TI-85 Forever

August 15, 2006 in Logic/Math, Technology | 5 comments

TI-85.I’ve noticed a trend…

My high school calculus teacher used a calculator that looked like it had been built in 1985. My undergraduate algebra professor used a calculator that looked like it had been built in 1990 (perhaps earlier).

And though I hate to admit it in some strange sense, my calculator of choice is my TI-85, which was introduced to the world in 1992.

Maybe it’s nostalgia that I always reach for my TI-85 when sitting down to do personal finances. Maybe it’s the fact that I must’ve spent YEARS of my life playing Tetris on that sucker. But it’s probably because I’ve learned how to use it with incredible efficiency over the years. For some reason the calculator seems to violate my desire for extreme technological innovation. I constantly desire the cutting edge in consumer electronics. So what is it exactly that keeps me from updating to a TI-89? I may never know.

So does anyone out there have a specific piece of technology (calculator or otherwise) that has followed you through the years? Leave a comment if you have something. And if you’re looking to have some Texas Instruments nostalgia of your own you should check out ticalc.org. They’ve got some good stuff over there.

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August 15, 2006 at 1:18 pm

Beth

Beth’s avatar

TI-85? You newbie :) My trusty TI-82 resides on my desk in a basket of office supplies, ready for any check-book balancing/tax calculating needs. And it still boasts the “MATH Power for All” sticker my AP calc teacher gave the class in 11th grade. You can’t beat that.

August 15, 2006 at 2:35 pm

Seth Kelly

Seth Kelly’s avatar

I’m sure that Jill has a better calculator story than I do, since we never have less than 4 or 5 TI-83s laying around/in our desk, but my own fascination with the TI-85 ended on a little strip of road between Reno, PA and RT80 when I was moving to Georgia. It was on that fateful day that the box containing said calculator proceeded to fall from my truck and get itself runover by a semi. No longer would I be widdling away my hours playing tetris and doing the occasional sum. I turned my truck around, but alas the TI-85 was now nothing but a flattened remnant of a once spectacular calculator. However, for some reason I do still have my laptop from college, you know, that one with the hard drive smaller than my ipod?

August 26, 2006 at 1:43 am

Anthony

Anthony’s avatar

I have a HP11C which has been sitting on my desk at work (many different jobs) for 20 years - no one would steal it as they would have to be able to work in reverse polish mode!!

I’m not really a gear freak otherwise…………………….

July 28, 2008 at 11:07 am

chris

chris’s avatar

ive had my 85 for a long time and i do not have a link cable (no tetris!). i write programs DURING the test and always get an A. It fits in with my rather large collection of old electronics (ti-85, palm m500, ti-35x, etc).
Birthdate: August 15, 1994
S/N: not telling ;)

Status: Blue t-shirt and custom jeans, listening to q104.7 and appears happy. Almost mint (scratches and tape incident)

She’s gone everywhere (Vegas, LA, Palm Springs twice, Willits (by Ukiah (by Eureka)) and ran the mile with me. :)
Prototype CBL model? (beta 7?) ???????
S/N: 20025691 CBL I-0894F

July 28, 2008 at 11:31 am

Ian Luke Kane

Ian Luke Kane’s avatar

A TI-85 without Tetris?! That’s like…a fish without water. I shudder at the thought. :)