I started looking around for other cool models. First I found this beauty, the fx-890p, programmable not just in BASIC but also in C (interpreted) and assembler:<p><a href="https://www.thimet.de/CalcCollection/Calculators/Casio-fx-890P/Casio-fx-890P-M.JPG" rel="nofollow">https://www.thimet.de/CalcCollection/Calculators/Casio-fx-89...</a><p>And then there is this pocket Lisp machine:<p><a href="https://casio.ledudu.com/images/pockets/casio/machines/zoom/AI1000.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://casio.ledudu.com/images/pockets/casio/machines/zoom/...</a><p>There are a couple of emulators out there, this one supports the AI-1000 Lisp version too:<p><a href="http://www.pisi.com.pl/piotr433/pb2000ee.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.pisi.com.pl/piotr433/pb2000ee.htm</a>
I think I first saw one of these devices in our house when I was a kid in the mid 80s.<p>My dad was (still is) an electronics engineer, and started a company making data logging devices for weather and environmental data, and was using these for data download and display.<p>His own computer was a self-built machine with a Motorola 6809 processor, with all the boards/parts mounted into an old Hoover Keymatic washing machine chassis [1].<p>It was funny for ~8yo me to learn that this tiny pocket-sized Casio thing and the Hoover monstrosity in the garage were both "computers".<p>Fond memories.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.ssplprints.com/image/83554/hoover-keymatic-washing-machine-1963" rel="nofollow">https://www.ssplprints.com/image/83554/hoover-keymatic-washi...</a>
> If somone designed a calculator today, they would most likely be made from ABS plastic, in a clamshell case.<p>Not so-- calculators are now such a niche market that it again makes sense to build for quality. You're not going to get any of the price shopper to begin with.<p><a href="https://www.swissmicros.com/dm42.php" rel="nofollow">https://www.swissmicros.com/dm42.php</a>
Loved my Casio.<p>Back in the late 80', throughout the 90's, the Casio FX models were the high school and university beloved models.<p>With 850 and 880 being the wished for models of engineering university students.<p>Our education system did not had any kind of monopoly agreement like TI seems to have in US.<p>So I hardly can relate to the usual TI stories, it was all about Casio and some lucky ones got HP-48 variants.
> If somone designed a calculator today, they would most likely be made from ABS plastic, in a clamshell case. An ARM microcontroller that replaces essentially 70% of the chips, and it would be impossible to repair.<p>Interestingly, my Casio fx-115ES PLUS (which I love, BTW) uses a obscure but cute little architecture called nX-U8/100. Although I am a bit sad that it's hidden by epoxy like most cheaper calculators :(