Awake 1976 - Should a Pocket Calculator Be in Your Pocket? (page 3)

blondie

Of course, now jws can use a pad at the door to look up scriptures...

NotFormer

I looked up the pencil one. It looks strongly influenced by, if not outright plagiarised from, I, Pencil, an essay by Leonard Reed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Pencil

Published the same year as the calculator article. Use a pencil to total up your field service hours, Plebs! 🙄

Vidiot

“Is that a calculator in your pocket…

…or are you just happy to see me?”

😏

So funny I actually remember this really well.. Even as a young child I thought this sounded a foolish. I'll admit the grandparents who partly raised me weren't buying it, too. So I did have some sensible influences that allowed me to see at least the absurdities & extremes of the faith.

blondie

Calculators were bigger back then and more expensive when they first came out. The WTS often uses the cost of something to be a flaw, especially when you should be giving them that money.

Balaamsass2

I remember some of the first Calculators from HP. EXPENSIVE!

Wiki:" The first American-made pocket-sized calculator, the Bowmar 901B (popularly termed The Bowmar Brain), measuring 5.2 by 3.0 by 1.5 inches (132 mm × 76 mm × 38 mm), came out in the Autumn of 1971, with four functions and an eight-digit red LED display, for US$240, while in August 1972 the four-function Sinclair Executive became the first slimline pocket calculator measuring 5.4 by 2.2 by 0.35 inches (137.2 mm × 55.9 mm × 8.9 mm) and weighing 2.5 ounces (71 g). It retailed for around £79 (US$194 at the time)."

Blondie- you are right! "$240 in 1971 equals $1,849.72 in 2024." Wow!

Diogenesister

remember some of the first Calculators from HP. EXPENSIVE!

Agreed! But calculators were not expensive in 1976 when this article came out lol! Heck our school got a computer a few short years later in 79 - 80 (I think?)

I'm sure the real reasoning behind that article was more medical quackery intimating one shouldn't have anything electronic too near your body bits - hint hint! 🍆🍒

NotFormer

"I'm sure the real reasoning behind that article was more medical quackery intimating one shouldn't have anything electronic too near your body bits - hint hint! 🍆🍒"

"Should a Pocket Calculator Be in Your Pocket?" ...or are you just glad to see me? 😻

Awake 1976 - Should a Pocket Calculator Be in Your Pocket?

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