Calculator

A calculator is a device for performing numerical calculations. The type is considered distinct from both a calculating machine and a computer in that the calculator is a special-purpose device that may not qualify as a Turing machine. Although modern calculators often incorporate a general purpose computer, the device as a whole is designed for ease of use to perform specific operations, rather than for flexibility.

Overview

Modern calculators are electrically powered, most often by battery, and are made by numerous manufacturers, in countless shapes and sizes varying from cheap, give-away, credit-card sized models to more sturdy adding machine-like models with built-in printers. Only a very few companies develop and make modern professional engineering and finance calculators: The most well-known are Casio, Sharp, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Texas Instruments (TI). Such calculators are good examples of embedded systems. They are also often complex enough to be programmed; calculator applications include algebraic equation solvers, financial models and even games.

Related Topics:
Casio - Sharp - Hewlett-Packard - Texas Instruments - Embedded system

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In the near past, mechanical and clerical aids such as abacuses, comptometers, Napier's bones, books of mathematical tables, slide rules, adding machines, were used for serious numeric work, and the word "calculator" denoted a person (most often male) who did such work for a living using such aids as well as pen and paper. This semi-manual process of calculation was tedious and error-prone.

Related Topics:
Abacuses - Comptometer - Napier's bones - Mathematical table - Slide rule - Adding machine - Paper

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