abacus

Much of the buzz around the subject in recent years has been about the development of powerful quantum computers which, the narrative goes, will make our fastest supercomputers seem like abacuses by comparison.

Recently, a lovely and well-meaning friend texted me one of those trending articles that make you want to trade your smartphone for an abacus and never speak of the internet again.

For example, you can add numbers perfectly using an abacus, in which wooden beads are pushed back and forth to represent arithmetic operations.

The floating ships in the fantasy role-playing game Honkai: Star Rail are populated with traders, gourmets and literati who surf their texts on jade abacuses.

Ms Truss, a former Treasury minister, accused her old department of promoting an "abacus economics" and insisted there needed to be a greater focus on stimulating economic growth.