HN.zip

Museum of Pocket Calculating Devices

36 points by ohjeez - 6 comments
lapetitejort [3 hidden]5 mins ago
My dream is to one day own a Curta. I want to find an algorithm to approximate pi, one crank at a time. I had a chance to hold one at a vintage computer festival once. Smaller than I expected. Truly pocketable.

I just had a thought. Why hasn't a Curta simulator come out for the Playdate? I guess I am cursed with creating it

pugworthy [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I found a Thacher Cylindrical Slide Rule [1] in the garbage once at the university I worked at. I didn't have a holy grail list for such things, but it assumed that role when I found it.

[1] https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_11312...

tavavex [3 hidden]5 mins ago
The Curta is the ultimate calculator to own. I wish someone was still making modern replicas, but it seems that it's just too complex or at least too complex to bother with. So we're stuck with scavenging the ones that are still working off of individuals. I hope to buy one someday if there's still any supply of them left on the used market.
idatum [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I have 2 listed: HP-35 and HP-41CX.

Still use an HP-11c.

Will die on that hill defending RPN!

cestith [3 hidden]5 mins ago
I have a few pocket computers not on that page. I guess I have a new option where to donate them if I ever decide to part with them.
zvr [3 hidden]5 mins ago
As the old joke goes:

"For your birthday, I wanted to get you a pocket calculator ... but then I thought you'd already know how many pockets you have."