Are calculators still a thing?

[2005jettatdi]

I have two HP12c calculators I got in the 80s. They still work great with the original batteries but I rarely use them because everything is available on the web. I am still not used to reverse polish logic.

For everyday use I have Monroe adding machines. Much more useful for a CPA.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

Oh I think so I still use the Calculator App on my cell phone.

 

[y_p_w]

Not sure what happened to all my old stuff. But you can still find a $4 Casio basic calculator for doing simple calculations. I never figured out HP's RPN so I never got one.

A relative gifted one of the Sharp computers that could program basic, but I only used it as a calculator. First time I'd ever operated anything using a CR2032 battery, which were expensive back then. I remember as the batteries wore down, the contrast of the LCD would go down, but there was a dial to boost it, albeit at the expense of draining the battery faster. The thing I remember it did that used the most electricity was to compute factorials. I think it did it via brute force rather than using lookup tables. I would enter something like 67! and I could actually hear it buzzing as it did the calculation. I think that was the biggest value because any more and it would overflow, but only after trying.

I knew someone who had an ancient early 70s TI calculator. It only operated off a power adapter (might have been possible to rig batteries to the connector) and had digits via 11-segment red LED display.

 

[GSCJR]

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

Pretty sure my son is using a newer version of this model for his Calculus class.

 

[LDB]

I had an HP12c, I think it was, the financial one. I used it in various accounting classes as I recall. I ordered a 10BII over the weekend and should be delivered Friday. Another toy I don't need. I don't do anything requiring calculating but if I did I'd rather have a real calculator than phone etc.

 

[Leo99]

I have one of these 32S RPN: https://www.ebay.com/itm/203675948595

The batteries went dead 30 years ago and I've never replaced them. It amazes me that I knew how to use it most of its functions at one time in my life. I also have a 15C RPN around the house somewhere. Don't have a need for that, either.

 

[Ranger83]

So no one else waited in line to check their homework on a Wang calculator the size of a typewriter?

 

[oldhp]

I have two old Radio Shack solar powered pocket ones. One went to college with my daughter. She "forgot" to tell me. I was bummed, didn't have my perfect little number cruncher. Found another one off Evilbay and bought it for spare.

 

[dnewton3]

Like most other small consumer tools, the cellphone has taken over. Most any Apple or Droid phone has a basic (and often scientific) calc available.

I still have my old HP 15C from my engineering days at school. I love the "reverse Polish" data entry, but it's just not a thing these days.

 

[alcyon]

I bought a cheap made in china calculator when I was rebuilding my diff, to calculate the left and right bearing shims thickness for preload .and also to minus the backlash readings that sometimes goes to below or above 0. Saves me from unlocking my cellphone screen with my oily fingers.

 

[TimeFlies]

I just use the calculator on my phone, good enough for me.

 

[Wheel]

When I worked in banking, calculators were used with the journal tape for audit purposes (both tellers and backoffice). When my wife was working there, they used calculators to verify the calculations done by computer (as well as the formulae used by programmers), were correct. It was always fun to see journal tape knee deep in her office at those times.
I think both devices have their place.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Advance high school math and early college calc want kids to have a graphing calculator. They usually recommend the one they want so tech support is easier. Amazon says I bought a TI84 twice, so that was the one from a few years ago.

I still have a HP 28S somewhere that works, have a small 9 digit calculator on my desk I use all the time. Standard Iphone calculator is advanced enough for most jobs though.

 

[Pablo]

This with math notes is all I need

 

[blkwtr]

I bought this HP12C 40 years ago to calculate ROI, discounted cash flows, mortgage payments, etc.. I could calculate almost anything on it. In later years I used it to calculate lump sum retirement payouts. A great calculator and it still works today.

 

[LDB]

I had a 12C and did similar things with it. I just ordered a 10BII to play with.

 

[andrew_j]

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.

I love walking thru corporate now and finding nearly third of people on phones in their cubes or open areas. It’s accepted.

 

[Pablo]

I love walking thru corporate now and finding nearly third of people on phones in their cubes or open areas. It’s accepted.

We were told phone ok but camera use verboten

 

[OneLonelyBurrito]

I have two “powerful” calculators. A TI-89 (graphing) and a TI-36x (non-graphing). I don’t use them a ton anymore, but I needed them while I was in college and to take some post college engineering exams. I’m not doing much calculus anymore, almost all the math I do now is just basic arithmetic and algebra. So it’s my phones and computer calculator, or excel for my math needs.

 

[RaymondP]

Found a basic one in/on my phone!