From: "Chris Hoogendyk" <hoogen...@bio.umass.edu> Sent: Thursday, 2009/December/17 10:07
Steve Lindemann wrote:I think I still have a Model B in the loft somewhere... KevinI've seen CP/M mentioned but no mention of the venerable Kaypro! Oh those were the days.... 8^)But my first digital computer (at work) was a Raytheon 703 with paper tape to load programs (after you fingered in the boot) and output was the lights on the front panel. I also worked on analog computers for a number of years, it wasn't so much programming as re-engineering. I actually do miss those days.A skilled practitioner could get 5 digits out of this baby: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule (I still have the yellow one). If you needed more rigorous but still relatively easy and quick, you would use this: http://ljkrakauer.com/CRC99ph/CRCbook.htm.
I still have my K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig. It still works. And it's
still aligned despite it's being bamboo.
Learning to calculate with slide rules is an important step to being
numerate. You can forget actually using the slide rule. But being able
to hammer out answers on it for complex problems leads to a really good
ability to estimate answers. That way when the nice digital CPU coughs
up a digital hairball answer to a problem you can see the error at a
glance.
{^_^}
