Computers, Pocket

Even though desktop computers were available in most survey offices in the 1970s, surveyors still used Curta calculators.

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.

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 Society has a number of these pocket computers in their collection.