Show Us Your First Real Calculator?
I was perusing Watchcrunch, and came along @CitizenKale’s post about a lovely white “Astronaut-suit looking” Casio FX-115 calculator he ordered to complement his dedicated work bench. Bravo!
This fired-up my amygdala to remember the only thing that helped me get through the painful rigors of the math-side of my schooling — my SHARP EL-512II.
This was a birthday gift from my parents in 1985 (I’m sure in the hope I would stop bugging them to help me ’cipher’), and remains a go-to calculator to this day!
Show us your first real calculator you own or owned and why you may consider such a ubiquitous machine as still-something special.
Time dictates my linear path to its bitter end. My watches keep me one step ahead of time…and one foot out of the grave.
Very cool and retro.
I quit school at 14 (and I didn't really listen while I was there before that) so I never had a calculator worth mentioning.
So this is the first. Just arrived. I learned a bit about the memory function and how to get the diameter of a circle from it's circumference and a few other basic things.
Very cool and retro.
I quit school at 14 (and I didn't really listen while I was there before that) so I never had a calculator worth mentioning.
So this is the first. Just arrived. I learned a bit about the memory function and how to get the diameter of a circle from it's circumference and a few other basic things.
It looks neat and tidy on your bench…nicely placed next to your Royale. Slick! As for figuring the proper diameter of a circle…perhaps I’ll attempt that on mine…though my math skills have desiccated like a mayfly through the years.
I have no photo and wouldn't know a model number, but in the same way that I was exposed to manual transmissions before automatics, my father had me using RPN on a Hewlett Packard calculator such that I had no idea how to use a normal one (with an "=" button) when the time came.
I was used to 2, enter, enter, + to achieve 2+2=4.
I have no photo and wouldn't know a model number, but in the same way that I was exposed to manual transmissions before automatics, my father had me using RPN on a Hewlett Packard calculator such that I had no idea how to use a normal one (with an "=" button) when the time came.
I was used to 2, enter, enter, + to achieve 2+2=4.
Right -- I've got an Adler-Royal desktop that goes that route and I fumble with it.
I'm not even kidding, forced to use one of these in school. Later in college I had a Texas Instruments LED scientific calculator that was quite large compared to what you get today.
I'm not even kidding, forced to use one of these in school. Later in college I had a Texas Instruments LED scientific calculator that was quite large compared to what you get today.
What is staggering to me is that a rule with a slide composed of linear tables creates a complexity of calculation equal to the proficiency of its electronic offspring.
When I was in the US Army at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. My wife bought me an electronic "flight computer". Thing was cool and did all the necessary flight calculations in a few seconds. We were being taught how to use a metal type of protractor and I really suck at math. I show it to my flight instructor and he is saying how cool it is and can he go show it to the other instructors. About an hour later, we are flying around Alabama and he asks me to do a fuel consumption check. I break out my new fangled flight computer and try to turn it on and the damned thing won't work ! He starts laughing at me and shows me the batteries in his hand and says........whatcha gonna do now Lieutenant "? Needless to say I did not get a good daily grade that day and had to really learn how to use the protractor type. Lesson learned.......carry extra batteries !
What is staggering to me is that a rule with a slide composed of linear tables creates a complexity of calculation equal to the proficiency of its electronic offspring.
From what I can remember it wasn't a problem once you mastered it.
When I was in the US Army at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. My wife bought me an electronic "flight computer". Thing was cool and did all the necessary flight calculations in a few seconds. We were being taught how to use a metal type of protractor and I really suck at math. I show it to my flight instructor and he is saying how cool it is and can he go show it to the other instructors. About an hour later, we are flying around Alabama and he asks me to do a fuel consumption check. I break out my new fangled flight computer and try to turn it on and the damned thing won't work ! He starts laughing at me and shows me the batteries in his hand and says........whatcha gonna do now Lieutenant "? Needless to say I did not get a good daily grade that day and had to really learn how to use the protractor type. Lesson learned.......carry extra batteries !
I love it, typical military and necessary!
My dad was a pilot and he used the metal circular type; I'm assuming that's the type you were using as well.
I love it, typical military and necessary!
My dad was a pilot and he used the metal circular type; I'm assuming that's the type you were using as well.
My dad will be 97 this April. He flew Piper Cubs a lot as a young man around his hometown of Hurricane in SW Utah. It was rumored by the locals that he flew under the Virgin River bridge. He is of course eternally reticent. One thing I’m sure he didn’t have or use was a circular slide rule. The piss and vinegar that flows through our veins in our youth!
It was called an E6B. I hated it. Almost every pilot has to use it during training. Once I graduated and went to my unit, I used the calculator my wife bought me. Made me look like a genius !
And I carried extra batteries !
It was called an E6B. I hated it. Almost every pilot has to use it during training. Once I graduated and went to my unit, I used the calculator my wife bought me. Made me look like a genius !
And I carried extra batteries !
Looks friggin cool though.