Riddle me this: Usefulness of calcl

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello!

(08-10-2018 09:39 AM)pier4r Wrote:  Any I think a lot of engineers, scientists, technicians ditch their calculators when actually then don't do their math themselves ...

Exactly. And "don't do their math themselves" usually starts on their first working day after college/university when their employer puts a powerful workstation on their desk and says: "I expect the first results by the end of the week". The days when this could be achieved by pocket calculator are gone since Armstrong and Aldrin flew back from the moon. From the mid 1980ies until 2010 I worked in IT and engineering for different companies (ranging in size from 4 to 50.000 employees) in various fields, all loosely connected to my aerospace background. Not once have I seen anyone use a pocket calculator for his work in all those years.

There may be some field scientists or surveyors who still need a pocket calculator for their out-of-office work. And maybe there are some niche jobs where a calculator can be used productively. An engineer with a university degree costs an employer in the order of 200 Euros an hour in my part of the world - all hidden costs - like facilities, administration, R&D, social security... - included. They don't want you to do 4x4 matrix multiplications at that level of cost using anything but the fastest tool.

Regards
Max