Today, when nearly every device is available in a portable, pocket-sized version, it is hard to imagine a time when a simple, handheld calculator was the stuff of science fiction. In the early 1960s, calculators were the size of modern-day desktop computers but not nearly as powerful. Personal calculators were nonexistent, and workplace desktop calculators were limited to four simple arithmetic functions. In the workplace, complex math was left to humans.
In 1965, mathematicians and engineers at Texas Instruments (Tl) set to work shrinking calculators, using integrated circuit technology that had been invented in-house. By 1967, they had a battery- powered prototype capable of the four simple arithmetic functions on six-digit numbers. Dubbed "Cal-Tech," the calculator was the size of a large paperback book—4.25 x 6.15 x 1.75 inches (11 x 16 x 4cm)—and weighed nearly 3 pounds (1.3 kg)—hardly a "pocket calculator" and not commercially available or viable. Tl partnered with Canon and by 1970 they had marketed the Pocketronic®, which was only slightly smaller.
In late 1970 the first truly pocket-sized calculator was introduced by Japan's Busicom. The Busicom LE-120A" was about half the size of the Pocketronfc'8, the first with a light-emitting diode (LED) display, and the first handheld to use a special integrated circuit Specifically designed for calculators. The 1970s saw a calculator war, with a variety of electronics companies fighting for market supremacy Texas Instruments would win, dominating the market and becoming nearly synonymous with the word "calculator."
