[dr_lew2]

Slide rules were a computer of sorts. I've seen them described as a mechanical calculator.

Well, of course they are a mechanical calculator, but very limited in scope compared even to the earliest electronic calculators.

[Bounced2X]

Well, of course they are a mechanical calculator, but very limited in scope compared even to the earliest electronic calculators.

If I recall correctly, we weren't allowed to use electronic calculators until senior year in HS. Even then they were relatively expensive and few people had them. At least in my circle. That would have been 1974.