why not say that?

In Casio’s context it means “molded plastic” and is used to imply good ergonomic fit. In the larger scope, resin is plastic in an unfinished state. For wearables, it’s commonly used as a marketing term to imply it fits well.

Thanks.

I had wondered if it meant some kind of thermoset / epoxy cure-in-a-mold, to set it apart from injection-molded thermoplastic.

Weird wording. What other kind of plastic is there than 'molded'?

Re: The history of Casio watches

#125
post #108
post #70

Funny how they don't mention Al-Qaeda's use of the the F-91W as an IED timer. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-fil...

What a silly comment, why would they? - Toyota doesn't mention the Toyota war. - Microsoft doesn't mention the millions world wide who use their OS for nefarious purposes. - Starbucks doesn't mention that one time someone got a spiced pumpkin latte, while on the run from the FBI.

But Böcker sure as hell jumped on the louvre heist.

https://petapixel.com/2025/10/27/how-a-ladder-company-turned...

Re: The history of Casio watches

#126
post #28

Casio should release one of their "game and watch" products again, or create a new one based on the old models. Production cost cannot be higher than that of a normal watch, and a lot of people would love to own one. I am always disappointed when I see products like their pac man watches that just have a print on it without any game related functionality. This has damaged the brand a lot already, and tbh, after many…

I might have missed it, but they did not include any of their "game" watches from the 1980s in the history, somehow! I spent many a happy hour on the submarine one (https://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/the-handheld-museum-a-...). The pyramid one was also popular.

Re: The history of Casio watches

#127
Interesting reading, especially as I didn't realise how far ahead of the times they were. The other thing that strikes me is that they'd churn out all sorts of watches - from incredibly beautiful things, to absolutely hideous (from a modern perspective) with bold colours on plastic, but some new geeky features. Also, I'd never thought about how many Casio watches I'd owned in my life!

When I was young I had the calculator watch. I guess C-80, as I remember the white buttons sticking out, but I can't remember any other features. Also not sure why I had a calculator watch I must only have been about 6 or 7 years old. Maybe I'd convinced my parents it was cool!

I also had a 50m water resistant watch, which isn't in the article, but looks like it was the W-59. This was black plastic.

I must have had another watch around this time too, as I remember having a skin reaction (eczema) to the metal back, and having to wear a cotton layer between the watch and my skin. It couldn't have been the next watch though, as the article says it was introduced in 1995 and the eczema would have been around 1986.

The AQ-230 was the last watch I wore before going watchless for about 20 years.

In the early 2000s the strap on my AQ-230 broke, and I realised that I now always had a mobile phone with the time and no longer needed a watch. I didn't get another watch until my first Garmin for running / hiking, but that was only worn during activities, and my most recent Garmin that I tend to wear most of the time.

Re: The history of Casio watches

#129
post #89
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had CMD-10 as a kid. It was fun when it worked, but it wasn't pairing well with most TV sets and video players. Though it's possible I just didn't know how to set it up properly.

There was a mode where you'd just cycle through all stored "remotes" until the TV switched off. Then you picked that one, and most likely it would work (in my experience). It was great.

I once had a soldering course from a guy that is mainly known for creating a remote that could turn off any TV some years ago, really chill guy but also hillarious that he made a business out of a single gimmicky item like that.

I wouldn't be surprised if he lurks on here, if so, hi!

edit: it's the "TV-B-Gone" by Mitch Altman, who was at the forefront of creating hackerspaces - TIL they weren't as much of a thing in the US until 2008.

Re: The history of Casio watches

#130
I find the creativity of the Casio watches impressive (had a few), but I really don't get the UI / design. Since I got my first Garmin, I'm never going back. Garmin's watches are way more convenient and complete IMO (and certainly so if you do sports).
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