Re: This FOSS Thang :-)

On Sat, 23 Mar 2024 08:16:29 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

I'm guessing you probably had a slide rule as well. I did — although I
never really used it. I think we were luckier, we actually did things
outside.

In college definitely. I can't remember if I had one in high school. The
nerds had K&E Log Log Decitrig Duplex with the optional magnifying cursor
that they carried in a belt scabbard. I had a $1.98 plastic rule that got
the same answers. I didn't know how to use most of the scales on the K&E
anyway.

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/nmah_1214610

 

I do remember when relatively inexpensive portable calculators first
came to Value-Mart in the early 70s. Of course I had to get one. That's
when they still used LEDs instead of LCDs — and sometimes even different
colored LEDs,
like blue or green instead of red.

A friend showed up with the first one I ever saw.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-consumer-electronics-hall-of-fame-
bowmar-901b

I eventually had a Bowmar but I think they were down to around $50 by that
point. It had all the power of the cheap models the VFW sends out around
Christmas with their begging letters.