App, or Pocket calculator?
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
A really old story (but it is real!): I was in high school when the very first calculators started arriving. There were the budget '4-function' versions, with +-*/, and the expensive '5-function' versions which could also do square root. One of my classmates bought a 4-function budget model, with a blank square in the position of the square root button of the 4-function model. He was hoping that if he cut a hole there, it might allow him to solder a cable pair to the circuit board for a miniature push button he had in his toolbox. So he dug out his scalpel to cut through the front plate plastic. ... Out popped a square root button! They hadn't even cared to remove the button, but simply pressed it down under the front plate. Once the button was released, it worked perfectly fine, and my classmate had a 5-function calculator for the price of a 4-function model.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
I use the calculator on my phone most of the time. I have been known to reach for it to do a calculation while working in a spreadsheet :facepalm: but corrected myself before actually opening the app. My calculator from my old college days is one with reverse polar notation, so it would take some getting used to again to prefer it. Not a temptation unless or until I'm doing more advanced math for some reason.
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A really old story (but it is real!): I was in high school when the very first calculators started arriving. There were the budget '4-function' versions, with +-*/, and the expensive '5-function' versions which could also do square root. One of my classmates bought a 4-function budget model, with a blank square in the position of the square root button of the 4-function model. He was hoping that if he cut a hole there, it might allow him to solder a cable pair to the circuit board for a miniature push button he had in his toolbox. So he dug out his scalpel to cut through the front plate plastic. ... Out popped a square root button! They hadn't even cared to remove the button, but simply pressed it down under the front plate. Once the button was released, it worked perfectly fine, and my classmate had a 5-function calculator for the price of a 4-function model.
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A really old story (but it is real!): I was in high school when the very first calculators started arriving. There were the budget '4-function' versions, with +-*/, and the expensive '5-function' versions which could also do square root. One of my classmates bought a 4-function budget model, with a blank square in the position of the square root button of the 4-function model. He was hoping that if he cut a hole there, it might allow him to solder a cable pair to the circuit board for a miniature push button he had in his toolbox. So he dug out his scalpel to cut through the front plate plastic. ... Out popped a square root button! They hadn't even cared to remove the button, but simply pressed it down under the front plate. Once the button was released, it worked perfectly fine, and my classmate had a 5-function calculator for the price of a 4-function model.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
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I was pretty sure it would be just you but a few other old farts people replied saying they also use calculators. Anyway, I don't even have one, so depending on whether I'm using the Android phone or Windows PC, I use an app. For Windows, just the inbuilt app. For Anroid, I use Realcalc.
Cheers, Vikram.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
I most often use the HP41CV emulator on my phone nowadays. My real one is still **in** my desk, but the emulator is **on** my desk -- or in my pocket in the lab when I need it. Much faster for me to use that than Windows calculator for most things I need to do.
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I hear you. My 80's Radio Shack Programmer's Calculator includes a stopwatch and a lap counter; faster than adding timing code for gauging response times.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
Me too. My trusty Radio Shack EC-4075 Programmer's Hex and Time calculator has been by my monitor since that monitor was a DEC VT-62. Before the office closed, the young 'uns would look sideways when I would pick it up.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
My $10 calculator uses cells both recovered from and charged with solar lights. It's probably been about 2 years since I last charged them. I use a paring knife, a meat cleaver and a chef's knife in the kitchen. Use the appropriate tool for the job when I'm in the office too.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
Like others have said, I'm using Windows calculator or the app on my phone these days. In my case, I don't have a calculator sitting next to me and, though I still own a few, I'm not sure if the batteries or solar charging is still working. I'm not going to fire up a spreadsheet unless it is appropriate, like needing to compare a set of calcs or changing inputs in fixed formulas. I'd say that has been in the last five years or so; prior to that I'd have the mental battle with myself.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
It's a mix; I have a default spreadsheet that opens with Excel for various notes and scratch work. If it's a calculation with lots of terms, I use an RPN calculator, either an HP 35s (which is the worst HP ever) or Realcalc on an Android phone. This thread reminds me that I have some kind of solar Casio somewhere which is infinitely better than the HP for base conversions. I don't miss it too much as Realcalc is very good at this. If only it was available on an iPhone.
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A really old story (but it is real!): I was in high school when the very first calculators started arriving. There were the budget '4-function' versions, with +-*/, and the expensive '5-function' versions which could also do square root. One of my classmates bought a 4-function budget model, with a blank square in the position of the square root button of the 4-function model. He was hoping that if he cut a hole there, it might allow him to solder a cable pair to the circuit board for a miniature push button he had in his toolbox. So he dug out his scalpel to cut through the front plate plastic. ... Out popped a square root button! They hadn't even cared to remove the button, but simply pressed it down under the front plate. Once the button was released, it worked perfectly fine, and my classmate had a 5-function calculator for the price of a 4-function model.
A very long time ago Dad had a similar experience with a garden watering computer. Several versions, different number of channels or programs to differentiate them. Dad bought the cheapie and was able to upgrade it from 4 somethings to 6. Always fun watching the lazy Goliath outsmarted by the nimble & determined David.. :-D
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
Got my TI-36X Pro right beside me on the desk, and a drawerful of more sophisticated calculators for when additional horsepower is required. Of course if I'm feeling particularly nostalgic, not in a hurry, and don't need eleventy digits, I'll reach for one of my collection of slide rules. When the CME hits and solid-state electronics become paperweights, I shall be a god :)
Michael
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
I actually now use the calculator in my iPhone (if I have to, I do a lot more mental math, especially converting Fahrenheit to Celsius). Funny though, long before I hacked my Sony PSP to learn videogame console programming, I learned to program portable devices with my TX-89...those were the days.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
Well, I definitely agree about it not being very convenient to do the quick calculation on a desktop but the app I have on my cell phone is about as good as a dedicated calculator. Before I retired, I would start the app on my phone when I got to work so it would be ready to use when I needed it. It's an old calculator app that appears to no longer be available in the google store. It looks very similar to the RealCalc app.
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It feels like a David vs Goliath thing. In the midst of all the horsepower at my workstation (PC, MacBook Pro, cell phone, tablet) I still reach for my 1980's vintage solar powered Casio Fx-411 for a quick calculation or decimal/hex conversion. Each time, a small part of me is wants to fire up a spreadsheet, desktop program, or mobile device app. But before I can make that call, my Casio has completed the job and gone back to its parking spot. It could be nostalgia leading me to my Casio, or it may be as simple as the right tool for the job. Anyone else have the same little mental battle when you reach for the good old calculator?
That's a no-brainer. Most of what the Windows calculator can do, I can do in my head. For anything mildly challenging, I reach for my trusty HP-35s. I may be biased, but my first calculator was an HP-67, and I wrote immensely complicated programs for that thing that got me through engineering final exams. My favorite was a huge one that would solve the roots of a 20th order linear control system transfer function. I've tried others, but there is nothing as efficient as RPN for complex calculations.
Will Rogers never met me.
