When was the last time you used a slide rule?

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#1538537 23-Apr-2016 07:47

mid 60's

I rather tended to use a log book so my fellow co-workers gave me the appellation of loggy. later changed to legs because of my middle name.

That was when I was a junior mechanician working for the Post Office (well before that part of the PO was called Telecoms).

larknz

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#1538540 23-Apr-2016 07:56

Early 70s at school was the last time I used one, but I still have it. I might have a bit of a struggle remembering how to use it.

Detruire

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#1538553 23-Apr-2016 09:07

DaveB:

THREAD HIJACK!

Seeing you think people are too young to partake in this thread if they do not know (or have never used) a slide rule, I think I should up the ante and mention an abacus - just to shorten the list of participants. Both were compulsory at my school.

I've never used a slide rule, but did use abacuses during primary school in the 90s.

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AKLWestie

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#1538558 23-Apr-2016 09:30

tdgeek:

Slide Rule, very cool indeed. I wonder how that compares to todays tech? Pretty good I imagine. And compare to todays math?? Excellent I'd say. I feel the three R's have taken a back seat these days

You can still use a slide rule when your phone's battery is flat. =-)

MadEngineer

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#1538568 23-Apr-2016 10:29

nzlegs:

That was when I was a junior mechanician working for the Post Office (well before that part of the PO was called Telecoms).

this cracks me up. seems every ex-post office worker pulls this line (or "nzpo, back before it was Telecom"). case in point how it has become an over quoted line amongst one of my social circles. "Slide rules? Luxury! Back in my day, before NZPO became Telecom, we had to build our own slide rules!" ... and other jokes around extended smoko breaks ...

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#1539571 23-Apr-2016 11:05

MadEngineer:

nzlegs:

That was when I was a junior mechanician working for the Post Office (well before that part of the PO was called Telecoms).

this cracks me up. seems every ex-post office worker pulls this line (or "nzpo, back before it was Telecom"). case in point how it has become an over quoted line amongst one of my social circles. "Slide rules? Luxury! Back in my day, before NZPO became Telecom, we had to build our own slide rules!" ... and other jokes around extended smoko breaks ...

How about "P&T, back before it was NZPO ..."?

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Boeingflyer

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#1540615 23-Apr-2016 12:15

The Air Force still use them for weight and balancing of the C-130 Hercules. Crazy ay!

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#1540618 23-Apr-2016 12:34

... in 1973, when I bought a shiny new Sinclair Cambridge (type 1) 4-function calculator

(Can't renumber the price, but it was expensive!)

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#1540620 23-Apr-2016 12:38

I use one most days when calculating fractional melt flows of polymers. Its the fastest way to do it and I have to admit I enjoy using it.

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#1540970 24-Apr-2016 08:50

Rikkitic:

For me it was some time in the early 1960s. If you never used one, or don't know what one is, you are too young for this thread.

1972.

I was in high school (in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) the year they transitioned from slide rules to calculators. One year we got all slide rules all the time, then next year (1973) they were gone.

They were a good way to do fast calculations of large numbers - but you had to decide what level of precision (how many significant digits had to exactly correct) was required in the answer. Less precision means faster answer.

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#1540971 24-Apr-2016 08:53

Sideface:

... in 1973, when I bought a shiny new Sinclair Cambridge (type 1) 4-function calculator

(Can't renumber the price, but it was expensive!)

I bought my first calculator in 1972. It could only handle 6 (Update: Hmmm....maybe 8, but definitely not 10) digits and cost C$72 (I was paid $1.45/hour in my part time job) so I had to work just under 50 hours to get that amount of money. I was working after school at a petrol station at 14. Yes, it was illegal. The calculator was the most expensive thing I'd ever bought with my own money. For comparison, you could buy a full (10 gallon) tank of petrol for $4.99 in 1972 -> 49.9 cents / imperial gallon (4.58 litres).

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#1540973 24-Apr-2016 09:01

I was about 8 or 9 the last time I used a slide rule, and I got a hiding for it.

It was great for playing swords with, but apparently not for playing stab your sister with it.

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#1541028 24-Apr-2016 10:36

Give it to Sir Jonny Ive to re-imagine. The Apple Calculator (iCalc), impressive battery life, just enough geek factor.

Could be just the thing to guide Apple over between the Watch and the Car.

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SepticSceptic

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#1541072 24-Apr-2016 11:26

I still have mine, in it's original green and white case. Long since forgotten how to really utilise it. Can do multiplication, and that's it. 40-odd years of never having used it.

Use it or loose it.

Technofreak

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#1541121 24-Apr-2016 13:27

The slide rule was in fashion for my last couple of years at High School. After I started work in for NZPO as a Trainee Telephone Technician I bought a flash Kovac SM1210M, this was followed shortly after by a Kovac 811ESR which I still use.

When I started flying I bought a trusty Kane Mk-6B which I also still use.

My old High School slide rule

The trusty Kovac 811 ESR

The Kane MK-6B

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