The pocket calculator

Abstract

History. The forerunners of the pocket calculator were on the one hand the mechanical desk calculators, which were later enhanced with electromechanical functions, and, on the other, the first electronic computers. The use of transistors made it possible in 1962 to manufacture electronic calculators that were no bigger than conventional electromechanical types but which could perform the same operations. In some cases, the number of digits available on the new machines was smaller, but the effect of this was negligible in practice. Soon it was becoming clear that the electronic desk calculators were superior: they are quiet, much faster and soon capable of functions that were outside the range of electromechanical devices. The first such calculators were, however, quite expensive and prone to defects because they consisted of a multitude of components and soldering points.