Are calculators still a thing?

[LDB]

Forty years ago TI and HP calculators were the thing. My first job was Joske's camera department, which also sold calculators, over Christmas. It was the first year of the TI SR10 slide rule calculator. Every NASA wife was after one for their husband's Christmas present. We'd get a case of 12 and sell them all within 60-90 minutes. And in classes the even pricier HP was the dream calculator. I know there are emulators for phones but are real calculators still desirable or are they dinosaurs now?

 

[Hall]

High school math classes still "require" students to buy them for the higher-level courses, i.e. TI-84 type ones.

 

[Propflux01]

Shoot! I have no math gene. I need the lower-level one just to balance my accounts!

 

[Dave Sherman]

Still have my HP-48G from college, use it regularly.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I still pull out an old TI-34 out of habit sometimes.

 

[1444buicking]

Texas Instruments, HP, and Casio still sell a lot of calculators for classes and professional exams. For schools, the popular or "certified" brand varies by country.

The HP 12c still is very popular in finance, albeit the internals changed. The HP Prime is their flagship. The 50g probably was their most "advanced" calculator. HP licensed out the business so that is no longer-US based. The hpmusuem forum is quite busy, albeit it is a niche.

 

[Mewbs]

Microsoft Excel and Google sheets have replaced mine. I used to have a Sharp Scientific calculator when I was in school back then.

 

[Rust_Belt_Pete]

I used one for physics homework all the time and use one for my accounting classes.

 

[97prizm]

Forty years ago TI and HP calculators were the thing. My first job was Joske's camera department, which also sold calculators, over Christmas. It was the first year of the TI SR10 slide rule calculator. Every NASA wife was after one for their husband's Christmas present. We'd get a case of 12 and sell them all within 60-90 minutes. And in classes the even pricier HP was the dream calculator. I know there are emulators for phones but are real calculators still desirable or are they dinosaurs now?

It's unfortunate that Texas instruments essentially took that market over. I had a really neat casio color graphing calculator but ended up having to buy the same TI that the professor used as I'm not great at math and he couldn't figure out how to use my casio.

 

[Pablo]

I got rid of my TI SR-52 long ago. Wouldn't read any more.

My iphone is a great calculator although I have a small Casio HS-8VA handy for adding more than 8+8

 

[Electromotive]

Forty years ago TI and HP calculators were the thing. My first job was Joske's camera department, which also sold calculators, over Christmas. It was the first year of the TI SR10 slide rule calculator. Every NASA wife was after one for their husband's Christmas present. We'd get a case of 12 and sell them all within 60-90 minutes. And in classes the even pricier HP was the dream calculator. I know there are emulators for phones but are real calculators still desirable or are they dinosaurs now?

I use a Sharp El-507 calculator pretty often. It was purchased circa 1980 while I was attending Tech school pursuing a degree in Electronics/Instrumentation technology. Still serves me well to this day (uses commonly available # 357 batteries).

 

[andrew_j]

HS and college require calculators during exams because phones you can cheat easily.

I am amazed how slow my 30 year old HP calculator is returning a result. Never noticed back then.

 

[Electromotive]

HS and college require calculators during exams because phones you can cheat easily.

I am amazed how slow my 30 year old HP calculator is returning a result. Never noticed back then.

My Sharp EL 507 takes about 5 seconds to calculate a factorial(n!) of 69. That is the max it can do.

 

[Kira]

What I love is that calculations can be applied to specific lines and columns on spreadsheets.
The drudgery of repetitive calculations is gone for most.

Specific calculators likely have been displaced (made obsolete) by the proprietary programs run within disciplines.
Nobody does nothin' without opening a computer.

When calculators were brand new, I worked for a large communications company.
Some people got 'em, many complained. The 'adding machine' had life remaining.
I went to the equipment supply store, told them from whence I came and they let me sit down with every one they offered.
Honestly, I should've written a 4 installment magazine article after going through them all.
Popular Science Magazine was right around the corner.

The shop was Arkin-Medo in NYC, a distributor.

 

[nomas]

I have a Ti-86 out in the garage someplace . Haven't used it in years . Now days I just use my phone .

 

[Passport1]

I still have my HS calculator just like this w/leather case. See it from time to time when I rummage through my stuff. I think I might still remember how to use it.

College of Science and Engineering, U of MN

 

[Vil_Riker]

I have a no name $15 solar calculator that I use daily. It has an apostrophe separator for the thousand which is why I got it.

 

[AZjeff]

I'm looking at a TI on my desk right now. Would rather push buttons than chase a mouse around and clickety-click.

 

[Carmudgeon]

My Sharp EL 507 takes about 5 seconds to calculate a factorial(n!) of 69. That is the max it can do.

I still have my 506 sitting in a drawer. As well as a Casio fx-451, which still works. From when Macy's sold electronics and computers.

Last calculator I bought was a 12B.

I'm old enough to remember seeing an HP was a big deal, since they were not cheap. The ones with the rechargeable 3-cell battery packs.

Somewhere else in the house is a box-sized Sanyo, with a nixie tube display.

http://www.datamath.org/Related/Sanyo/ICC-82D.htm

 

[mr_boring]

Forty years ago TI and HP calculators were the thing. My first job was Joske's camera department, which also sold calculators, over Christmas. It was the first year of the TI SR10 slide rule calculator. Every NASA wife was after one for their husband's Christmas present. We'd get a case of 12 and sell them all within 60-90 minutes. And in classes the even pricier HP was the dream calculator. I know there are emulators for phones but are real calculators still desirable or are they dinosaurs now?

Absolutely. I worked as middle management at a Fortune Top 10. We wrote people up for having their cell phones out AND we had to do math all the time. I bought 'em by the case because we had to provide them.