Cardinal Richelieu Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 (edited) We live in an age of having to charge our phones daily. So let's hear it for my high-school calculator I recently unearthed. This bad boy hasn't seen the light of day in at least 20 (twenty) years. And be in no doubt, it saw some heavy-duty action during my early high-school years. Some of the sums it was asked to compute would make your head roll. Yet a good 25 years after it was made, it's still solving sums as well as as world's so-called "supercomputers". Have any other P+Bers got any tales of electronic devices with such Herculean-like stamina? No solar-powered devices allowed btw Edited October 3, 2014 by Cardinal Richelieu 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albino Rover Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 On a similar but slightly less impressive note I must have had my scientific calculator for ten years, most probably last used it for my Higher maths in 2009 and, contrary to possible popular belief, it seems they still do make 'em like they used to. Churning out all the classic sums like a pro. I also feel like I haven't changed my TV remote in years, and there's a lightbulb that I must switch on almost every day that I haven't changed since moving in 4 years ago. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Richelieu Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 On the subject of lightbulbs... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light Still doesn't beat my calculator though 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 (edited) I'm convinced that there are buttons on the standard scientific calculator which NOBODY has ever used in the history of mankind, probably stuck in by Casio for reasons of symmetry. Edited October 4, 2014 by Hedgecutter 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Richelieu Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 I'm convinced that there are buttons on the standard scientific calculator which NOBODY has ever used in the history of mankind, probably stuck in by Casio for reasons of symmetry. You've gone off on a bit of a tangent there! But I agree, it's a sin. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albino Rover Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I'm convinced that there are buttons on the standard scientific calculator which NOBODY has ever used in the history of mankind, probably stuck in by Casio for reasons of symmetry. It's completely wrong to suggest those extra buttons are in there only for symmetry. They're also handy for writing words that can't be spelled with the digits 0-9. (The best I managed while at school was +e5+iC1e5.) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAFC Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th1stleandr0se Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 You've gone off on a bit of a tangent there! But I agree, it's a sin. To continue the tangent, they used to sell two versions of a scientific calculator at vastly different prices but in fact all the functionality was still there on the cheaper one and they just hadn't printed the extra functions on. A cottage industry was set up by a friend of mine, converting cheapos into the dear ones. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 My grandads 3210 has lasted since 2000 without any issues, still works perfectly despite being dropped off hundreds of scaffolds and generally abused. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calum_gers Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 You've gone off on a bit of a tangent there! But I agree, it's a sin. They're there just cos. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th1stleandr0se Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 My grandads 3210 has lasted since 2000 without any issues, still works perfectly despite being dropped off hundreds of scaffolds and generally abused. Your grandad or the 3210? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mizfit Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Your grandad or the 3210? both 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Multiple mathematic pun thread. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Multiple mathematic pun thread. That's an acute observation... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 ...which takes things off on a tangent. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigmouth Strikes Again Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Sony digital cube alarm clock, still going strong and waking up Biggie after 30 years. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 We live in an age of having to charge our phones daily. So let's hear it for my high-school calculator I recently unearthed. This bad boy hasn't seen the light of day in at least 20 (twenty) years. And be in no doubt, it saw some heavy-duty action during my early high-school years. Some of the sums it was asked to compute would make your head roll. Yet a good 25 years after it was made, it's still solving sums as well as as world's so-called "supercomputers". Have any other P+Bers got any tales of electronic devices with such Herculean-like stamina? No solar-powered devices allowed btw Your mum's John McVeigh is a tit. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Sanchez Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 It's completely wrong to suggest those extra buttons are in there only for symmetry. They're also handy for writing words that can't be spelled with the digits 0-9. (The best I managed while at school was +e5+iC1e5.) I've dug my calculator out (original battery since 2008) and I can type A B C D E F M X and Y on it. Maybe they were setting people up for a hardcore version of Countdown. To continue the tangent, they used to sell two versions of a scientific calculator at vastly different prices but in fact all the functionality was still there on the cheaper one and they just hadn't printed the extra functions on. A cottage industry was set up by a friend of mine, converting cheapos into the dear ones.When I did higher maths the school sold the calculators we needed but I didn't get one from there (for some reason I think an auntie bought it, but anyway), I thought it was the same as the others, looked the same, but it had a bunch more buttons on it, including bring able to convert 44 different measurements to something else. I mind one time in a class we had to follow all these instructions to convert something from some measurement to something else, then I just press two buttons on my calculator and did it automatically. Further proof that maths is a complete waste of time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgecutter Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 (edited) I'm pretty sure that if I saw a Higher Maths textbook then it wouldn't be anything near a revision of something I previously sat (twice!) but a complete start over as if it was a new subject. Same would apply to physics, chemistry etc. I could quite genuinely sit a Higher Maths exam just now and realistically score zero. Edited November 27, 2020 by Hedgecutter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Richelieu Posted October 5, 2014 Author Share Posted October 5, 2014 (edited) Me too. Despite being good at maths at school and doing it for a year at uni, I've forgotten 95% of it. i is a good example. i is the symbol which represents the square root of -1. Because no number can be squared to make -1, it is therefore an imaginary number. That's all I can remember. Quite what you're supposed to do with it or what the fecking point of it is I cannot remember, yet I used to throw imaginary numbers into equations like a fucking boss 2 decades ago. Now they're a complete mystery. Edited October 5, 2014 by Cardinal Richelieu 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.