There it is ladies and gentlemen, the savior and bane of every high school math student enrolled in a trigonometry class between 1996 and 2004: the Texas Instrument TI-83 series calculator. Originally released in 1996, the TI-83 graphing calculator boasted a 6 MHz CPU, 32KB of RAM, and was powered by 4 AAA batteries. This mean little number-cruncher could handle statistic, trigonometric, algebraic, and — obviously — graphing functions; you could also, painfully, enter text into the device. The 83 could also “help” you get through high school math with bootleg games — such as DrugWar and Bowling — which could be side-loaded onto the device via the included data-cable. After its initial release, the device was redesigned and rebranded as the TI-83+ in 1999 and again as the TI-83+ Silver Edition in 2001, before being succeeded by the TI-84 in 2004. What do you say? Have any TI-83 memories you’d like to share with the group?
BGR Throwback Thursday is a weekly series covering our (and your) favorite gadgets, games, and software of yesterday and yesteryear.
