For the record, I am not the type of old fuddy-duddy
that still uses a slide rule. I will deny this before a
full Congressional investigation, if necessary.
All right, I admit, I only use ATMs for making withdrawls
but not deposits. But that is only because I like to have
someone double-check the math, with or without a slide
rule. NOT because I am set in my ways and distrust
machines. OK, all right, I admit it: I am an old enough of a fogey
to remember punched cards and 110 baud teletypes.
But I did NOT use a slide rule, even in college. I used
printed charts and hand calculations for everything.
Now, I use my own homegrown software for doing
calculations, thank you.
Don't throw darts at us old farts. Sometimes, it is the
old fuddy-duddies who are dangerous, not the "angry
young men", because the older you get, the more you see
and the more cynical you get, and the less that you have
to lose.
The young engineers used to wear slide rules in a
holster on their belt, like a gun. There was a reason
for that. And it wasn't like the liberal arts students
claimed- that the engineers were socially inadequate
and using the rulers for masturbatory purposes.
That was a completely unfair smear. Well, only
partially fair.
Tom Keske
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