Generally, they had four basic functions with a few embellishments. These calculators were simple affairs, though. Sharp’s EL-8 was portable and Busicom’s Handy LE could actually fit in your hand. HP wasn’t the first to build an IC calculator. You can probably guess what would allow Hewlett’s tenth desires to come true: integrated circuits. These devices, and the 9100, all used discrete transistors and diodes, along with exotic memory techniques and big displays like CRTs or nixies. The post takes an interesting side trip to talk about other period calculators including those from Friden and Wang. That seemed like an impossible task in those days, although like watching Titanic in the theater, you already know how the story is going to end. I want it to be a tenth of the volume, ten times as fast, and cost a tenth as much. If you are wondering how you go from a 40-pound desk calculator to an HP-35, read the post. Keep in mind, that same amount would buy two brand new cars in 1968. By 1968, this collaboration led to a 40-pound desktop calculator - the HP 9100 - that was the size of a typewriter. HP engineer Dave Cochran helped out and also helped envision making the device keystroke-programmable. Hewlett wanted it to do trig functions and offered him a six-week consulting gig to work on improvements. He had been showing it around but failed to get any interest until he showed it to Bill Hewlett. Apparently, he had painted the balsa wood case green. The story opens in 1965 when Tom Osborne - who was not an HP employee - build a floating point calculator he called the Green Machine. But in the 1970s they were amazing technology and the desire of every engineer and engineering student. They are cheap and not very essential in this day of cell phones and PCs. Unless you are a certain age, you probably don’t think much of calculators. In a recently updated post, has a detailed history of the HP-35 pocket calculator.
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