Let's Show Our Age, Some of Us

[pdub]

A trip down memory lane...

This afternoon Unit appeared deep in thought, scratching her chin and asked, "Did you ever ever learn how to count on an abacus in grade school?" I have no idea where that came from but,

Sure did. The abacus was the tool of choice to do simple adding and subtracting. The little beads slid on rods and sure enough, it would give you the answer.

And later on, a slide rule. It was said (don't now if it was true) that man went to the moon on calculations that were made on a slide rule.

And who drew perfect circles or just the right arc on paper with a compass? With a sharp pencil clamped into it.

[Bamfster]

Compass ... slide rule, yes, but not an abacus ... although I do know what it is.

[Jimbo17]

I am only 66 years old you guy's must be much older then me to remember that stuff.

I am still young at heart and I keep thinking young thoughts.

Jimbo

[JOES66FURY]

We had abucuses/abaci/abacussesessss...

anyway we had them in my classrooms...I remember them well from Kindergarden and 1st grade (1980/81)....after that tho, no I dont think we had them.

I used slide rules to determine aircraft engine efficiency when I fist came in, about 5 years later they came up with this nifty calculator that did all that work for us...

[TheSilverBuick]

Never used a slide rule. My highschool chemistry teach would use one though. Used abucuses in elementary school and used compasses a ton of times in college, something about geology and maps.

[DanStokes]

Fer sure. Numbers remain a mystery to me (I don't trust them) so the more a little box can do for me the better I like it. I have an old RPN HP calculator that I'm used to.

I use a compass regularly to lay stuff out in the shop. Everything from circles to stepping off spacing for boltholes is easier.

Dan

[silver_bullet]

still can remember when my brother got his first texas instruments calculator for about 400 bucks...9 of them would buy a new car in those days... still remember drawing out multiplication tables in junior high...

[Chad's Dad]

I graduated from high school in 1964. We never used an abacus but the slide rule was used a little in senior science classes. Now I have a hard time just using my freekin I Phone.

[Barry Donovan]

We had abucuses/abaci/abacussesessss...

anyway we had them in my classrooms...I remember them well from Kindergarden and 1st grade (1980/81)....after that tho, no I dont think we had them.

I used slide rules to determine aircraft engine efficiency when I fist came in, about 5 years later they came up with this nifty calculator that did all that work for us...

I remember a slide rule for weight balance, kc135. learned it just once..and the military was no longer cold war training. only saw it for conversation after that. Early 1990s.

my high school shop class, we made a drafting board, squared up our own square, all wood. ..and use of a compass of course. I still have not gone to computer to draw the same things.

[Thumpin455]

At 43, yeah had all of those. The pocket calculators came out when I was in grade school.

[mlcraven]

Once upon a time slide rules RULED - especially for sea and air navigation. Still have mine in a box...ready for the day all the satellites fall out of the sky and the calculator batteries go dead!

[Chassisman]

I about had to punch a teenager today....came into our store and asked..."Is the OLD GUY that owns the drag cars here in town here?"....my wife replied Dale?(my dad is 67)...he says "NO...they told me his name was Ron"....WTF !!!!....I'm 43 !!!

[Scott Liggett]

I remember my Dad getting a Texas Instruments calculator in the mid '70's. Expensive. By the time I was in high school in the '80's, you could buy one for $20 and it did ten times the work. I remember the abacus. Mostly, used by people older than me. Then again, my grandfather had one of those adding machines with lever on it like a slot machine has along with a ticker tape.

[Scott Liggett]

I about had to punch a teenager today....came into our store and asked..."Is the OLD GUY that owns the drag cars here in town here?"....my wife replied Dale?(my dad is 67)...he says "NO...they told me his name was Ron"....WTF !!!!....I'm 43 !!!

LMAO. Old fart!!

[Huskinhano]

And air raid drills. We'd practice them in school by sitting in the halls with our head between our knees. I guess that was to kiss our a$$ goodbye if the big one was dropped.