| Datasheet legend
Ab/c: Fractions calculation
AC: Alternating current BaseN: Number base calculations Card: Magnetic card storage Cmem: Continuous memory Cond: Conditional execution Const: Scientific constants Cplx: Complex number arithmetic DC: Direct current Eqlib: Equation library Exp: Exponential/logarithmic functions Fin: Financial functions Grph: Graphing capability Hyp: Hyperbolic functions Ind: Indirect addressing Intg: Numerical integration Jump: Unconditional jump (GOTO) Lbl: Program labels LCD: Liquid Crystal Display LED: Light-Emitting Diode Li-ion: Lithium-ion rechargeable battery Lreg: Linear regression (2-variable statistics) mA: Milliamperes of current Mtrx: Matrix support NiCd: Nickel-Cadmium rechargeable battery NiMH: Nickel-metal-hydrite rechargeable battery Prnt: Printer RTC: Real-time clock Sdev: Standard deviation (1-variable statistics) Solv: Equation solver Subr: Subroutine call capability Symb: Symbolic computing Tape: Magnetic tape storage Trig: Trigonometric functions Units: Unit conversions VAC: Volts AC VDC: Volts DC |
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Programmable or not, the TI-30 deserves special mention in any self-respecting calculator collection.
No, it's not a particularly unique machine. It has no special capabilities. It is not especially well-built either (although the number of still functioning models nearly 25 years after they were made does indicate a robust construction) and it has a rotten keyboard. It is a scientific calculator, but it has no special claim of fame: it has no extra functionality beyond basic logarithmic and trigonometric functions, not even single-variable statistics.
What makes the TI-30 so special is its price. The model number was an indication of the suggested retail price: $30 for a brand spanking new multifunction scientific calculator (or even less; for instance, I received correspondence from a gentleman who purchased his TI-30 in Omaha, NE, for only $19.95, paying an additional $9.97 for the wall adapter.)
This may not mean much today, when department stores are filled with cheap scientific calculators from China sold for $5 or less. But remember, the TI-30 was introduced in the late 1970s, at a time when scientific calculators were typically sold for several hundred dollars each.
The significance of this low price cannot be underestimated. It was the TI-30 that turned the scientific calculator from an expensive engineering instrument into an everyday tool for high-school students. So much so, in fact, that I remember very well how the TI-30 began to spread even behind the Iron Curtain; by the time I was finishing high school in Hungary, several of my classmates had TI-30 calculators in their backpacks.
As a matter of fact, the business impact of the TI-30 probably lasts to this very day. It was with the TI-30 that Texas Instruments established a firm foothold in the educational calculator market, and they have been able to maintain an edge to this day. TI's line of graphing calculators, for instance, reigns supreme in high schools and colleges throughout North America and elsewhere.
TI has not forgotten what it owes to the TI-30 either. The original TI-30 has long been discontinued, but the model number lives on; there have been several variants of the TI-30 in the last 25 years, all of them popular educational models.
