The TI-57 was an
LCD display
scientific calculator, ca.
1977, when I was taking
physics as a
High School Junior. This was their
first programmable calculator (or maybe first programmable
consumer model), as I recall. It had a 50-step program memory - each function, i.e. 'SQRT', 'STO', 'RCL', etc. was a step. Programs were entered by hand and when the machine was turned off, the program was
gone. They supplied a book called 'Making Tracks into Programming' with a train
motif and numerous examples of 'useful' functions. There was also a dandy pad of 50-cell sheets to write programs on.
I used to amuse myself by making little programs to cause digits to scroll back and forth across the one-line red display and other non-math pursuits. I used to
take it apart and
rearrange the keys too - I kept the 'INV' key inverted most of the time, cause I was
sooo clever.
My
crowning glory was when I developed a program that would
solve a
crane problem where we would be given three of four variables and have to find the fourth - it was the
biggie on the
final exam. Packing it all into just 50 steps was hard work, and taught me the formulas
inside-out. We assembled for the final and I turned the calculator on and began
punching the program in as fast as I could. I even
plugged it into the wall to ensure that I wouldn't lose it.
I worked through the first part of the test, then jumped straight to the crane problem. I punched the
givens in and got the
answer in a flash, then proceeded casually with the rest of the test. I could tell when the others around me got to the crane problem, and pitied them...
I've never felt bad about my tactic, because I not only learned those formulas cold, but I was learning programming at the same time. I could have skipped the crane problem and still gotten an
A in the class.
About a year later the
TI-58 came out - it had all the same functions, but something like 150-step memory and you could store programs. The B and C models even had little program modules you could pop in and out of the back at will.
Thus my
incredible machine became a
quiant curiosity almost overnight.
The treadmill has been running ever since, though I manage to
trudge it with less
desperation than most.