Happy Pi Day y’all!! March 14 has been commandeered by the nerds of America. And to celebrate this year (along with eating a delicious slice of pie) we’re going to salute the work accomplished, along with the fun of remembering some of the most famous retro calculators! 5318008 – IYKYK
For those who might not yet be on board with the idea of Pi Day and why it should be celebrated, it was first organized in 1988 by Larry Shaw, an employee of The Exploratorium in San Francisco. As a side note, and I know SF is hard right now, but if you have not yet experienced The Exploratorium, add it to your “must visit” list for some time in the future! It’s worth it.
At the time, Pi Day included events such as eating pie and Pi citing competitions. When I was in high school, the entire school was served a slice a pie during our nutrition break. And I remember making beaded Pi keychains. Each number of Pi represented by a different bead color.
Now that Pi Day has been explained a bit, let’s continue on with the nostalgia of those old school calculators.
Casio Calculator Watch
I remember growing up next door to a friend who had one of these and he always thought he was so much smarter than us. Meanwhile, I was a grade higher than him, and taller… But I didn’t have a calculator watch. I bought this particular watch to wear for Halloween one year as a part of my Marty McFly costume. A perfect piece to fit in with my other nostalgia trinkets but somedays I want to wear it as a second watch on my right wrist like Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank!
HP 38G Graphing Calculator
I am not entirely sure this was as hip as the Texas Instrument calculators but boy were these things efficient and all encompassing. Not only could you do math, the sole purpose of a calculator, but you could play games, listen to music, and even transfer data via infrared transfer!
HP launched the 38G in 1995, specifically for high school students and teachers. It had capabilities beyond any calculator, including a feature that would allow teachers to beam data to other calculators in the classroom.
But of course, we used the infrared technology to install games on one another’s calculators. Bored in class? Play a few rounds of Tetris, 2-player with the infrared! And it even played polyphonic music.
Do you still have one of these HP graphing calculators? You can still download games and other applications for it here!
Printing Calculator
In today’s digital world, it seems a little redundant to have a calculator that also prints on paper. But for anyone who’s done accounting, it’s still to this day the most reliable and durable for accurate reporting. Whether it’s sales totals from the end of your restaurant shift or keeping an accurate count of inventory, printing calculators are almost, if not literally, a requirement.
So, while you’re eating your slice of pie, and working on your taxes with your nifty printing calculator (or watch calculator, no judgement), be sure to make time for a game or two of Tetris on your graphing calculator. But if nothing else, enjoy this little Pi Day tune by Danica McKellar and Harry Connick, Jr.
Happy Pi Day!
