# My calculator battery died... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361 "2012-09-11T00:35:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/1 "2012-09-11T00:35:31Z")
I feel like I’ve just been through a nerd rite of passage. Earlier today, between classes, I was working on some physics homework, using the HP48 calculator on my iPod. I had gotten warnings that the battery was at 20%, but I figured, I don’t have too much more, that should be enough. It wasn’t: It finally decided that it’d had enough, and went to deep sleep on its own. Well, the homework was due today, and I had to get it done, so I did what any sensible person would do: I reached into my backpack, and got out my emergency backup, which doesn’t need batteries. Not because it’s solar, mind you-- It’s actually powered by muscle power, sliding pieces of wood against each other. That’s right: Today I actually _used_ a slide rule, for a real purpose, for the first time. Not just playing around with it to learn the principles behind it: I actually had a calculation that I needed done, and used a real, honest-to-Og slipstick to solve it. When I packed it, I thought I was just joking with myself… But I really used it! Grandpa would be so proud. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/2 "2012-09-11T00:45:44Z")
[Approves](http://reason.com/assets/mc/psuderman/2010_08/spock-computer.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/3 "2012-09-11T02:11:28Z")
Here you [go](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pocket-slide-rule/id421890273?mt=8) Oh, wait, damnit! ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/4 "2012-09-11T03:25:56Z")
Calculator on your iPod? Doesn’t that actually mean your iPod battery died? A real calculator wouldn’t have battery issues; I have a TI-30X IIS that still runs off of its battery after 9 years, not that I didn’t use it a lot (high school and college), although it also has a solar cell. I have no idea how you would use a slide rule though (and many people would have no idea what a slide rule even was). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/5 "2012-09-11T03:50:35Z")
Mine calculator could never die - it’s solar. Until I put it through the wash :smack:… ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/6 "2012-09-11T04:02:06Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I feel like I’ve just been through a nerd rite of passage. > > Grandpa would be so proud. i tip my beanie and give you a propeller spin. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/7 "2012-09-11T13:20:56Z")
> [@Michael63129](#): > > A real calculator wouldn’t have battery issues;. Not true. Plenty (possibly all?) graphing calculators (TI-83, 84, 85, et al.) only run off of batteries (or maybe an AC adapter.) But no salar, not enough juice…and the batteries will last less than a month with regular usage. And they still cost over $100, despite being the same fucking technology they were fifteen years ago! Fuck you, TI, for being able to maintain your fucking monopoly on textbooks, courses, and the AP exams. Yeah, $100 for a TI-83 in 1996 was appropriate, it probably cost you close to $80 to make back then…I’d be surprised if there were more than $10 worth of parts in it now. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/8 "2012-09-11T13:50:54Z")
I still want one of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta). ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/9 "2012-09-11T14:38:45Z")
Just imagine your chagrin if you’d reached into your backpack only to find your slide-rule had seized up through disuse. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/10 "2012-09-11T14:43:42Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Just imagine your chagrin if you’d reached into your backpack only to find your slide-rule had seized up through disuse. all the more reason to have a backup backup, log tables. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/11 "2012-09-11T14:48:31Z")
Wow! You keep a slide rule in your backpack for emergencies? Awesome! But what if the slide rule breaks? Do you have an abacus? Counting sticks? Somehow I think a spare battery might have been the first backup. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/12 "2012-09-14T13:03:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Wow! You keep a slide rule in your backpack for emergencies? Awesome! But what if the slide rule breaks? Do you have an abacus? Actually, I do, but I don’t keep that in my backpack (and I don’t know how to use it, either… Need to learn one of these times). And yes, the battery for the whole iPod died. Since I’ve started carrying the iPod, I haven’t found it necessary to carry a separate calculator, which frees up the pocket space. The net effect was the same. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/13 "2012-09-14T14:34:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually, I do, but I don’t keep that in my backpack (and I don’t know how to use it, either… Need to learn one of these times). Maybe you could learn the abacus in survival training. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-calculator-battery-died/634361/14 "2012-09-14T15:52:13Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Yeah, $100 for a TI-83 in 1996 was appropriate, it probably cost you close to $80 to make back then… Well, $100 in today money is just over $68 in 1996 money according to [this](http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/).