My personal calculator history

[ht003]

It was during the first oil crisis, around February 1974, when I was on my way to visit my then-girlfriend (now wife) who was studying in Münster, driving my faithful little VW Beetle. I was leisurely cruising along when I came across a driver stranded in the middle of nowhere, out of fuel. Always prepared as a Beetle driver, I pulled out my reserve canister with 5 liters.

The guy was overjoyed, not just because he now had fuel, but it seemed fate had just smiled upon him. He reached behind him, handed me a small package, and said, "Thank you, my friend, here, take this." In my hands, I held my very first calculator! Looking back, I would say that was the spark for my insatiable passion for anything that can calculate—and the smaller, the better.

As fate would have it, that calculator came in very handy shortly after during my studies. When I was tasked with developing an electroluminescent display that had to be driven with 50V and a few kilohertz of AC voltage, I knew: This would be an adventure! Unfortunately, at that time, there was more idea than budget available. So, I remembered my little calculator.

I quickly built an interface that connected the LED display of the calculator with the new display—and it worked! The thing actually came to life and even earned me co-authorship in a publication. Naturally, that good old piece still exists—it stands in my garage today and no longer works. But every time I walk past it, I grin a little. It's a charming reminder that from a small fuel stop, something quite big can emerge.

This is a true story, „beautyfied“ by ChatGPT, see pictures from 1974 and 2024
Best
Dieter