OK---
I've still got my first electronic calculator.
It was a steal at only $125 (1970's dollars ;-),
and actually had one memory register and a square root function!
It replaced my trusty circular slide rule.

At 3:29 PM -0500 11/27/01, Tim Gaines wrote:
>This thread about geezers and calculators reminded me of my
>first calculator.  I was about to start analyzing the data
>for my dissertation and wanted a calculator to help with
>some post hoc tests after the output from those BMD ANOVAs
>we got from the CDC-6400 at the computer center.  The local
>K-Mart had a few Summit calculators on display.  One, priced
>at $56, had the four functions and nothing else.  It was about
>3" X 5" and about 1.25" thick.  It had a rechargeable battery
>and a fake leather carrying case.  Another, priced at about $115,
>looked the same, but it had three little extra buttons up on
>the top edge (on the 1.25" side) that allowed you to compute
>a reciprocal, a square, and a square root.  It also had a
>really great feature on the front with those regular function
>keys; a MEMORY!  A very rude and stupid sales clerk, after
>refusing to answer my questions about the calculators, quoted
>me a price of $56 for for the model with the extra function
>keys, so I took him up on it.  I used to get such guilty
>satisfaction when I used that thing; only $56 for such a
>great tool.  I can't believe now that I spent so much of my
>meager funds on that calculator.  Last week, while buying a
>replacement cartridge for my printer (for $28), I saw and
>purchased a Casio calculator as a backup.  It has 250 functions,
>including nice stat functions, and cost $8.99.  I still have
>that old Summit stashed away somewhere, but it finally gave out
>about 5 years ago.


* PAUL K. BRANDON               [EMAIL PROTECTED]  *
* Psychology Dept       Minnesota State University, Mankato *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001      ph 507-389-6217 *
*    http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html    *



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