11 Nov
2005
11 Nov
'05
12:05 a.m.
On Nov 10 2005, 20:13, Tony Duell wrote:
> So I guess it works. This thing seems to be made
in the same way
that the
> Sinclair LED wristwatch I once had was--CHEAP is
the biggest
consideration.
Exactly. And don't care if it works properly, or if it's convenient
to
use. Remember Sinclair once sold a scientific
calculator that gave
you 3
accureate significant figures if you were lucky!
That would be the one that took longer to calculate the sine of an
angle than it took to open Chambers 6-figure tables and look it up, as
I was reminded at our recent Open Day (we had a few such things on
display along with real computers, micros, and calculators).
Having said that, I was quite upset when my Sinclair Cambridge Memory
calculator began to misbehave a couple of years ago, and eventually
died altogether. It was a nicer shape and size than any other simple
calculator I've owned, great for one-handed operation. I have an
"ordinary" Sinclair Cambridge, and a Scientific as well, but they're
not as nice to use. The memory version seems to be relatively rare,
and the last two I saw on eBay went for moe than I'd consider sensible.
--
Pete Peter Turnbull
Network Manager
University of York