In the early 1970s, “handheld” or “pocket” calculators and computers were introduced. They were small and portable and could easily be carried to the field in a pocket of a surveyor’s vest. Curta calculators were soon relegated to posterity. As more functionality was added to the handhelds, such as programming, surveyors also used them in the office.
While the terms calculator and computer are occasionally used interchangeably, the term computer is generally used when the device is programmable.
The first handhelds performed only basic calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Soon trigonometric functions were added which saved carrying a book of functions. Many companies produced and marketed these early calculators: Texas Instruments, Sharp, Sears, Radio Shack and others. However, for land surveyors those produced by Hewlett- Packard eventually came to the forefront.
The first programmable handheld computers did not come with land survey software. However, they were easy to program. Surveyors developed their own programs for traverse closures, area calculations and curve intersections. Generally programming was by what was called Basic programming.
Calculator, DIGI-matic
