[Steely Tom]

Late 50s -- invented by a guy named Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments. In the early 60's they already had hand-held caculators on the market.

No, no, no. Unless you were The Incredible Hulk.

If you don't believe me, consider this...

In the Apollo "command module" there was an "on board computer" that cost more than $20 million. Its operator display was big (like 8" by 12") and had several lines of big seven-segment numerals.

That computer had approximately the same processing power as the HP-65 programmable calculator that came out in about 1973, for $695. But the Apollo computer was designed in the mid-'60s, and was one of the reasons chips were invented (yes, I know there were others, but one thing at a time).

Believe me, if NASA could have put a hand-held calculator into Apollo, they would have.

In about 1966, Wang came out with a desktop calculator that was all-electronic. It could do square roots, IIRC. It had four little identical workstations that plugged into a central processor by means of thick cables. The central unit was about the size of a modern-day PC. They had "nixie tube" displays.

(steely)

[-YYZ-]

And the HP-65, in its original iteration at least, contained NO ICs at all. All discrete components. Later versions used ICs. LSI packages don't appear to have been available or used until the mid 70's.

[Ditto]

No, no, no. Unless you were The Incredible Hulk.
If you don't believe me, consider this...
In the Apollo "command module" there was an "on board computer" that cost more than $20 million.

The first hand-held calculator --- The year was 1967 --- the same year the first Apollo flew. NASA could not incorporate much in the way of "new" technology once their design window closed. It's way too expensive and dangerous to start backfitting things. The Shuttle is loaded with some "ancient" technology.

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Jack Kilby and his Calculator

It's All in the Marketing

Scientists might come up with great ideas for new technology, but it doesn't make much of a difference unless manufacturers start using the ideas. In the case of the integrated chip, industry was pretty slow on the uptake. The new chip, with its collection of transistors all made from a single crystal, could miniaturize practically anything -- if only someone was interested.

To snag the world's attention, Texas Instruments needed a marketing gimmick. They wanted a flashy product to showcase the IC. A calculator seemed just the thing. In a mere two years, a TI group including Jerry Merryman and James Van Tassel, and led by Jack Kilbydeveloped a calculator small enough to be held in your hand. Just over six inches tall, this portable calculator certainly surpassed the all-transistor calculator released just a year earlier -- that calculator weighed 55 pounds and cost $2,500.

Resources:
-- "Team of Three Texas Instruments Engineers Invented the Portable, Hand-Held
Electronic Calculator in 1967", Editorial backgrounder, Texas Instruments
-- "The Chip that Jack Built Changed the World," Editorial Backgrounder, Texas Instruments

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