1436
Calculatable (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 years ago* by to c/science_memes@mander.xyz
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[–] 29 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Why didn't they just make one Clear and make another Backspace? The concept of erasing the last character had been in typewriters for a while by then, and this is far more obvious. Maybe erasing a single digit in earlier software/hardware was much harder than just clearing it all?

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  • [–] 16 points 2 years ago

    Some do that, too. Unfortunately the weight of tradition seems to enforce the C/CE/AC key preference.

    Even the iphone built in OS calculator has the “AC” button unless you manually tap the entry window, then you get a backspace.

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child)

    Because calculators used to use paper, and clear entry basically invalidated the line.

    This kept the same interface for the really old paper calculator users.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/226285302528

    http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/busicom_141-pf.html the granddaddy of calculators, and the one the Intel 4004 processor was designed for.

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