Personal Technology Poll
After seeing a thread on the subscriber board, thought this would be a good poll.
Have you ever owned or used (at school or work):
1. Abacus
2. Slide rule (standard or round)
3. Ti calculator
4. HP RPN calculator (The 15Cs are quite pricy these days.)
5. Commodore 64 or 128 computer
6. Apple I, II, III, or Lisa computer
7. PC with an 8088, 286 or 386 processor
All but #6 for me. I didn't join the Apple environment until my first iPhone, which I think was their second generation iPhone.
Posted: 03/29/2026 at 01:53 PM ET
Thread Replies (14)
2,3,4,5,6,7 - My dad says the abacus's inventor consulted with him...
-- RTFC
Mar 30, 2026 at 11:33 AM ET
RTFC
•
03/30/26 11:33 AM ET
I almost put the TRS-80 on the poll...lol**
-- EDGEMAN
Mar 30, 2026 at 12:07 PM ET
EDGEMAN
•
03/30/26 12:07 PM ET
All of the above. Plus, used log tables, and punch cards ...**
-- ColoVT82
Mar 30, 2026 at 08:39 AM ET
ColoVT82
•
03/30/26 08:39 AM ET
Punch cards...ugh, I remember those days!**
-- EDGEMAN
Mar 30, 2026 at 11:28 AM ET
EDGEMAN
•
03/30/26 11:28 AM ET
The abacus was required when I was in school. **
-- IB4TECH
Mar 29, 2026 at 06:46 PM ET
IB4TECH
•
03/29/26 06:46 PM ET
I had a class in high school where the teacher had us use one in class.
-- EDGEMAN
Mar 30, 2026 at 07:39 AM ET
EDGEMAN
•
03/30/26 07:39 AM ET
3, 6,7. Although you could sub a TI 99-4A on line 5 and get me there too**
-- JoesterVT
Mar 29, 2026 at 04:35 PM ET
JoesterVT
•
03/29/26 04:35 PM ET
3-5,7 I was taught 1,2 but never applied to a real question
-- `lag
Mar 29, 2026 at 03:58 PM ET
`lag
•
03/29/26 03:58 PM ET
2, 3, 7 (286 & 386).**
-- PhotoHokieNC
Mar 29, 2026 at 03:17 PM ET
PhotoHokieNC
•
03/29/26 03:17 PM ET