After several years in Minnesota, we moved back to California, to the San Francisco Bay area. Again, Don got a job that would pay for our move. I don't remember what he was working on at the time. It was something for a military contract.
What I do remember is that he bought a scientific pocket calculator. Pocket calculators were new on the market, and were expensive. As a scientific calculator, the one Don bought included many more functions than basic arithmetic. It cost about $300, and that was at a discount he got through his job.
Today, calculators are so cheap, they might be giveaways. Or at little cost, they can perform all or many of the operations Don's scientific calculator could. While calculators are not computers, they provide an example of how advanced miniaturization had become. And it continued to advance. Integrated circuits became more and more powerful, with ever more circuits in each one.
What I do remember is that he bought a scientific pocket calculator. Pocket calculators were new on the market, and were expensive. As a scientific calculator, the one Don bought included many more functions than basic arithmetic. It cost about $300, and that was at a discount he got through his job.
Today, calculators are so cheap, they might be giveaways. Or at little cost, they can perform all or many of the operations Don's scientific calculator could. While calculators are not computers, they provide an example of how advanced miniaturization had become. And it continued to advance. Integrated circuits became more and more powerful, with ever more circuits in each one.
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