Are calculators still a thing?

[supton]

I have kept a couple around but most of the time I’m in front of a computer. So I can use its calculator or just fire up Excel.

 

[Elkins45]

When I retired in 2017 our HS advanced math and physics classes made quite heavy use of TI graphing calculators. I think they were TI-84s but I could be mistaken.

 

[Skippy722]

Still popular in machine shops… though I prefer my little bare bones solar Casio for quick shop math. I use my phone for ridiculous metric tolerances because that’s faster than digging through a book.

 

[LDB]

Thank you everyone for a so far very interesting, informative and fun discussion. I may have to pick up another calculator or two mentioned so far. No such thing as too many toys.

 

[opus1]

This thread brings back memories of getting my TI-30 calculator...the one with the denim-print carrying case. Dad was of the "what do you need a calculator for, you should know how to do math without one" school of thought and even though it was a listed requirement for chemistry class, it still took a lot of convincing to get one,

 

[Quattro Pete]

Just picked up this little guy for my kid to play with.

 

[TomYoung]

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.

View attachment 262186

This was a great calculator, and I was still seeing some managers using them into the 2000’s, but as much as they changed the world, the Sharp EL business calculators blew them away but getting rid of that “ENTER” button and letting you enter arithmetic operations the way you write them on paper. I did learn to use these HP calculators, but only used them for one class in business school, thankfully. Still using my Sharp financial calculator.

 

[1444buicking]

I recently picked up a similar Casio. However, it is for gaming.

 

[Sumboodie]

I'd need one that does fractions for framing and steel work.

I end up converting but many I don't know by heart so have to do the math and lookup the result.