Computers & Business Machines

Imagine the loss, 100 years from now, if museums hadn't begun preserving the artifacts of the computer age. The last few decades offer proof positive of why museums must collect continuously—to document technological and social transformations already underway.
The museum's collections contain mainframes, minicomputers, microcomputers, and handheld devices. Computers range from the pioneering ENIAC to microcomputers like the Altair and the Apple I. A Cray2 supercomputer is part of the collections, along with one of the towers of IBM's Deep Blue, the computer that defeated reigning champion Garry Kasparov in a chess match in 1997. Computer components and peripherals, games, software, manuals, and other documents are part of the collections. Some of the instruments of business include adding machines, calculators, typewriters, dictating machines, fax machines, cash registers, and photocopiers


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Casio fx-7000G Handheld Electronic Calculator
- Description
- This is an example of the first commercially sold handheld graphing electronic calculator, introduced by Casio in 1985. The sides of the calculator are black plastic, with a metal keyboard and back. As with earlier calculators, it includes a ten-digit array of keys for entering numbers, a decimal point key, four arithmetic function keys, a delete (clear entry) key, and an all clear key. In addition, it has keys for a wide array of mathematical functions, including square roots, squares, logarithms, natural logarithms, inverses, sines, cosines, tangents, powers, and roots. It is also possible to use the keys in “shift” and “alpha” modes to carry out different functions or enter alphabetic characters. One also may enter programs in a programming language devised by Casio and graph functions, either over a predetermined range or over a range set by the user.
- Both programs and results appear on a liquid crystal display that is behind the keyboard.The display could show sixteen characters in each of eight lines. A mark behind the display reads: CASIO SCIENTIFIC CALCULATOR fx-7000G GRAPHICS. The on/off switch is on the left side. A mark on the back reads: CASIO fx-7000G (/) RATING: DC 9V 0.07W (/) use BATTERY 3.0V x 3 (/) MADE IN JAPAN (/) BM CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD. A bar code sticker attached to the back of the calculator reads: SAN JUAN HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY.
- The calculator is stored in a black plastic sleeve marked: CASIO.
- For a slightly later form of the calculator, the Casio fx-7000GA, see 2000.0146.02.
- For a related manual, for the fx-7000GA, see 2000.3037.01.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1985
- maker
- Casio Computer Company
- ID Number
- 2000.0146.01
- accession number
- 2000.0146
- catalog number
- 2000.0146.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History