HP 50g Graphing Calculator

From Miscellaneous

Once upon a time, before there were smartphones, tablets, and laptops there were devices with keypads of numbers and small screens purpose built for mathematics. Called calculators, they leveraged the computing power of the time in a small size with relatively easy to use labeled keypads where one would input formulas which would then be solved once the proper solution keys were pressed.

Late in the lifespan of these devices, they became more sophisticated, with modifier keys and functions layered upon functions. This particular model, the last of HP's RPN calculators; an entry language which made it quick and easy to enter complex formulas into such devices in a format easy to make corrections; made use of the limited screen technology of the time to display graphs and formulas in a manner similar to that actually written in a paper technology of the time called textbooks.

I could not afford one of these back in these days of yore, but they are actually still produced, and quite inexpensive likely due to low demand and reduced costs replicating a design from a past decade. I purchased one for use on my electronics workbench, where it is proving handy as it has a built in store of electronics formulas and constants to do quick calculations without needing to hunt for a relevant application using the computer on the other side of the bench. Like slide rules for generations previous, some benefits still exist for users of these old technologies, providing insights into how pieces of our individual reality function. Mathematics, a man-made invention to annotate the workings of the universe, continues to provide interesting tools as in tandem they become iteratively more sophisticated.