Subject areaArtificial intelligence
Also known asTIMTime is Money
TIM Time is Money: The TIM, short for Time is Money, is a mechanical calculator built by Ludwig Spitz & Co. of Berlin, founded in 1907, with production lasting until around 1940.
It uses the stepped drum, the system devised by Leibniz and brought to series production by Thomas de Colmar, and so it differs from pinwheel calculators such as the Brunsviga.
The model started with slider entry and from 1914 was also made with a keyboard; electric versions followed and, in the 1930s, travel models. Its larger sibling, the Unitas, has a second carriage above the first with another result register. In Italy the TIM arrived through Lagomarsino of Milan, which distributed German machines until 1937: a Lagomarsino plate identifies the dealer, while the maker remains Spitz. Among the technologies of intelligence, it is a useful example of the difference between who sells a product and who builds it.
Source: Jaap Scherphuis, Jaap's Mechanical Calculators, pagina Unitas, e Rechnerlexikon, citati nella scheda tecnica del modello aggiornata al 09/08/2026.
An example
The case below is constructed, because the term does not yet appear in the articles. An Italian manufacturing company in the 1930s finds the Milan dealer's plate on its calculator and records it in the inventory as an Italian machine: analysing the mechanism and the factory mark reveals a Berlin maker.
Enrico Giubertoni. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may quote, translate and adapt this entry with the author’s name and a link, stating any changes. For commercial use, write to info@enricogiubertoni.com
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