Item: Little Professor

 

Title: Little Professor

Alternative Title: Texas Instruments Little Professor Teaching Calculator

Subject:

electronic (technology-related concept)
electronic games
calculators

Date: c. 1978

Measurements: 1 x 3 1/2 in x 5 inches (2.54 x 8.89 x 12.7 cm)

Material(s):

circuit boards

plastic (material)

Description:

Introduced in mid-1976, the Little Professor is a non-printing electronic calculator modified to present simple arithmetic problems. A correct answer prompts another problem on the eight-digit display. An error delivers the message, "EEE." The colorful keyboard shows a professor with whiskers and glasses. The red light-emitting diode screen, in combination with the top of the instrument, looks like a mortar board.

This example has buttons that allow one to set the level of problems, as well as an on/off button on the front rather than the side of the machine. These features were introduced in a version of the machine made from 1978 onward.

Creator:

Texas Instruments

Collected By:

Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of American History

Datamath Calculator Museum

Identifier:

1986.0988.197

nmah_334611

Professor-78

Rights:

COPYRIGHT UNDETERMINED

Item Sets:

Computers in the Classroom