Category Archives: Caclulators
Steven Levy in 1984 on the Invention of the Electronic Spreadsheet
As Dan Bricklin remembers it, the idea first came to him in the spring of 1978 while he was sitting in a classroom at the Harvard Business School. It was the kind of idea—so obvious, so right— that made him … Continue reading
Posted in Automation, Caclulators, Computer history
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First Pocket Calculator Introduced
Today in 1972, the HP-35 was introduced. The world’s first handheld-sized scientific calculator, ultimately made the slide rule, which had previously been used by generations of engineers and scientists, obsolete. Named for its 35 keys, it performed all the functions … Continue reading
Posted in Caclulators, This day in information
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Edward Tufte Reviews Pocket Calculators
In 1975, just before the birth of the PC industry, Edward Tufte wrote a review of pocket calculators for the American Journal of Political Science. He summarized the rate of advance of the computer technology of the day (citing Rein … Continue reading
Posted in Caclulators, Computer history, Memory
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The Story of Information 