BizJournals Portfolio
Home >   Business Views, Opinions and Blogs >   Business Blogs >   Tech Observer >  

The Hand Held Calculator Turns 40

Tech Observer

by Kevin Maney
Main
Hip Hop Home Page   The Science of Clutter

Recent Blog Posts

Links

Sep 26 2007 12:00am EDT

The Hand-held Calculator Turns 40

Why, just tonight, at "back to school night" at my son's middle school. that wacky science teacher Mr. Jones held up this complicated-looking programmable graphing calculator and made some comment about how we -- us middle-aged parents -- didn't even have calculators when we were in middle school.

Yeah, well...

In fact, the hand-held calculator turns 40 this week. Four decades ago, Texas Instruments introduced the first one, the Cal-Tech. Priced at hundreds of dollars, I remember that they were a curiosity, not a tool. It was astounding that little lights could form numbers on a screen.

And now calculators are so cheap, they're handed out as giveaways.

ti%20calc.jpg. □

Comments

If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.


Connect With Portfolio.com
Like Portfolio on Facebook

Come on, like us—you know you want to.

Follow Portfolio on Twitter

Follow us and if you're an innovative entrepreneur, we'll return the favor.

The Mix

Today's top stories, conversation starters, and the back nine business bites.

spotlight on

Slideshows

500 Startups Hits New York

Dave McClure's brainchild makes its way to New York and introduces East Coast money folks to some intriguing new companies. View Slideshow