Today I Learned @lemmy.world Don_Dickle @lemmy.world 3 mo. ago

TIL The first commercial graphing calculator was introduced by Casio in 1985 for $75. By 1986 it had been adopted by a program in Ohio schools, and other states soon followed

americanhistory.si.edu Electronic Calculators—Handheld

In the course of the 1970s, handheld electronic calculators transformed the way tens of millions of people did arithmetic. Engineers abandoned slide rules, business people gave up desktop calculating machines, and shoppers replaced simple adding machines and adders.

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And in 1990, Texas Instruments basically invented the last one as far as education is concerned
- Does the TI monopoly extend to other states? Guess I never thought about it before, but was almost excited to see Casio's could potentially be used elsewhere
  
  A TI83 or 84 was mandatory for us to use back when I was in HS in NJ
  
  Delaware checking I'm we basically had the TI 83 or TI-84
  
  It extends all the way to europe, TI-84's were a must and still are. They sell that relic for around €100 still.
- Yeah before that I heard they were using trumpets to do their math
- I felt like such a rebel with my Casio in high school. It was so much faster, had a better screen, and had way more features.
- They still cost about the same now as when I got mine in the late 90s
Our kid's math teacher put up a slide for the parents telling them a lot of school districts mandated the TI, but not our district. He put up a second slide with specs on the Casio for 1/8th the price, then announced if families couldn't afford even that, he had a bunch to loan out for the term.

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