Calculators, Technological Advancement, and Bureaucratic Luddites

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2020 is fast approaching. Smartphones are ubiquitous now, but almost exactly 50 years ago, we saw the dawn of another pocket-sized marvel: the portable calculator.

In the late 1960s, transistors allowed miniaturization of desktop calculators. Integrated circuits reduced power consumption and weight to the point that they could conceivably fit in a pocket. Soon, the usual power cord as seen in the Sharp QT-8D (image from Wikipedia) was replaced by battery compartments.

They also cost more than today's flagship smartphones, especially once prices are adjusted for inflation. The first proper pocket calculator was the Busicom LE-120A in 1971. It cost $395 USD then, which is equivalent to about $2,600 here at the tail end of 2019. You can buy a 4-function calculator or even a full scientific calculator at the local Dollar Tree today (these links will 404 eventually) thanks to mass-produced chinesium, economies of scale, and advancements in technology.

Scientific calculator functions are included on phone apps and default computers programs now. The pocket calculator only continues to exist for school students who aren't allowed phones in class, and those who don't own a smartphone for whatever reason. I wouldn't be surprised to see it eventually vanish altogether. My niece may never understand how important this technology was for a good 4 decades.

But it was important.

The calculator saved the time and effort involved in mathematics. Mathematics may be hard for some, but it is tedious for pretty much everyone, even those of us who are reasonably good at it. Simple arithmetic can be done mentally, but the more complicated it gets, the more one needs a pen and paper. Calculators are also pretty foolproof if your input is correct, whereas there is always the chance of boneheaded mistakes when performing the computations on paper. And they are fast. Soon, as prices dropped and availability ballooned, shoppers could check the best bang for the buck instantly at a store. Businessmen could quickly tally costs. Construction estimates could be made faster. It truly revolutionized everything, but we don't even think about it today.

Costs were very high initially for what we would see today as dreadfully large, incredibly featureless devices; and the first adopters needed deep pockets (pun intended), but they subsidized the next stages of development that swiftly cut prices. More features were added over time, and eventually calculators could solve complex algebra, calculate interest payments, perform trigonometry, and graph equations. More on the history of calculators can be found in the LGR Tech Tales video embedded below.

When students could carry affordable calculators to school, teachers responded like Luddites. Even when I took college calculus, there were restrictions. The TI-85/86 family of graphing calculators was permitted, but the TI-89 was verboten. Never mind that you still needed to grasp the concepts in question to use the calculator properly. Bah. The same paranoid technophobic Luddite attitude appears every time anyone in government talks about the internet, video games, cryptocurrency, and even firearms older than the pocket calculator. Democrat politicians are campaigning on promises to offer a Guaranteed Basic Income, and using the imaginary threat of technological unemployment as a major part of their justification, despite the fact that mechanization, automation, pocket calculators, and computers have not been responsible for any systemic unemployment ever.

Yes, there is a process of disruption that can adversely affect various industries and their employees, and I don't mean to minimize that, but the paranoia of technology rendering the worker obsolete is absurd. Just as the pocket calculator and computer reduced drudgery, so have all other advancements. Human effort is multiplied, time is saved, and new opportunities are made possible through both increased productivity and displaced manpower newly made available. This also means less human work is needed in labor-intensive, tedious, unpleasant, and often downright dangerous jobs today, and there is more opportunity for more pleasant, and potentially even fulfilling, work.

This change is a positive trend, not something to fear. It also needs to run its course organically, not be subjected to political mandates. But change is scary when you can't feel in control of it, even for a party whose last President literally used the word "Change" as a slogan. And that's the real key here. No one can control technological advancement. The market is unpredictable. Politicians talk about progress, but they want predictability because it means the unknown can be avoided. Never mind the discomfort of stagnation. At least it's the devil we know, right? They promise security under their watchful eye and benevolent authority, regardless of party. I reject that sort of conservatism, and I mock its attempts to rebrand itself as liberal, progressive, pro-market, libertarian, or woke.

The old desktop calculators tied to an electrical outlet and running on vacuum tubes weren't planned to become obsolete, they were just left behind when innovation brought about a completely new technology that revolutionized the industry. The change wasn't planned, and everyone has benefited to the point that these complex and useful machines are now almost disposable.

I think that's it for tonight's #ramblerant. Please comment below if you have any relevant opinions, disagreements, personal anecdotes, or just a photo of your favorite calculator. My old refurbished TI-85 is being used by my manager's daughter for her senior year of high school, and I have no idea what happened to my old scientific calculator with its solar panel battery charging window and plastic keyboard cover. It's around here somewhere, I'm sure.



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I remember my first calculator vividly. It was all are inspiring thing, to have all this power. Then we just spent ages figuring out how to write things like

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The glory days! :0)

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One day the magic of 5318008 will be forgotten. On that day, a deep sadness will be permeate the universe, though none will know the cause.

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