Radio
01-19-2013, 10:05 AM
This year the kids and I put our Christmas wishes up on Facebook. We orchestrated Kathy's Christmas surprise and let each other know what we'd like to find in our Christmas stockings.
One of my stocking requests was a cheap calculator that just does basic functions, the kind you would use to balance your checkbook. I have a 20 year old calculator at work that's about reached the end of it's useful life and I wanted to replace it. I was very specific.... I do not need a scientific calculator like a TI-30... and I didn't want them to spend more than $10.
So Christmas Day finally arrived. And guess what I find in my stocking?
A brand spanking new Texas Instruments TI-30.
So I chided Matt a little bit, "Hey, you spent too much money. I wanted a cheap $10 calculator"
His response: "Dad, it's the 21st century. A TI-30 is a cheap $10 calculator"
***
I met my first TI-30 in 1978. They cost about $50 at an engineering bookstore and the 9 volt battery would last about a week of use on the college level. This one cost $9, does way more stuff than it's ancestors, never needs batteries and was purchased at a corner drug store.
And I'm still just now getting acquainted with the 21st century.
One of my stocking requests was a cheap calculator that just does basic functions, the kind you would use to balance your checkbook. I have a 20 year old calculator at work that's about reached the end of it's useful life and I wanted to replace it. I was very specific.... I do not need a scientific calculator like a TI-30... and I didn't want them to spend more than $10.
So Christmas Day finally arrived. And guess what I find in my stocking?
A brand spanking new Texas Instruments TI-30.
So I chided Matt a little bit, "Hey, you spent too much money. I wanted a cheap $10 calculator"
His response: "Dad, it's the 21st century. A TI-30 is a cheap $10 calculator"
***
I met my first TI-30 in 1978. They cost about $50 at an engineering bookstore and the 9 volt battery would last about a week of use on the college level. This one cost $9, does way more stuff than it's ancestors, never needs batteries and was purchased at a corner drug store.
And I'm still just now getting acquainted with the 21st century.